The Egg Sandwich

[petite tête de chou]

The key to a good egg sandwich is how the egg is cooked. I like the bacon fat or butter to be a bit too hot so that the edges of the egg curl a bit and turn brown and crispy. A bit of a runny yolk is good but not required. If enough fat is used to fry the eggs it will soak into the lightly toasted bread, so other than salt and pepper no other condiment is needed. I do occasionally enjoy mayonnaise, ketchup and Tabasco but the simplicity of just egg and bread is enormously appealing.

[weinoo]

The key to a good egg sandwich is how the egg is cooked. I like the bacon fat or butter to be a bit too hot so that the edges of the egg curl a bit and turn brown and crispy. A bit of a runny yolk is good but not required. If enough fat is used to fry the eggs it will soak into the lightly toasted bread, so other than salt and pepper no other condiment is needed. I do occasionally enjoy mayonnaise, ketchup and Tabasco but the simplicity of just egg and bread is enormously appealing.

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This is almost exactly how I prepared them this morning; I say almost because I don't really think you gain by having the fat too hot. Why burn a perfectly cooked egg?

But similarly, no cheese, no bacon - just the egg and bread.

[snowangel]

Runny-yolked egg sandwiches eaten by kids in a car are the reason that the yolk is "poked" and sort of stirred in and cooked hard. Especially if one has that velour upholstery on the car seats.

[scubadoo97]

Runny-yolked egg sandwiches eaten by kids in a car are the reason that the yolk is "poked" and sort of stirred in and cooked hard.  Especially if one has that velour upholstery on the car seats.

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Sounds like you are speaking from experience

[Chris Hennes]

Inspired by this topic I decided to make one of these for lunch today. Admittedly, with six slices of homemade bacon on it it was more a bacon-sandwich with a side of eggs, but it was pretty damned fine nonetheless. That's applewood-smoked pepper-cured bacon and Dietz & Watson hot pepper cheddar on there:

[PopsicleToze]

That looks delicious -- and you're making one girl very sorry she stooped to a Wendy's crispy chicken sandwich.

At least I can make up for it when I get home.

Rhonda

Edited June 19, 2009 by PopsicleToze (log)

[Lactic Solar Dust]

I've been making fried egg sandwiches for several years and try different variations to avoid burnout and sustain my affection for eggs. My latest trend is to fry an egg in extra-virgin oil over medium heat with fresh marjoram, oregano, and chili flake sprinkled on top basting the egg with the oil as it cooks (yolk broken). Grill a few spears of asparagus. Toast 2 slices of nice crusty Italian bread and assemble with a slice of a nice melting cheese, e.g. fontina, fresh mozzarella, scamorza, etc...

[Stephanie Brim]

These are one of my favorite things to eat for breakfast on a lazy day. I do both scrambling and broken yolk depending on how I feel that day. No cheese, no meat. I generally toast the bread I'm using, smear it generously with butter, and add the egg between the bread. Top with a little pepper and that's that.

[gus_tatory]

my .02$: my platonic dream of an egg sandwich is: oozy yolk on the fried egg, lacy almost-burnt filigree on the edges of the white, crusty Portuguese roll, crispy bacon and HP sauce (brown sauce to the Brits).

in the 'gilding the lily' category, i would put caramelized onions, capers thrown in the brown butter from the fried egg then on the roll, cracked back pepper, mayo...

[DanM]

A question for everyone. Should the bread or bun be toasted and buttered, or served fresh?

Dan

[Chris Hennes]

I like it both ways: if I'm putting bacon on, I toast, if it's just egg, I tend to leave the bread fresh.

[ElsieD]

A question for everyone. Should the bread or bun be toasted and buttered, or served fresh?

Dan

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Toasted, no butter.

[weinoo]

A question for everyone. Should the bread or bun be toasted and buttered, or served fresh?

Dan

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In the "classic" New York bodega/deli egg sandwich, it's an untoasted, buttered Kaiser roll.

[docsconz]

Not just toasted, but grilled!

[Pierogi]

A question for everyone. Should the bread or bun be toasted and buttered, or served fresh?

Dan

Toasted. Sandwich bread.

Absolutely toasted in case you get lucky enough to get the runny yolk goodness. The toast will stand up to it, and soften everso wonderfully with it. Plus you get the added benefit of well, toast.

No butter for me, that would clash (shudder) with the ketchup.

[Fat Guy]

Should the bread or bun be toasted and buttered, or served fresh?

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I don't think there's an official answer here. Even in the standard NY deli, where the default is an untoasted, unbuttered kaiser roll, you can generally ask for it buttered, toasted, or both. I know one person whose standard order is toasted and buttered with salt and pepper. I don't particularly favor it that way. Some breads benefit from toasting more than others. A kaiser roll, to me, is at its best when served untoasted -- so long as it's very fresh.

[MomOfLittleFoodies]

Scrambled egg sandwiches were a frequent weekend lunch when I was growing up. Nothing fancy, just scrambled eggs on white bread with mayonnaise.

These days, when I make a scrambled egg sandwich, I use buttered toast rather than white bread with mayo, and sometimes I'll add bacon.

For a fried egg sandwich, I definitely prefer a not runny yolk.

[Fat Guy]

Our friend Sean, who is a co-owner of a large diner-type operation, made egg sandwiches for us for breakfast. The egg sandwich that he prefers to make at home, which he refers to as "the Perfect," consists of one fried egg (with salt and pepper), ham and cheese on a toasted buttered English muffin. Sean argues for ham on the basis not only of taste but of convenience: it takes no additional time to cook, it holds well in the refrigerator, makes no discernible mess.

