Tortang Talong Ginilinga (top left), among other dishes at the Wooden Spoon (Source: Wooden Spoon Facebook page)
With Easter just around the corner, eggs take center stage as families gather around to mark the occasion. For those with an undeniable love for those oozing yellow egg yolks or whites poached to perfection, these delightful offerings will take your taste buds for a ride, instead of the usual hunt.
Eggstra Banana Ketchup
Tortang Talong Giniling is a simple Filipino dish made with roasted eggplants and lightly beaten eggs. Whole eggplants are dipped into the egg mixture and pan-fried until it begins to resemble a crispy omelette. Often mixed with additional ingredients like ground pork, this versatile delicacy can be found at cafes like the Wooden Spoon, and is traditionally served with steamed rice topped with either tomato or banana ketchup. It takes little preparation and you can eat it at any time of the day.
A Pot of Gold
Deep in the core of Khua Kling Pak Sod’s Khai Phalo, a common Thai egg stew, is the well-known Chinese five-spice mix. Shelled, hard-boiled eggs are cooked in a soy sauce-based broth, with meat (usually chicken wings or pork), coriander seeds, chicken stock, palm sugar, and seasonings. The egg whites turn into a brownish color from the stewing process of the sweet and savory brown gravy, setting off a unique fragrance. This Chinese-inspired dish is typically consumed when hot and served with Thai curry and sides of steamed jasmine or sticky rice.
Khai Phalo (Source: Khua Kling Pak Sod’s Website)
R-eggs to Riches
Wake up your taste buds with Pong Mouan Snol, a Cambodian omelette, filled with pork, green onions, and pickled cabbage. Bringing together a burst of flavors, the egg is both salty and sweet. Accompanied with pork, the pickled cabbage (common Chinese condiment) is used sparingly due to its high salt content. Mixed with the mushroom soy sauce and brewed with soybeans, straw and shiitake mushrooms that tie the similarities of Chinese, Thai, and Cambodian flavors, this omelette can be found along local streets.
Pong Mouan Snol Omelette (Source: Tara’s Multicultural Table Website)
The Yolk’s on You
Dangerously addictive, salted eggs have grown into an Asian phenomenon, jumping out of the pot and into everything else. Available in the form of chips or as additions to rice bowls, Easter isn’t complete without this popular twist on eggs. IRVINS Salted Egg Fish Skin chips have given new life to salted egg yolk – turning it from a condiment into a snack that is flying off the shelves. IRVINS has also launched rice takeaway bowls with Salted Egg Rice, Truffle Rice and Truffle Noodles, all paired with chicken or calamari. If you’re looking to take your yolk obsession up a notch, you have to try the sides like salted egg fries, and salt and pepper fried chicken.
Irvin’s Salted Egg Chicken Rice (Source: Mothership)