Duck Eggs - What is the best way to cook them?

[Beth Wilson]

I just returned from my first farmer's market of the year with a dozen duck eggs. I have never had a duck egg so I was wondering if there was a preferred way too cook them?

Scrambling them seems a waste of a unique egg. Any Suggestions?

[heidih]

Years ago when I was gifting them to friends they swore by them in baked goods like cakes. At the time I could not experiment so no first hand experience.

[kayb]

My favorite is sunnyside up, per the technique I learned on the Breakfast thread; fry in your choice of fat (I like 1 tbsp butter, 1 tsp truffle oil) on low heat until white is no longer transparent. Gently add about 2-4 tbsp water to the pan, cover, and let it steam done. It's the most glorious egg you ever had.

[Norm Matthews]

Duck eggs have a larger size and a larger proportion of yolk to white. They taste about the same as chicken eggs but a little richer. Any way you like to prepare chicken eggs will give you great eggs. They are also great in cakes, as heidih mentioned.

[Beth Wilson]

My favorite is sunnyside up, per the technique I learned on the Breakfast thread; fry in your choice of fat (I like 1 tbsp butter, 1 tsp truffle oil) on low heat until white is no longer transparent. Gently add about 2-4 tbsp water to the pan, cover, and let it steam done. It's the most glorious egg you ever had.

Sounds good! Will have to try this way. I usually screw up the sunnyside and end up with a mess. Will check out the thread.

[liuzhou]

I nearly always use duck eggs rather than hen's. I love them poached.

[Keith_W]

A friend of mine who owns a patisserie told me that duck eggs should be substituted for hens eggs whenever possible. For example - egg tarts made from duck eggs have a richer, deeper flavour and will still look fresh hours after they are out from the oven. If you are selling egg tarts in a Yum Cha restaurant, this does not matter - because the tarts will be consumed soon after they are out of the oven. But if you are a patissiere - your tarts will be sitting on the shelf for hours afterwards. You need to make them with duck eggs.

[thirtyoneknots]

In the same vein, I worked at a place once that used them for pots de creme--brilliant. Based on that result I'd recommend them for any custard-type use.

Well, I had ice cream that used duck eggs once--I thought it was excessively eggy but it probably could have been tweaked to correct that.

[Twyst]

I picked some up on friday as well! I made duck egg pasta, then made raviolis stuffed with duck confit and mushrooms. I also added a whole duck egg yolk to the center of the raviolis. Drizzled a little port reduction underneath them when plating and that combined with the runny yolk made for a great sauce. Highly recommended!

[dockhl]

I just had duck egg Benedict (well, not exactly) ...........eggs poached a la Maggiethecat (perfect!), beautiful tomatoes from Paso Robles' Peacock Farms, crisp bacon and hollandaise. Wow, awesome ! I noticed that the whites were a little firmer than hens' eggs and more translucent. Delicious.

[Beth Wilson]

I noticed the yolk was really clear as well. Took some to my sisters this morning and she whipped up some awesome waffles. I left her a few to poach later in the week. I think I will try poaching them as well. The yolks are really large!