YOU CAN’T BEAT AN EGG
WHETHER DUCK OR CHICKEN, THERE ARE MYRIAD DISHES AND RECIPES IN THE OEUF’S OEUVRE
In every crisis, people worry about food scarcity and stockpile items considered to be simplest to cook, economical and have a long-shelf life. In the past, instant noodles were the most favourite choice. But after a series of political crises, hoarding instant noodles has become repetitive and boring. Therefore, when faced with the Covid-19 threat, people shifted to hoarding eggs. Although Thailand produces more than 10 billion eggs a year, they disappeared from markets and stores for a few consecutive days since each household had amassed so many, probably enough to last one family a whole month.
Subsequently, egg hoarders become concerned their stocks would go off and many people worried they were eating too many. The answer is eggs are ideal for kids as they are high in protein and good for growth and development. Eggs are also nutritious for elderly people provided they do not eat too many in continuity and are not suffering from high levels of triglyceride in the blood.
In fact, having a lot of eggs is not really a problem because they are easily made into countless dishes for every meal. Many delicious recipes have eggs as a main ingredient while so many other dishes use eggs to compliment meat or vegetables. Furthermore, eggs are so easy to be created or modified into a new version of dishes.
While both duck and chicken eggs are suitable for making meals, duck eggs are integral to several old recipes when hen eggs were not widely available in the markets. Duck eggs are now used mainly for five-spice egg stew (kai palo), son-in-law egg (kai luk koei) and boiled eggs that form part of other dishes such as stewed pork leg, khao moo daeng (rice with Chinese red pork) and fried rice.
Duck eggs are less popular in household cooking due to the fishy smell and higher price. In general, Thai people are more used to eating chicken eggs.
Egg dishes are usually prepared by tod (fry), yam (spicy salad) and gaeng (soup). The most common dish is fried egg (kai dao) served for breakfast. Kai dao can be cooked in oil, water or microwave. Fried eggs can be well cooked, medium or slightly cooked, depending on preference.
Western-style omelette is also popular among Thai people as the cooking method can be easily learned from a cookbook or videos on YouTube.
A modified version of omelette is a onedish meal called kai kon na goong (creamy omelette with shrimp on rice). Scald shrimps in hot water until almost done and put them aside. Beat the eggs, add soy sauce, pepper and milk. Pour the beaten egg in a hot pan and stir lightly. When the egg is slightly thickened, add the shrimps and then place the mixture on top of rice. Alternatively, shrimps can be replaced by ham or sausage. Kids love this menu as it is very palatable and tasty especially when it is freshly cooked. Most importantly, it is a time-saving menu.
Thai omelette, of kai jeaw, is famously served as a one-dish meal, complimented by nam pla phrik (sliced bird’s eye chilli in fish sauce). There are several techniques to enhance the look and taste of omelette. Some people heat a lot of oil in the wok until it is very hot before pouring in the beaten eggs. Some hold the egg bowl pretty high above the pan and pour the beaten mixture into the hot oil to get a soft and crispy texture. Some add a couple of drops of lime juice to make the beaten eggs foamy and thus create a fluffy omelette. Others fry eggs with pickled garlic, shallots, melinjo leaves (a southern native vegetable called bai lieang) and bitter gourd.
Another type of dish is stuffed egg. The filling is prepared by frying minced pork with onion, string bean and tomato and seasoned to obtain the preferred taste. Place the filling at the centre of the thinly spread omelette and fold over the sides of omelette to form a square-shaped packet.
Amazingly, eggs can be made into a hot and spicy salad dish. The type we are most familiar with is sliced boiled eggs dressed with chopped shallots, chilli, lime juice and fish sauce.
An older version of egg salad is called yam taeng kwa with kai tom. It is as simple as tossing sliced boiled eggs with cucumber, shallots, chopped chilli and dousing with a mixture of fish sauce, lime juice and sugar. The dish is garnished with ground peanut and mint leaves before serving.
Another egg salad is made by splitting a boiled egg into four pieces and pouring over ajad sauce, a mixture of cucumber with sliced chilli, shallots, vinegar, salt and sugar. The sauce is typically served with pork or beef satay.
Thanks to the wild imagination of Thai people, we have such a menu as omelette soup. The dish is prepared by marinating mince pork with coriander root, garlic, salt and pepper. The mixture is pressed into small balls, and put in a boiling pot to make a soup. Make an omelette, break it into pieces and add in the soup. Add coriander and shallot just before it is done.
Perhaps the least-known egg dish is panaeng kai (boiled eggs with red curry sauce). Boiled eggs are halved and topped with a sauce made by frying panaeng curry paste in coconut milk, with an addition of ground peanut, seasoned with palm sugar and fish sauce. Toss sliced eggs in the sauce and garnished the dish with sliced kaffir lime leaves.
There are so many dishes prepared with eggs, and each recipe can be adjusted with no limit. Having too many eggs is not an alarming issue at all as eggs can be cooked very easily anytime. Even after the Covid-19 crisis is over, just keep on cooking eggs.