Steamed Egg (계란찜)

Yesterday, we had 11 eggs in the house. Today, we have none. I used 9 for the baby shower cake and my sister used two for pancakes. I was at the store twice yesterday, once after I used all the eggs, but didn't think to buy more because I was frantically trying to get home in time to finish the cake. So this morning, my sister didn't have any to make pancakes (she used flaxseed meal instead) and I didn't have any to make Lemon Pull-Apart Coffee Cake. Sad! No access to a car today, so I had to postpone that even longer than I already have.

We do try to keep eggs in stock all the time as it makes a frequent appearance in my baking. But not so much in our meals, which is sad because they are a great source of protein and there are a variety of ways to eat them! My breakfast one year in high school was rice and a fried egg. My parents ate egg and ham bagel sandwiches for breakfast for a while. I sometimes eat two eggs over easy, home fries, and fruit as an easy, simple meal. But before I discovered that nothing can beat breaking into a runny yolk, my favorite way to eat eggs were steamed. Steamed Egg is a staple side dish for our family. Whisking together eggs, water, and a bit of salt will yield a custard-type dish. Originally, in order to get the salty flavor, Koreans use salted fermented shrimp called Saewoojut, but it's hard to come by unless you're shopping at an Asian mart, so you can just use salt.



Because of the custard texture, it's best to eat this with a spoon. However, when my sister and I were younger, we would always compete against who could pick up more with chopsticks. At one point, I think it got too extreme because I remember my parents telling us to stop. I'm sure they just wanted to eat some, too, and stop us from hogging the whole dish.



Steamed Egg (계란찜)
From Maangchi

3 eggs
1/2 cup water
1/4 to 1/2 tsp salt (to taste)
1 scallion, chopped

In a bowl, beat the eggs. Add water and salt and mix well. Place chopped scallion on top. Do not mix.

In a large shallow pot, pour about 2 cups water. Place bowl with egg mixture in the center of the pot. Bring the water to a boil, reduce heat to low-medium, cover with lid, and steam for 15 minutes.

Alternative method: Put bowl with egg mixture into the microwave and cook it for 5 minutes. Make sure the bowl is microwavable.

Tortilla de Patatas

I started learning Spanish in middle school, carried on through high school, and thought I was going to major (or at least minor) in it at college. So I took three courses before I realized I had absolutely no time for a third program (Math and Teacher Education come first). For the first year, I had a young, hip professor that had just arrived from Spain. She was so nice and made the class a lot of fun, but we also got work done and actually learned something every class period. One time, her cousin was visiting her and she brought him to class so that we could use what we learned to ask him questions and have a conversation.

The day he was leaving, he decided to cook something for the class. He said this is a classic dish from Spain, the tortilla de patatas. Of course, it's nothing like the tortillas we use to wrap our burritos in, but more of an omelet with potatoes. It was my first time tasting this dish. Even though the dish is made of everyday ingredients, I don't know why I had never thought of combining the two together before. It certainly makes a filling omelet.

This recipe is actually a blend of many after I browsed and browsed. Apparently, most of the traditional recipes use one cup of oil to make this dish. I refuse to use that amount in any one dish, except when baking. Thankfully, I have a really good non-stick pan from IKEA. It was only 12 bucks for a 3-piece set and it's still working great after a year with no Teflon scratched off.



Tortilla de Patatas

- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp oil
- 1 small potato, sliced 1/8" thick
- 1/4 small onion, julienned
- 1/4 red bell pepper, julienned

1. In a bowl, beat the eggs until just scrambled. Set aside.
2. Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add onion, bell pepper and potato. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for a few minutes, reduce heat, and cover. Leave it for 3 minutes and uncover. Check on potatoes. If too black, reduce heat a bit more. Cover and leave for 3 minutes again. Uncover. Repeat this process until the potatoes are just tender.
3. Turn up the heat a little bit and add eggs. Run your spatula along the sides to let eggs run down. Let it cook until the top is just a little wet but not liquid, 5 to 7 minutes.
4. Grab a plate big enough to cover your skillet and plate it on top of the skillet. Invert the tortilla onto the plate. Place skillet back on heat and slide tortilla into skillet, uncooked side down. Cook for 2 to 4 minutes. Invert again onto a plate and serve!

