Quail's Eggs

[itch22]

I picked up a dozen quail's eggs. Besides soft boiling them, what other methods suit these eggs well?

(EDITED to fix a typo.)

Edited February 1, 2005 by itch22 (log)

[Rachel Perlow]

Poaching, hard cooking (they make very cute deviled eggs), raw.

Click here for my extensive post about Quail eggs.

[itch22]

Thanks! Mini eggs benedict sound tedious but fun.

Any traditional Chinese methods and/or recipes though?

Edited February 1, 2005 by itch22 (log)

[Transparent]

I like eating them straight after being soft-boiled, but you can do a tong shui in a clay pot. I'm not sure what the method of boiling a clay pot with soup in it is called though. It's similar to poaching?

Anyway, here is a sort of "pictorial essay" on how to do it with pears: http://food.gd.sina.com.cn/foodiaryDetail.htx&id=185609

[hzrt8w]

I picked up a dozen quail's eggs.  Besides soft boiling them, what other methods suit these eggs well?

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Break the eggs and do a scrambled or omlette... then use minature knieves and forks to eat them! (Sorry, not very useful. But couldn't resist.)

[itch22]

then use minature knieves and forks to eat them!      (Sorry, not very useful.  But couldn't resist.)

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Ahem... You mean miniture chopsticks, right?

[Busboy]

Thanks!  Mini eggs benedict sound tedious but fun.

Any traditional Chinese methods and/or recipes though?

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I've heard that, because of their small size, you can use quail eggs to make thousand year eggs in only 400 years.

Sorry.

It also strikes me that you could do a fun variation on egg drop soup or what my cookbook calls Spinach Jade Soup, poaching the eggs whole in still water rather than swirling in a chicken egg while stirring for the traditional look and texture.

My knowledge of Chinese cooking is limited, but it strikes me that there are relatively few recipes that use whole eggs in any form, this limiting your ability to play around with quail eggs.

On the other hand, Asian markets are usually a good source for quail eggs, so they must be doing something with them.

[jackal10]

Mini Tea eggs

Mini versions of any egg dish. Good poached and dressed on a crouton or pastry boat with a suitable sauce

[Tepee]

We always have them in tong shui, either in ching po leong or pak kor foo chuk tong shui. For a period, we stopped eating them because some wise guy said that the cholesterol in quail eggs is very high. Lately, we heard from the national agricultural department that the cholesterol in 4 quail eggs is equivalent to a normal chicken egg. Eat on....

[aprilmei]

There used to be street vendors who would sell quail eggs roasted in salt. They were delicious; I'd eat a whole bag at once (that's 12). Can't find them any more.

[itch22]

There used to be street vendors who would sell quail eggs roasted in salt. They were delicious; I'd eat a whole bag at once (that's 12). Can't find them any more.

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Any idea on the specifics? Time, temperature, etc?

[aprilmei]

I wish I had asked how they cooked them. I never thought to ask because it used to be so easy to find the vendors so why should I bother doing it myself? But the HK government isn't granting licenses to street vendors any more, so it's getting hard to find the traditional food.

[chefzadi]

The Koreans eat them boiled, peeled and salted too. You could try cooking them in soy sauce aftewards to make a quail egg version of the hen egg dish. To make a side dish to be eaten with rice. There's a thread covering the specifics of the dish somewhere in the Asia forum.

In France they are cracked onto a crouton and cooked in the oven for a few minutes and served with a salad.

[chefzadi]

There used to be street vendors who would sell quail eggs roasted in salt. They were delicious; I'd eat a whole bag at once (that's 12). Can't find them any more.

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Any idea on the specifics? Time, temperature, etc?

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Bed of salt, quail eggs on top, cover with more salt roast in an oven. I've never tried it, but that's the way I would do it if I did. Maybe I should keep my mouth shut though. I just got visions of bursting eggs.

[hzrt8w]

Bed of salt, quail eggs on top, cover with more salt roast in an oven. I've never tried it, but that's the way I would do it if I did. Maybe I should keep my mouth shut though.  I just got visions of bursting eggs. 

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My reversed engineering idea would be:

Leave the 2 dozens of quail eggs in the bed of salt overnight, so that the salt can infiltrate a bit into the egg through the shells. (Or maybe a bath of brine)

And I would steam the whole bed of salt and eggs in a steamer instead of the oven. The street vendors Aprilmei mentioned used the steaming method.

Just theory though. Never tried it with eggs.

[chefzadi]

Bed of salt, quail eggs on top, cover with more salt roast in an oven. I've never tried it, but that's the way I would do it if I did. Maybe I should keep my mouth shut though.  I just got visions of bursting eggs. 

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My reversed engineering idea would be:

Leave the 2 dozens of quail eggs in the bed of salt overnight, so that the salt can infiltrate a bit into the egg through the shells. (Or maybe a bath of brine)

And I would steam the whole bed of salt and eggs in a steamer instead of the oven. The street vendors Aprilmei mentioned used the steaming method.

Just theory though. Never tried it with eggs.

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If it's steamed how is the finished product "roasted quail eggs?"

[TurtleMeng]

Not Chinese...but don't Japanese put the raw eggs on nigiri sushi? I always had my Hotate (scallop) ones with the little egg on top. They also put the raw stuff in rice to mix and eat.

When I was little, we always ate them (already boiled, from a can) with the hot pot--just put them in to soak up the flavor of the broth then eat them.

