When it comes to cooking basics, learning how to make good scrambled eggs is one of the foundational skills. While it only uses a few ingredients and a few steps, the process is a little bit deceptive. As easy as it seems, there are plenty of ways to mess up your scrambled eggs that you might not know about—cooking them too hot, not moving them enough, adding extra ingredients and so on.
Even if you do cook them well, though, you might not know just how versatile this simple recipe can be. As it turns out, different parts of the world have their own unique takes on this iconic dish and all of them can be done perfectly. Fortunately, professional chef and television personality Jamie Oliver has all the necessary steps to walk you through the process. Without further ado, here are three ways to make perfect scrambled eggs: English-style, French-style and American-style. So let’s do it.
English Style
In this version of the recipe, your eggs will end up buttery with medium curds though still packed with plenty of moisture. The recipe highlights very little except the flavor of the eggs, with a little butter for good measure.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- 2 barn or free-range eggs (per person)
- 1-2 tablespoons of butter
- salt
Here’s what you do:
1. First, get a small sauce pot and set it over medium heat. In a side bowl, crack your eggs and whisk them up with a fork to get some air into them. After your pan has heated, put a knob of butter in your pan, put a pinch of salt in the eggs and drop them in the pan.
2. Because the pan is hot, it will likely start to set already—use a spatula to break it up gradually and slowly, moving it around the pan about every five seconds. No need to add cream or anything else!
3. After the eggs are gooey and broken into fine curds without being too dry, they’re just about done! Take the pan off the heat and scoop all the eggs into one corner of the pan to prevent them overcooking. Get some toast and scoop the eggs onto it for a perfect open-face breakfast sandwich!
French Style
This recipe is a little bit fancier than the more rustic version above. Though it still uses no fancy ingredients, the end result is a very fine, very rich egg with a creamy mouthfeel.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- 2 barn or free-range eggs (per person)
- 2 cups of water
- 1-2 tablespoons of butter
- heatproof glass bowl
1. First, crack your eggs into a heatproof glass bowl and whisk them up. In the meantime, get a wide saucepan and fill it with about an inch of water, bringing it to a boil.
2. Once the water is hot enough, take the entire bowl and set it gently on top of the boiling water pan, so that the bottom of it is dunked in the water but not touching the bottom.
3. Let it cook for a while, whisking occasionally to keep moving everything around. After about six minutes, curds should begin to form. At this stage, throw in a knob of butter and some salt and move it around with a spatula instead of a whisk.
4. After the eggs begin to look creamy and congeal, scoop them out of the pan onto some bread.
American Style
If you don’t like either of the two recipes, the American version is a nice balance of the two. Done properly, you’ll have a nice balance of soft creaminess as well as some more substantial curds.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- 2 barn or free-range eggs (per person)
- 1-2 tablespoons of butter
- salt
1. Like the other recipes, begin by cracking your eggs into a mixing bowl and whisking them up. Add a little salt and throw a knob of butter in a frying pan over medium heat.
2. When the pan is hot, drop your eggs in and don’t move them at first. As the heat causes them to set almost immediately, use a spatula to gently pull the eggs in from the outside in to make bigger egg curds.
3. Keep gently moving the eggs around the pan, folding them over one another so that some parts are soft and others are more cooked. Pull them out of the pan before they overcook!
Although the ingredients are the same in all the above recipes, the results couldn’t be more different! If you’ve given these recipes a try, which version is your favorite? Let us know by leaving a comment and as always, happy cooking!
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