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Ingredients
4
eggs
¼
¼
1
teaspoon salt
teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
scallion including some of the greens, finely chopped or 1 tablespoon fresh chives,
finely chopped
¾
1
teaspoon fresh tarragon, finely chopped or ¼ teaspoon dried tarragon, crumbled
teaspoon vegetable oil
1
teaspoon butter
Procedure
1
2
. Scramble the eggs lightly in a bowl with salt, pepper, scallion or chives and tarragon.
. Heat a heavy medium skillet on high heat for 2 to 3 minutes until very hot. You may
use a wok instead. Have a wooden spoon and two warm plates ready.
. Add oil and butter to the skillet, spread around by tilting the pan and when the butter
3
sizzles quickly add the eggs. Stir gently but constantly with the wooden spoon so all the liquid
egg is in contact with the hot metal surface. The eggs should set in 15 to 30 seconds. Quickly
scoop them onto two plates before they dry out. Sprinkle the eggs with a dusting of paprika and
garnish with long slivers of scallion greens or chives.
Makes two portions.
Both the white and yolk of egg coagulates when exposed to heat. Very few foods go
through such a drastic change so suddenly under heat. To watch this process, add well-mixed
eggs slowly into simmering chicken stock, stirring constantly. The egg solidifies immediately
and transforms that ordinary stock into egg-drop soup! Or beat up an egg and pour it into a very
hot oiled pan. In less than a minute you have coagulated it into scrambled eggs.
I already discussed above that egg whites coagulate at a slightly lower temperature than
yolks. Frying an egg sunny side up illustrates this”. The white coagulates between 144°and
1
49°F (63°and 66°C). At the lower end of this range the white turns jelly-like, and raising it just
a few degrees more, it firms up. The yolk starts to coagulate close to the point where the white is
already firm, 149°F (66°C). It has to reach 158°F (71°C) to become solid. Adding ingredients,
such as sugar or milk, increases the coagulation temperature for both whole scrambled eggs and
for scrambled yolk. Custard, for instance, which contains lot of milk and sugar, doesn’t coagulate
until 190°F (88°C). Any sweetening or diluting with another liquid does the same. Adding acid
or salt to eggs, on the other hand, lowers the coagulation temperature. These are important facts
to remember.
Two areas of cooking with eggs take some caution. One is cooking eggs on direct heat,
such as frying. Slow cooking over low heat is the key here. Start off with a medium-hot pan to
avoid sticking, even if your pan is non-sticking. The eggs should be at room temperature so
adding them doesn’t chill the fat in the pan. Reduce the heat to low and cover the pan. The
accumulating trapped steam helps to speed cooking the egg white. Once cooked through,
continue cooking without cover until the egg yolks coagulated to your liking. Or flip it over for
just a few seconds to finish cooking both whites and yolks and remove at once.
The second precautions is when you use eggs to thicken and bind a liquid (puddings,
custards) in which case you dilute the eggs in plenty of liquid. This is the more difficult task. The
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