"I didn't even know I was hungry" (The Food Appreciation Thread)

There are many ways to prepare eggs, and while I was raised with them, I learned very early on I just don’t like them runny. Now my brother, he preferred them poached or in an omelet (at least for several years in grade school. don’t right know what he does on his own now). Me, I much prefer the hard side of things, but I also value a little bit of a “surprise me” factor. I also like things a bit on the plain side, so salt and pepper are right out.

That’s only even talking about plain eggs. They can taste quite different in other contexts, such as when we drop them into Shin Ramyun, or add them into a nice bowl of bibimbap. They can be “deviled”, sauced/spiced/herbed in a number of ways (my mother is a pretty big fan of chopped leek/scallion), hard-boiled and soaked in a tea-spice-soy concoction...

As far as the rubbery whites goes, a little less hard heat can make them a little less rubbery (more moisture + less structure), but that is fundamentally what cooked egg white does, so any effect desired otherwise is about working around this. A slow heat is used for a great many techniques. For instance, a lot of scrambled egg recipes call for you to mix in cream or the like, and to take it off the heat often so that the pan does the cooking.

Also, a great many recipes fry the egg in something or other, even though this is not strictly necessary. Butter is a common choice, but it is not my personal preference, except with scrambled eggs where it is a flavor/brownness contributor. I’ve gotten some crispy results frying in oil (plenty of oil).

You can probably tell I’ve done some experiments with this. It’s one of like four culinary tasks I’m trusted to do in this house (fair or not, it’s not my kitchen). I value the experimentation as much as I value a good cookbook; it builds an intuition. Fortunately for the aspiring basic cook, eggs are fairly forgiving, and visually indicative of results.

i talk too much about things i don’t actually know while half-asleep

summary: For typical cooked proteins, the desired goal is an even heat distribution and limited moisture loss, although the requisite form of heat varies depending on what is cooked. From the sound of things, this egg was done on higher heat than desirable. Lower heat and more time would fare better in this case, even for the same level of doneness.