I started cooking quail eggs a few years ago because for some reason those were the only eggs Junior would eat. He ‘hated’ eggs, but quail eggs, it seems, did not fall into that category. I didn’t mind, because quail eggs, while being almost five times less in weight than a chicken egg, has double the nutrients packed into its tiny casing.
As anyone who cooks quail eggs will tell you, cracking them can be challenging and messy. ChgoJohn from The Bartolini’s kitchen one day spoke about this on his blog, and I realized that I wasn’t the only one who had struggled to get this right. It was always a struggle to get the eggs out right, and often lost a few in the process because the shells are tough, leathery, don’t come apart easily and often crumble, making a mess with the white and the yolk, rendering it inedible.
So one day, I picked a craft scissors, and went to work. Ever since, I have never, ever had any trouble cracking a quail egg. But I never thought of blogging about it until that post of ChgoJohn (thanks ChgoJohn for the idea). And I searched Google before I started this post, and as of today, Jan 24th 2014,I have not seen this way of cracking eggs posted anywhere. So this probably is a first. Makes me happy as a quail egg done right 😀
With all that shameless plugging behind, lets get onto it.
You need:
Quail eggs
A bowl
A craft scissors (small scissors, preferable with sharp end, though blunt ones work fine too).
To start, holding the egg at its flat bottom, tap the egg gently towards the tapering part of the egg with the end of the scissor. A slight crack will appear. Using the end of the scissor, gently push the shell inside to create a puncture.
Once the scissor takes hold, start cutting it in a circle making a cap.
A Quail egg shell is like a leathery cloth, tough, but flexible. It does not break as normal chicken eggs do, as it is quite elastic, but cutting it is easy.
Cut it like you would a cap.
Throw the ‘cap’ away.It will leave behind a ‘cup’ holding the egg.
Invert in into a pan with a little oil in it.
Slide them over the food of your choice and eat. Note: to make perfect white rounds, slide them into a tiny bowl and then gently transfer to pan. I didn’t, so the shapes are all over the place. Too much work, hahaha!
See the yellow soupy thing in the plate in this picture? That is my favorite dal – Mushur dal. Red lentils with five seasoning spices – paanch phoron. Coming soon.
Check out another of my very popular dishes made with Quail eggs:
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