In Kuala Lumpur, our satellite service has the Asian Food Channel instead of the Food Network but the concept is the same: Lots of shows with people cooking or traveling around the world and eating and cooking. Through AFC, I have been introduced to many chefs and cooks who have inspired me to try different methods and different foods. One of these is Kylie Kwong.
Kylie is an Australian of Chinese descent and she often invites her mother to join her in the kitchen during her shows. She has a restaurant in Sydney where her dishes are Chinese with an Australian flair, with a great emphasis on fresh, lively ingredients with lots of spark and chili. Last year I watched her make a duck egg omelet on the beach at a family get-together and I wanted to try duck eggs. You know, just to see if they were any different from hens’ eggs.
Saturday at the farmers’ market I had my first chance. Duck eggs were 50 cents a piece, so I bought six. Pricey, I suppose, if that was going to be the only eggs you bought and used but $3 seems reasonable for a possible new taste sensation. I am disappointed to report that we couldn’t really tell the difference between the delicious pastured hens’ eggs we had for breakfast yesterday and the duck eggs we had today, but that won’t stop me sharing the recipe for how I served them because it would also work quite well with normal eggs.
Eggs poached in tomato coulis
Ingredients
4 duck or hen eggs
2 well-ripen tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped onion tops
1 Serrano pepper, seeds removed and finely chopped
2 tsp soy sauce
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil
Method
This is going to work best in a non-stick skillet. Sauté the chopped tomatoes, Serrano pepper and two-thirds of the onion tops in a little olive oil.
This will get really juicy at first. Cook down for about five to 10 minutes until the liquid is reduced by a quarter. Add one teaspoon of the soy sauce. Stir well and then make small holes in the tomato in which to drop the eggs.
Break the eggs carefully and drop them into the tomato coulis. Sprinkle the yolks with a little sea salt and black pepper. Turn the fire down to medium and put a lid on the saucepan.
Used to normal eggs, I was surprised by how long it took the duck eggs to poach. I ended up spooning a little of the hot tomato over the whites so cook them faster because I didn’t want the yolk cooked through and it looked like they might be by the time the whites were completely opaque. I also took the lid off after just a few minutes for the same reason.
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| Spoon the hot tomato over the whites to help them cook faster. |
Right at the end, I drizzled the second teaspoon of soy sauce over the yolks and added a drizzle of good olive oil, also bought at the farmers’ market.
Serve with toasted, buttered whole grain bread cut into soldiers for dipping and sprinkle remaining onion tops to garnish.
Enjoy!