Shoyu Tamago (Soy Sauce Eggs)

As a college student, I think about ways to save money frequently. There's not much that I spend money on, but the two areas where I can really save are textbooks and food. I've already figured out that I should look for international editions of textbooks on eBay. I did it for just two terms so far, but it has saved me tons of money since I ended up paying only a third of the original price!

When it comes to food, I'm a nerd. See, I plan my meals ahead. Is that weird? No one else I know that is my age does this so I feel like the odd one out, but it really helps me save. Everything gets eaten and so nothing is wasted. I do have extra cans of tuna, black beans, tomato sauce, etc around the house for those emergency days when I just don't have anything in mind, but the majority of my meals are planned. This is how I went to Paris this summer. And it will also be how I plan on traveling again this year.

I'm sharing quite an economical recipe today. Eggs are a good source of protein and seriously cheap. Even if you got the organic kind, one egg costs around a quarter. And there are so many ways to eat an egg. Poached eggs can go in sandwiches. Scrambled eggs can accompany a baked potato or stir-fry. Hard-boiled eggs can be chopped for salads. I'm even okay with hard-boiled eggs sprinkled with salt as a snack. But adding flavor, such as soy sauce as the following recipe does, can help mix it up.

Shoyu Tamago (Soy Sauce Eggs)
From Rasa Malaysia

- 4 hard-boiled eggs
- 5 tbsp soy sauce

1. Pour the soy sauce into a pan that is approximately 10 inches in diameter. Heat the soy sauce of medium-high heat. When the soy sauce starts foaming up, reduce the heat to medium heat and carefully add the eggs. Roll the eggs around in the soy sauce to coat them, and continue rolling them around the pan until the eggs are a dark mohagony color and the soy sauce has been reduced to a thick sludge.
2. Remove the eggs, letting any extra soy sauce drain off, and place on a plate to cool.
3. When the eggs have cooled completely, pack them into lunches or enjoy one as a snack. Just don’t leave them near my daughter, or else you’ll never get to have a bite!

By the time I had done Step 2, I was so hungry and ready to dive into my plate of food that I didn't wait until the eggs cooled to cut into them. Hence, the ugly mess that are the eggs in the picture, but you can see that the soy sauce has changed the eggs into a dark brown color. I should also work on my technique. I was cooking two other things while doing this, so I left the eggs in one spot for a bit which left a weird mark, so you should really keep rolling them around to get a nice even color.

Egg Drop Soup

The third and final recipe I'd like to share from my Sunday night's Chinese dinner is Egg Drop Soup. A very classic dish with basic Asian flavors and a little protein from the eggs. I love to eat this when nothing else seems too appealing and I don't want to put much effort into cooking. It's probably best if you use something with a spout so that the eggs can go in slowly as a thin stream. Otherwise, when using a bowl, the eggs come out and head straight for the bottom of the bowl and the thin stream doesn't work quite as well. Maybe that's just been my experience. But this time I did use a spout and the soup had pretty thin ribbons of eggs rather than scrambled eggs. I should try this method when I put eggs in my ramen. I don't do it too often because it makes the broth ugly, but this might be better.

I didn't have mushrooms so I left that out, but I think it would've made the soup even better. I love shiitake mushrooms and those would be fantastic in this.

Egg Drop Soup

- 3 eggs, lightly beaten
- 4 cups broth
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 1/2 tsp minced ginger
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 3 scallions, chopped
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
- 3/4 cup mushrooms [omitted]

1. Reserve 1/2 cup of stock and mix it with the cornstarch until dissolved. Set aside.
2. Add the rest of the broth, the ginger, soy sauce, scallions, mushrooms, and white pepper into a pot and bring to a boil. Add the cornstarch mixture and reduce heat to a simmer.
3. Slowly add in the eggs while stirring the soup. Turn off the heat and garnish with more chopped scallions. Serve.