[aprilmei]

They weren't steamed, at least I don't think so. The vendors had a big bed of salt and they sifted through it to find the eggs. I assumed it was kind of like salt-baked chicken except that the eggs weren't wrapped in grease-paper like the chicken is.

I wondered how they did it because like chefzadi, I have images of bursting eggs if they were roasted without being cooked first. And I can't imagine street vendors having time or the facilities to brine all those eggs in advance, not when they're charging only a few HK$ for a bag of eggs. They don't make a whole lotta money, although knowing how frugal the older generations are, they probably have more savings than I do (and good for them, too!)

[chefzadi]

They weren't steamed, at least I don't think so. The vendors had a big bed of salt and they sifted through it to find the eggs. I assumed it was kind of like salt-baked chicken except that the eggs weren't wrapped in grease-paper like the chicken is.

I wondered how they did it because like chefzadi, I have images of bursting eggs if they were roasted without being cooked first. And I can't imagine street vendors having time or the facilities to brine all those eggs in advance, not when they're charging only a few HK$ for a bag of eggs. They don't make a whole lotta money, although knowing how frugal the older generations are, they probably have more savings than I do (and good for them, too!)

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They do seem to have a lot of money saved! I've noticed that too.

[hzrt8w]

They weren't steamed, at least I don't think so. The vendors had a big bed of salt and they sifted through it to find the eggs. I assumed it was kind of like salt-baked chicken except that the eggs weren't wrapped in grease-paper like the chicken is.

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Street vendors have specialized cooking utensils. Basically they need to build everything on top of a small cart (to be mobile). All they have for heating is a kerosene burner. Baking, as in using hot air, is an inefficient way of cooking compared to steaming -- because baking is an inefficient way of heat transfer compared to steaming.

I am not sure why the name used is the one usually associated with baking. Perhaps it sounds better in Cantonese. But the quail eggs you get some street vendors are steamed. In the winter time, you can see clouds of water droplets hovering around the cart.

The so-called "salt baked chicken" sold in restaurants these days... you think they really bake the chicken in a bed of salt in the oven? Think again. They boil the chicken in a brine solution with things like 5 spices added.

[itch22]

Well I haven't had this dish, but I am up for a challenge. I only have a dozen, but I am willing to experiment. Tonight I'll try some salt-steaming, and some salt baking, at various times and temperatures and see what happens. I might take some pictures to upload afterward.

[aprilmei]

They weren't steamed, at least I don't think so. The vendors had a big bed of salt and they sifted through it to find the eggs. I assumed it was kind of like salt-baked chicken except that the eggs weren't wrapped in grease-paper like the chicken is.

←

Street vendors have specialized cooking utensils. Basically they need to build everything on top of a small cart (to be mobile). All they have for heating is a kerosene burner. Baking, as in using hot air, is an inefficient way of cooking compared to steaming -- because baking is an inefficient way of heat transfer compared to steaming.

I am not sure why the name used is the one usually associated with baking. Perhaps it sounds better in Cantonese. But the quail eggs you get some street vendors are steamed. In the winter time, you can see clouds of water droplets hovering around the cart.

The so-called "salt baked chicken" sold in restaurants these days... you think they really bake the chicken in a bed of salt in the oven? Think again. They boil the chicken in a brine solution with things like 5 spices added.

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Actually, I really do think they're baked in salt, not boiled. Not necessarily in the oven, though. I made it once before and did it in the wok. There are restaurants that specialise in it (Hakka places) and also roast meat vendors sometimes sell it.

[chefzadi]

Two methods that could work:

Bake. Layer of salt in a baking dish, layer of eggs, salt on top. Low oven maybe 200 degrees. A baking dish filled with water on the lower rack of the oven to provide moisture, cook for a long, long time.

Steam: Bamboo steamer (less condensation that way). line steamer with cheesecloth, layer of salt, eggs, another layer of salt, steam on low heat for a long, long time.

I think the trick to the eggs is slow cooking. I've had hen eggs in Korea that were cooked in a sauna (think low heat and moist environment). Yes a sauna (don't ask). They were left in the sauna for hours and hours and hours. The result was remarkable. If an egg could be foie gras this would be it.

I think the baking method would give a superior finished product though. That "roasted" flavor.

[helenas]

If an egg could be foie gras this would be it.

i think Paula Wolfert and/or Adam Balic mentioned eggs baked in slow cooker (slowly of course) or in a very low oven ( temperature one can't get in a gas oven). The technique is from some Middle Eastern cusine i just don't remember what country.

The description was so enticing that i thought i should get a slow cooker just for making those eggs.

[chefzadi]

I've heard of eggs being buried in the ashes of a dying fire and being left overnight to cook. But I don't think it is practical for most of us to do. I've also heard of boiling eggs before baking them in the oven for much shorter cooking time than I think is neccessary to achieve the texture that I'm referring to.

I've seen those street food carts that were mentioned earlier in this post. I'm sure the ones in China or Hong Kong are pretty much the sames as they have in Korea. Some of them are quite state of the art. Mobile kitchens really.

My guess is that the methods I mentioned would simulate the cooking effect and approximate a similar finished product. Pan or wok roasting could work too, but the cooking time would have to be shorten.

Once I get a digital camera (within a month) I'll have to try at least one of proposed methods and provide a full report.