Quail Eggs

[Rachel Perlow]

I just did a google search. Many sources said similar things about the nuturitional value being similar to chicken eggs. Like Steven mentioned in the Egg FAQ (in the eGCI), on average chickens lay one per day -- whether or not they are exposed to roosters. That is their ovulation cycle, just like human females ovulate (whether or not they are trying to conceive, and of course on a once a month cycle). So that is why your bird is laying eggs. Do a search on cocatoo eggs and see if you can find anyone else eating them, be sure to report back.

[lala]

I worked at a restaurant in England where one of the componants of an appetizer was a soft boiled, peeled quail egg (runny yolk)...what a pain in the butt!

That said, they sure are cute...

[Khadija]

How long does it take to hard-boil a quail egg (approximately)? How long for soft-boiled? If the latter, will they hold?

[Kent Wang]

With some salmon roe. Eggs in a egg, you know.

[Forest]

Wow, Rachel, thanks for such an informative post. I was planning on making quail eggs as an amuse for a dinner party tomorrow and thought I'd just peek here before attempting - very glad I did!

Kent, I liked your idea of the eggs on the eggs, so as you can see, I used it!

Thanks!

The watch is obviously there for scale - and won't be part of my amuse bouche tomorrow!

[rmillman]

Was inspired by this thread: cooked my quail eggs at constant temp 61C for 1 hour.

Served on a tasting soup spoon with a slice of fresh oregon white truffle and a pinch of Blis smoked sea salt. Went over very well.

[Forest]

rmillman - sounds good! (And this is probably a stupid question, but...) you mean you cooked them in the shells? then peeled them?

[rmillman]

Yes: I cooked the eggs in the shell. There is an extensive thread about sous vide/constant temp egg cooking elsewhere.

I find that you need to drop the temp .5-1C when using quail eggs compared to chicken eggs to get the same textures

[BRM]

I once made an appetizer that consisted of a steamed artichoke (those little ones you find in the stores in spring) that was trimmed and filled with a quail egg yolk, then topped with a little mornay sauce, a sprinkle of breadcumbs and run uder the broiler for a few minutes (slightly runny yolk). It was a bit of work but very tasty.

Also, for an over-the-top quail egg recipe I recommend the "Eggs and Bacon" from The French Laundry cookbook. I made it for a New Year's Eve dinner appetizer. It was fantastic.

[Forest]

BRM - that sounds good!

Eggs and Bacon sound nice, too!

I did these once as an appetizer and really liked them - simple, tasty and enjoyed by the guests. (I think you have to click on the link in the page that says 'spiced quail eggs' because there is no direct link to just that picture.)

[Nargi]

Ooh, I just thought of another canape. What is that egg dish where you punch a circle out of bread and fry the egg inside the slice of bread. I'm thinking "Toad in the Hole" but I'm pretty sure thats more akin go sausages in pancake batter or something.

Anyway, doing that with bread cut small for canapes with the quail egg in the middle. That would be so cute!

←

Toad in the Hole.

"egg(s) in the basket" is a variation, but as far as restaurants and such go, toad is generally what it's called.

[Peter the eater]

I finally found some quail eggs in my city - thanks for the tip, Mallet.

Unfortunately I hadn't found this thread before I hardboiled a bunch. Rachel Perlow's tinkering notes from post#1 are very useful, although I suppose the supporting images are long gone. A pinhole at the big end would have saved several of my eggs from cracking and spilling under heat. I should also have scrubbed them a bit better since the brown stuff on the shell shows up really easily on the cut whites.

I got 18 for 3 bucks, product of Ontario:

Compared to a large chicken egg:

Hardboiled on a garden salad:

And for dinner tomight with soft cheese, almonds, tomato salad and new potatoes:

[nakji]

My husband loves hard-boiled quail eggs in his bento - I think they're a pain to peel, so I just pop them in in their shell. Here I used some for a "Totoro" themed bento I made for our visit to the Ghibli museum in Mitaka, Japan.

They're quite common as a panchan in Korea, too, where they're served whole with salt and pepper for dipping, or included in potato salad.

But the best way I ever had them was hardboiled and wrapped in bacon. It was at a lunar New Year feast somewhere in Vietnam - they were the perfect little mouthful, although I can't imagine how long the ladies must have spent peeling them, because there was a huge platter for every table, and there had to be at least 100 people there.

[Jon Savage]

funny that this thread got bumped. I grabbed a bunch of Quail eggs last week and have been playing with them. The cutest and tastiest sunny side up eggs ever!

Was thinking about making deviled eggs with them and of course this thread has encouraged me to do just that.

The possibilities are endless .

[Peter the eater]

I got asked "what do they taste like?" and all I could think of was "tastes like chicken".

They're certainly smaller - and therefore cuter - beyond that, they just seem like mini-chicken eggs to me. Has anyone tried making a cake or souffle with them? I'm familiar with the richness of duck egg yolks, but I didn't get any of that from these little guys. Are all quail eggs made equal?

I think they're well suited to dishes where a small intact egg is suitable, like bento, banchan, deviled, pickled, salted or scotched (my next project).