Just how many ways are there to eat eggs? As if there weren’t already enough, how about horse-urine soaked hard boiled eggs? That’s how my husband explained the tangy black eggs I selected and ate off a buffet in Malaysia before he had a chance to see what I had just popped into my mouth. They are century eggs, something quite common to the culture. Of course, he now explains, horse urine isn’t necessary anymore; there are other ways to get that flavor. All this begs so many questions that I won’t rehearse again here.
But my current intrigue with new ways to eat eggs comes from our frequent visits to a local Korean restaurant, where steamed eggs come with every meal. We fight over them. Why hadn’t we ever thought of this ourselves? After all, eggs are my husband’s favorite food, I discovered when we were in the dating quizzing phase. Steamed eggs are natural for the Korean culture, given the heavy granite bowls (dolsots) they cook in. We’ve experimented with steamed eggs ourselves now and think we are onto something novel to American tastes.
I must admit that while my husband was saving the best for last (egg yolks) for breakfast, lunch or dinner while growing up in Malaysia, I was avoiding them in Kansas. I didn’t eat my first fried egg until I was 16. It would have happened sooner at age 10 at a Campfire Girls outing when we made them on top of gypsy stoves. But my egg slipped off into the dirt. That was OK and maybe subconsciously planned. I didn’t like the idea of eating runny yolks. But at 16, I spent the night with a friend, and her dad made us fried eggs for breakfast. I’m pleased to say I was polite enough not to give a no-fried-egg confession or a pre-opinion. And it turns out, they were good.
I wondered the most popular ways they are served at restaurants in our country. Here’s a look at the top ways among the 580 restaurants, including chains, tracked by Chicago-based Mintel Menu Insights.
Top 10 menu items centered on eggs
|
Menu Item Dish |
Number of Items |
|
Breakfast - Omelette |
1,177 |
|
Omelette |
354 |
|
Egg |
156 |
|
Quiche |
130 |
|
Scrambled Eggs |
107 |
|
Frittata |
45 |
|
Huevos Mexicanos |
41 |
|
Poached Eggs |
21 |
|
Deviled Egg |
9 |
|
Peppers & Eggs |
7 |
|
Number of Items |
2,052 |
Source: Mintel Menu Insights
Jody Shee
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