To many of us, eggs are just a breakfast ingredient -- to be eaten alongside bacon or sausage and sopped up with a triangle of toast. That's delicious, but eggs can be much more than a sidekick to bacon or an English muffin filling. Need proof? Try out these egg-centric cooking strategies at home.
Stir an egg into soup. Remember that Chinese takeout staple, egg drop soup? That neon-yellow concoction isn’t the only broth that eggs belong in.
If you're making soup, have an egg at the ready. When you remove the broth from the heat, crack an egg into the hot broth and stir slowly. The yolk and white will poach slowly in the liquid and absorb the flavor of the soup and ingredients, adding heartiness and rich texture to your broth. The yolks will set into a gel-like texture, and the wispy whites cook gently in the liquid and lace themselves around noodles, vegetables, and other ingredients in the soup. This is especially great in classic soups like ramen and chicken noodle.
Grate hard-boiled egg into salad. The secret to saving a boring or overdressed salad: serve it with an egg.
Runny yolks are great with rich sauces and atop breads of all kinds, but hard-boiled is the best way to go with vegetables. Serving a salad with a chopped or grated hard-boiled egg on top provides a little protein, and the yolk adds richness and beefs up any dressing or sauce. Plus, the egg pieces combine with the other ingredients, adding the textural variety that makes for an ideal bite in salads.
Bake eggs into flavorful sauce. Egg yolks were made for dipping, and shakshuka exploits that quality.
In this North African/Israeli dish, eggs are cracked sunny side up into a spicy tomato sauce while it simmers. The the sauce and eggs are then baked, topped with spices and herbs, and devoured with pita. It's the exact opposite of brunch pizza (sunny side up eggs on a wood-fired pizza), and it’s the logical choice if you love toppings more than crust. The ratio of sauce to egg is completely up to you and, better yet, your utensil is completely edible. Could you ask for a more perfect bite?
Eaters, what are your favorite ways to eat eggs?
Elite Truong is a snack maker and support manager at Eater.com. She spends her time collecting uni-tasking kitchen appliances and learning to code. Follow her on Twitter @EliteTruong.
Photo: Flickr CC / Caroline Angelo
