Food: Cracking Eggs For Every Meal

Egg lovers can rejoice! News that eggs marked with the British Lion are safe for everyone to eat – even runny or raw – is the perfect way to celebrate National Egg Day on Friday, October 13. If you’re an old-time egg addict or someone who’s  previously stayed away from eggs, there’s never been a better time to explore London’s best egg dishes.

Breakfast

For breakfast (or brunch if you have the luxury of a late morning) look no further than the Mediterranean.

Turkish people start their day with a rich and hearty feast that often includes cheese, vegetables, meats, soup and of course egg.

There’s a whole range of Turkish egg dishes, of which menemen is the most famous: a type of scrambled egg with green pepper, tomato, onion and garlic.

Though menemen gets the popular vote we think the sumptuous çılbır (left) is hard to beat. This traditional Turkish food is made with poached eggs, yogurt and garlic and will have hollandaise fighting for its place on your breakfast table.

Try both and more at Yosma in Baker Street and Babaji on Shaftsbury Avenue. Make sure to wash your eggs down with a cup of unbeatable coffee. Turkey is so obsessed with the drink that they even name meals by it; the Turkish for breakfast translates as “before coffee”.

If Turkey doesn’t tempt you, head around the Mediterranean for some shakshuka (left) – North African baked eggs with spices, herbs, tomato and onion.

Shakshuka has exploded onto the London culinary scene in recent years with every brasserie offering up a version of this simple dish.

Even after you’ve crossed off anywhere that bakes the yolk solid (sacrilege) it’s nigh-on impossible to choose a best. We like the original style at Honey & Co in Warren Street and Cafe Loren in Camden, a shakshuka specialist which offers several takes on the eggy delight.

Lunch

When it comes to eggs and lunch it’s hard to beat two culinary classics: scotch eggs and omelettes.

The world and its grandmother has a personal omelette recipe so it’s pretty difficult (read: delicious) to narrow choices down.

Iran has a beautiful take on the omelette called kuku (left). Kuku combines whipped egg with a whole array of ingredients and is so stuffed full that the amount of herbs alone usually exceeds the amount of egg. Walnut and berries are the favourite topping, though there are plenty of variations.

Sabzi contains leafy vegetables from coriander to fenugreek that turn it dark green and sib zamini is made with potato, garlic, saffron and sometimes cinnamon. Gitane in Fitzrovia offers a sabzi version and a roasted cumin and cauliflower one, while the aptly named Kuku Kitchen in Brixton offers a changing range on its mouthwatering menu.

For a traditional omelette with an unusual twist head to Finsbury Square’s Modern Pantry, which offers three phenomenal takes: shiitake mushroom, coconut, soy with lemongrass sambal; sugar-cured prawn with smoked chilli, spring onion and coriander; and dhansak spiced veal mince with feuilletine and puffed wild rice.

There’s stiff competition but Borough Market houses some of the best scotch eggs in London.

Scotchtails’s meat wrapped, breaded and deep-fried beauties hold more artistry than many Turner Prize winners and there’s a big enough menu to keep everyone happy, including vegetarians. 

For a proper pub scotch egg paired with a pint, opt for the Harwood Arms or The Sands End, both in Fulham. If scotch eggs make you think of heavy meat and grease, then head to Muriel’s Kitchen for the much lighter scotch egg salad.

Dinner

For dinner we advise taking a trip to Asia. It’s hard to find a country that uses eggs quite like Japan – the Japanese will happily use raw egg for dipping, pouring and dressing just about anything.

Sometimes simple really is best when it comes to eggs and Japan’s katsudon (left) is a perfect example: breaded pork cutlet cooked in a mix of egg, onion, soy, stock and sweet mirin, all placed on a steaming bowl of rice.

The result is sweet, salty and so very satisfying. If pork isn’t for you there’s a similar chicken version rather grimly named oyakodon – literally “mother and child”. Find katsudon at family run Sushi-waka in Camden or both at Nagoya in Marylebone.

Dotori in Finsbury Park offers katsudon as part of its Japanese range but it also does Korean cuisine, bringing us to bibimbap.

Proper bibimbap is not for the faint-hearted egg fan as the bowl of rice, pickled vegetables, meat and spicy sauce is traditionally topped off with a raw egg that cooks as you stir it round the sizzling stone bowl.

If you’ve never had the pleasure, you should know that raw egg and rice are a match made in heaven. Not only does the combination stick together making it much easier to use chopsticks but the resulting flavour is creamy, rich and incomparable. Now you’ve got the go ahead, try out a touch of raw egg bibimbap at Dotori, Bibimbap in Soho and Piccadilly’s Yori.

 

by Jo Davey

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