Eggs not to be dismissed for being cheap and basic
Vanessa Frida | The New Paper | Wed Dec 21 2011
Singapore, December 21, 2011
Eggs are an everyday ingredient, and are often dismissed as being cheap and basic.
But we forget that eggs help give structure to cakes and muffins, and work as a binder in sauces like Hollandaise and mayonnaise.
Eggs are also tasty and nutritious on their own, whether they are poached, scrambled or fried. Just apply some creativity, and the humble soft-boiled egg can even be served as a glamorous hors d'oeuvre at a dinner party.
Does colour matter?
No. The brown or white shell is simply determined by the breed of the hen.
Egg yolks
The rich yellow centre of the egg is where most of the nutrients as well as fat and cholesterol are found. It can be a pale yellow or deep orange, depending on the diet of the hen.
Yolks will help bind ingredients together in baking and give many dishes their richness. Recipes like creme brulee and hollandaise sauce cannot do without yolks – there is no substitute.
Egg whites
The rest of the egg is a mixture of protein and water. Egg whites help crisp-up your fish and chips, and will add fluffiness to a cake when whipped stiff and added to a batter. They can also be whipped into the marshmallow peaks of pavlovas.
Tip: Eggs separate best when cold, but stiff egg whites are best achieved when the eggs are at room temperature. If you are doing this, ensure there is not even a tiny bit of egg yolk in the the bowl of egg whites as any speck of yellow will prevent it from becoming stiff peaks.
Quail eggs
Singaporeans grow up eating these very small, brown eggs hard-boiled and skewered on satay sticks.
The flavour is a little more delicate and less-sulphuric than a hard-boiled chicken egg.
They are also higher in cholesterol because the ratio of egg yolk to egg white is greater than that of a chicken egg.
Duck eggs
If you are fortunate enough to get your hands on duck eggs, please do not hard boil them. Duck eggs are richer than their chicken cousins, because their yolks have more fat and the whites more protein.
I highly recommend using them to make a rich decadent dessert. Simply substitute the same quantity of chicken eggs the recipe calls for with duck eggs and prepare to impress your guests.
I have tried a blind taste test with friends using duck eggs in my sugee cake recipe – exact same ingredients, only substituting the chicken eggs with duck eggs. Verdict? The cake had a richer flavour (because of the higher fat content in the yolk) and fluffier texture (because the white has more protein) than its chicken egg equivalent.
Salted eggs
The richness of a duck egg makes it more suitable for curing. Soak it in a heavily salted liquid or pack it with damp, salted, powdered charcoal. After curing, the salted egg white will become runny (almost like tap water) and the yolk bright orange and firm.
Many Chinese restaurants have been teaming salted eggs with prawns and crabs. But I would eat this delicious dish in moderation – about 10 salted egg yolks go into every 1kg crab cooked in this way.
Century eggs
To set the record straight, no, these are not made by soaking duck eggs in horse urine. Eggs (mostly duck) are preserved in a mixture of clay, ash, salt, lime and rice husks for several weeks.
The yolk will turn a dark greenish-grey colour, and the white becomes brown and translucent.
The yolk has a hint of ammonia, and is an acquired taste, like blue cheese. If bought from the supermarket, century eggs involve no cooking. Just peel the egg shell, slice into six wedges and enjoy with a thin slice of pink ginger as a tasty appetiser.
The writer is a fast-rising name on Singapore’s culinary scene. She organises cooking classes and personalised chef tables for groups. Find her on www.facebook.com/CulinaryNess