An excellent sandwich, albeit not terribly portable on account of being made with a sunny-side-up egg. Still, great for eating over a plate at the table.

[patti]

When I was growing up, we didn't call them "broken yolk" egg sandwiches, simply hard fried egg sandwiches. While toasted bread is essential to most of my favorite sandwiches, not so for the fried egg. Soft white bread, hard fried egg fried in bacon fat with crispy and browned edges, mayo on one side of the bread, mustard on the other. Salt and lots of black pepper on the egg.

Heaven.

[Lapin d'Argent]

Had my first "real" fried egg sandwhich last weekend. It came from Verrill Farm in Concord, MA, of all places -- a local, well known farm stand that supplies produce to most of the best restaurants in Boston.

There was a guy out front at a table in the blazing sun with a couple of butane burners, a basket of fresh eggs, a pan of cooked bacon, toasted english muffins, and sliced white cheese. He cooked the eggs to order with the classic broken yolk, and wrapped them in foil. We ate them in the car on our way to the next food-purchasing venue. My husband didn't want bacon, so the guy cooking gave me extra!

They were Pretty Good.

However, the previous weekend I had made my own favorite: 2 egg whites (I don't really like the flavor of yolk -- HEY, this is about ME, OK?), fried in good olive oil; lots of sea salt and freshly ground pepper; toasted ciabatta; and wild arugula from the garden tossed with olive oil, and tiny bit of thick balsamic vinegar.

Now THAT was an egg sandwich.

Many people do not appreciate the sublime subtlety of a properly fried egg white. That is so disappointing.

- L.

Edited August 18, 2009 by heidih (log)

[mizducky]

While I have fond regard for the traditional egg over/yolk-broken/crusty roll formulation, when I've made egg sandwiches for myself at home I mostly find myself making a thin omelette and then sliding it into a whole wheat pita. This may have more to do with the fact that I somehow feel more reliable at making a good omelette than a good fried egg, yolk broken or not. (And that I eat a whole lotta whole wheat pita.)

But a fried egg is a glorious thing. At the risk of topic drift, I must sing the praises of those com tam combos at my favorite Vietnamese restaurant that include a (perfectly) fried egg with runny yolk--the yolk and some bi mixed into the hot rice is a thing of beauty.

I also live in The Land of Breakfast Burritos. Eggs scrambled with machaca and wrapped in a super-fresh flour tortilla is another thing of beauty.

[fooey]

It's a Cajun country staple as well and made simply:

-fried egg over hard (never, ever runny), fried in old oil (from leftover roux-making) or bacon fat (solidified in a jar near the stove) or butter

-salt

-tons of black pepper (20! turns with the pepper mill)

-couple dashes of Tabasco or Louisiana hot sauce (yeah, there are many, not just Tabasco)

-never lettuce, cheese, or meat

-always served on untoasted white bread (the Wonderbread kind)

-sometimes mayo, but only if eaten immediately (else, would sour from the heat of the egg)

-wrapped in aluminum foil and taken to work or on the school bus

We made them with duck or guinea hen eggs (also known as conehead eggs because they're pointy at one end) and sometimes goose eggs (which are large eggs and would make two sandwiches or a triple-decker (bread slice, 1/2 goose egg, bread slice, other half, bread slice), my favorite!)

I can't tell you how much Grand Dame, one of our geese, hated me. I was always stealing her eggs for egg sandwiches!

Edited August 19, 2009 by fooey (log)

[Aloha Steve]

I remember going to work with my Dad to his Jackson Heights, Queens store on Saturday mornings.

We would drive in from Nassau County and by the time we got there I would be ready to have breakfast.

Dad would drop me off at the diner, two blocks away to bring the food to the store.

I would order and watch the cook make it, the same order the same way every single time.

First he put a spoon of butter in two spots on the grill, then he'd take two eggs and crack them simultaneously one each hand on the melted sizzling butter. The eggs would bubble around the edges, he'd cut two seeded rolls, on a piece of paper each, smear butter on the inside of the top, this would take about a minute, then back to the grill, poke the yoke, put two strips of beacon on each, and ten seconds later flip over. Lift off the grill and put on roll, warp and I'd be good to go.

I was a bit young but I'd drink it with a REGULAR coffee and it was yummy.

Thanks for the thread it brings back great memories.

Edited August 19, 2009 by Aloha Steve (log)

[tmriga]

Oh, gosh, I can remember when the price of these went from 25 cents to 30 cents, and my Mother bitching about the hike.

Taking this classic and adding ketchup is to some New Yorkers like taking a Sabrett's frank and adding mustard - it just adds some zing to it. Depending on how fresh the roll is, it also adds the wetness needed to swallow it.

The procedure for making this staple of New York City cuisine may vary from borough to borough. In Manhattan, it's done pretty much the traditional way, breaking the yolk. But out near Jamaica Bay, on Cross Bay Boulevard, there's a small store, the only one open at 5 AM, that fries the egg hard, no yolk broken. He doesn't toast the roll, either. His most important rule - bacon, yes - cheese, never.

I recently discovered Thomas' Everything Bagels, both regular-sized and the mini's. Unlike true bagels, with the crispy crust and chewy crumb, these are soft all the way around and through. Toasted, these bagels make a fabulous substitute for the kaiser roll. I occasionally use them for my egg sandwiches, and for fat, juicy cheeseburgers.

Day-old, toasted challah also makes a great egg sandwich.

Theresa

[Toliver]

Adding cheese is just gilding the lily. It's not part of the original sandwich but is a decadent addition.