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During my childhood, we would have fried boiled eggs (or thrice cooked eggs) and sambal sauce over some rice for dinner. That's it. We couldn't afford some fancy food like meat nor seafood; sometimes we would have breadcrumbs instead of rice if times were really bad. Sad but fond memories indeed.
I thought of re-creating that dish, but I have a fried boiled egg recipe already (with sambal hijau). So I decided to try something different. Something Thai. Khai Jiao aka Thai Fried Eggs is a very popular Thai dish; you can find this dish on the streets or in some fancy restaurants. Khai Jiao will be perfect with the sambal sauce.
Do not expect some smooth, no browning, elegant French omelette. This is a crispy, fluffy and greasy omelette. All you need is just 2 ingredients: eggs and fish sauce (which Thais will always have in their pantry). Tips for a successful Khai Jiao are all written in the directions down below. Let's get started with the recipe.
Ingredients:
(Serve 2)
Sambal Sauce:
High Quality Olive Oil, 1 TBSP
Yellow Onion Thinly Sliced, 1
Sea Salt, Pinch
Gula Melaka / Palm Sugar, Pinch
Garlic Finely Minced, 3 Cloves
Ginger Finely Minced, 1"
Dried Curry Leaves, Pinch or Fresh Curry Leaves, A Handful
Sambal Homemade, 2 TBSP
Tomato Puree, 1 TBSP
Oyster Sauce, 1 TBSP
Fried Eggs:
Grapeseed / Peanut / Sunflower Oil, For Frying
Eggs, 2
Worchestershire Sauce or Fish Sauce, 2 TSP
Garnishes:
Pickled Cucumbers & Onions Homemade, A Couple Each
Scallions Finely Chopped, A Handful
Equipment:
Cast Iron Skillet
Directions:
Please visit my "How To Make Sambal" page for the recipe.
Please visit my "How To Pickle Almost Anything" page for the recipe.
Prepare the sambal sauce.
In a skillet over medium heat, add olive oil.
Once the oil is heated up, add in the onion.
Season with salt and gula melaka.
Saute until lightly caramelized.
Add in garlic, ginger and curry leaves.
Saute until aromatic.
Add in sambal and saute until well combined.
Deglaze with 1/4 cup of water.
Add in tomato puree and oyster sauce.
Mix until well combined.
Bring it up to a slow simmer.
Taste and adjust for seasonings with salt and gula melaka.
Give it a final stir. Remove from heat and set aside.
Prepare the fried eggs.
I am using a separate small skillet which is just enuff to fry 1 egg at a time. This is for presentation purposes. You can, however, use another skillet or dutch oven to fry 2 eggs at 1 go.
In a skillet over medium high heat, add in 2 inches of oil.
While waiting for the temperature to be ready, whisk eggs and Worcestershire sauce until well combined with a fork.
*When you lift up the fork, the beaten eggs should flow smoothly.
To check the temperature of the oil, insert a wooden chopstick. If bubbles form around the chopstick, the oil is ready.*
Carefully, add in the beaten eggs.
It should puff and bubble up rapidly.
Once the bottom is golden brown, carefully flip and fry for 30 secs.
Remove from heat and transfer onto the sambal sauce.
Garnish with pickled cucumber and onions.
Sprinkle scallions over the top.
Serve immediately.
I like to serve my fried eggs with some butter toasted bread.
The perfect bite?
Recipe Video:
This recipe is featured in my ECookbook: