Eggs-tacy

A tribute to the humble yet versatile life-giving force of nature in a shell.

This is gonna be the first entry for a weekly project in my "favourite ingredients" series on this blog.

Ah, the amazing egg.
Chicken, duck or quail (I don't know what other eggs people eat).
Sweet or savoury.
Raw, pickled, preserved, salted, half-boiled, hard-boiled or fried.
In omelette, meringue, souffle, pudding, custard, creme caramel, creme brulee, tart, cake, biscuits, or even a sauce (think Carbonara).
How art thou fair?

Not so fair, it seems.
Eggs have been getting some bad rep for its high cholesterol, although debates are still going on about this matter. And funnily enough, cooking actually oxidises the cholesterol in the yolk, and this is what increases the risk of heart disease.

That said, I don't avoid my yolks (they're the best part!), though in my opinion, moderation is the key. However, I close one eye when I eat my umpteenth slice of Indonesian layer cake (7-9 yolks in the recipe) or when I reach out for another helping of custard.

The other option, eating eggs raw, is more scary with a capital S for Salmonella. But sometimes, when I'm too caught up in the 'moment', I throw caution in the wind. In a few lapses of rational judgement, I've eaten raw eggs many times (usually cracked over a steaming hot plate of Hokkien mee or in hot steaming rice) and I lived to drool about it. Hey, tiramisu uses raw eggs anyway. Even Ben and Jerry's, and I'm quite sure, Haagen Daz too! These days, it's hard to say when you'll get lucked out, but if some people are willing to die by the sword (or bullets, in this time and day), why not by the spoon? Heh!

Anyway, here are my egg-ceptional favourites when it comes to all things eggy.

Favourite egg
Chicken, preferably free range.

You like your breakfast eggs...
Sunny-side up, with the yolks still runny.
I like them soft-boiled too, with buttered toast. Yummm...
Decisions, decisions.

Favourite dessert with eggs as main ingredient
This is a long list, but here are my top 3:
- Indonesian layer cake
- Flourless chocolate cake
- Creme brulee
- Chinese egg tarts
(oops, that's four)

Favourite savoury dishes with eggs as main ingredient
My top 3:
- Steamed 3-eggs (chopped century egg and salted egg in egg custard)
- Ham & Cheese & Mushroom omellete
- Fried sunny-side up, on top of fried rice or maggi / indo mee goreng

Century Egg or Salted Egg
I love both! The former on its own with pickled ginger, and the latter with plain rice and ulam.
(Never had century eggs or salted eggsbefore? Click on them to find out more)

Egg pet peeve
Raw quail's egg with soba. Euwww...

Eggiest memory
My dad used to make this really delicious and lemak rice dish.

Hot steaming rice on a plate. Make a well in the middle. Put in a generous knob of butter (salted). Crack in a raw egg. Mix immediately to let the heat semi-cook the egg. Add thick soy sauce to taste and a sprinkling of pepper.

I loved this when I was little, and although I haven't eaten it in a while, I know the taste will always bring back memories of childhood.

Now, egg lovers, consider yourselves tagged!