This week is British Egg Week, an event organised in association with British Lion Eggs. The event aims to promote British eggs and demonstrate for parents and their children how versatile the food can be. This year’s theme is ‘eggs make a meal out of anything’, so in honour of this we present the best egg dish from around the world.
Egg Foo Young (China)
Basically a Chinese omelette, egg foo young translates literally as ‘lotus egg’. Take the basic egg mixture, add whatever meat or vegetables you like and fry it hot - it’s changed so much in its adoption into Chinese American cuisine that the only thing which really remains is the basic recipe. If you have any leftover you can even stick it between two slices of white bread, add pickle, lettuce, tomato and mayo and create a St. Paul Sandwich, a dish originating from the St. Louis, Missouri area.
Huevos Rancheros (Mexico)
With a name meaning ‘rancher’s eggs’, huevos rancheros is a traditional mid-morning recipe originating on rural farms in Mexico. Like many of these recipes, all sorts of regional variations have developed, but the basic dish is fried eggs served on a lightly fried corn tortilla, covered with a tomato and chili sauce. Eat on its own, or serve it with sides of refried beans and rice. Breaking Bad fans will remember Jesse serving it for breakfast for his mildly-surprised girlfriend.
Akuri (India)
Akuri is a spicy scrambled egg dish originating traditionally from the Parsi community of India. Scramble the eggs until just about runny and then add fried onions and spices such as ginger, coriander, chopped chilis and black pepper. A variation is Bharuchi akuri from the city of Bharuch in north-west India, which adds dried fruits such as raisins and nuts like almonds and pistachios. Serve it with roti, an Indian unleavened bread, or just ordinary toast.
Chawanmushi (Japan)
Translated literally as ‘steamed in a tea bowl’, chawanmushi is a savoury egg custard dish flavoured with ginkgo tree seeds, soy sauce, dashi (Japanese cooking stock) and mirin (a Japanese rice wine). It is usually served as an appetiser. To the mixture is added other ingredients such as shiitake mushrooms, kamaboko (a steamed and then cooled fish product) and boiled shrimp. The dish is named after the tea-cup-like container it is served in. Add udon (thick wheat flour noodles) and it becomes odamaki mushi.
Loco Moco (Hawaii)
Not so much a traditional dish as a contemporary one, loco moco consists of white rice topped with a hamburger, a fried egg and a brown gravy. The dish was apparently invented in 1949 by the owners of the Lincoln Grill in Hilo, Hawaii after teenagers wanted something different from American sandwiches and quicker to prepare than Asian food. The first boy to try the food had the nickname of Loco (crazy in Portugese) and moco was tacked on the end because it sounded kind of cool.
Stracciatella (Italy)
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