Eggs - Scrambled Correctly

Previous: Eggs - Ways to Boil

"Scrambled eggs on a slice of toast," said Isha, "makes an "egg-ceptionally" nutritious start to the day."

"Or if you wish to taste heaven in a hurry you could scramble a couple of eggs and roll them into a tortilla within 5 minutes."

"Yum," Hosh slurped, "So how do I cook them?"

She laughed and handed him an Ingredients List. It read:

• 2 eggs per person
• 1 teaspoon butter
• ¼ cup milk
• Salt and pepper to season

"Break the eggs into a glass bowl," she said, as she handed him the eggs.

"Whoopsie," he uttered, as he dropped an egg on the kitchen floor.

"Get salt and give it a good sprinkle," said Isha, "It'll clean up pretty easy. Use salt to scour non-stick pans too, instead of detergent."

He sprinkled the spill with salt and was amazed when it all mopped up rather easily. Once done, he broke two eggs into the glass bowl.

"Ma, why is one egg bright yellow and another pale?" he asked, "Is one better than the other?"

"The colour of yolk comes from what a hen eats," answered Isha, "According to the New Zealand Nutrition Foundation, the yolk's colour isn't an indication of how nutritious the egg is. So whether they are golden or pale yellow, yolks are all good!"

"But are eggs made by Cage hens, Colony hens or Free Range hens different?" he asked again, "I would suspect that the organic eggs or Free Range would be better."

"Free-range," said Isha, "evokes a positive image of chickens and turkeys running around outdoors in plenty of fresh air, sunshine and open space."

"Similarly, Cage-free conveys a similar impression of birds living "free" as nature intended. But realities behind Free-range, Organic, Certified Humane or Cage-free labels can be quite different."

"Birds may be sold as "free-range" if they have government certified access to the outdoors. But the door may be open for only five minutes a day and the farm still qualifies as free-range."

"Apart from the "open door", no other criteria such as environmental quality, number of birds, or space per bird, are included in the term free-range. So I can't say whether one is any better than the other."

"I would expect eggs from freely wandering fowl to be much better," said Isha, "but there has been limited reputable independent research on this. Studies done to date however, show no noticeable difference in nutrition."

Hosh nodded, put a saucepan on the stove, and waited.

"Put the butter in and melt it over medium heat," she instructed, "Reduce the heat to low when the butter starts bubbling."

"While the butter is melting, add milk, a pinch of salt and pepper to the egg bowl and stir or whisk it lightly. Then pour the beaten eggs in the saucepan. When it starts to set, stir the mixture gently with a wooden or plastic spatula until it forms soft curds and there is no runny egg left."

"Once the liquid has mostly set, you can add additional ingredients to taste in it, such as ham, herbs, cheese or cream."

"Eggs get cooked at very low heat. So, stir the mixture regularly and take it off the heat intermittently. Eggs should still be slightly under cooked when removed from heat, since they will continue to coagulate."

"If you follow this technique, you should get a moist texture and creamy consistency in your dish. If any liquid is still seeping from the eggs, you need to cook it more. Or it may be because you may have added undercooked high-moisture vegetables."

"Spoon the scrambled eggs onto a toast or tortilla when done."

"Is it possible Ma, to make scrambled eggs in a microwave oven?" Hosh asked.

"Yea," said Isha, "cook them for short bursts, stopping regularly to stir. It is quicker, but more likely to overcook. Also, the resulting texture may be inferior to a more traditional preparation method."

Next: Eggs – Anda Bhurji