Food blogging introduced us to Spanish fried eggs. All credit goes to In Praise of Sardines, where this method of huevos fritos captured our attention. We've haven't fried an egg any other way since.
What's a Spanish fried egg? It's an egg fried very quickly in very, very hot olive oil. Some use olive oil AND butter but just olive oil does fine. What you get in a Spanish fried egg is a crispy, delicate white that crunches then practically melts in your mouth. The yolk is just set, but still runny enough to soak into your toast. In other words, no rubbery white - no overcooked yolk. Eggy perfection! Read on for directions...
We were fascinated by lobstersquad's assertion that true Spanish fried eggs involve dropping the egg from a great height into the hot oil so that it is instantly submerged. We are certainly not foolhardy enough to try this, although given a big enough splatter screen we might someday.
To make a Spanish fried egg: Heat about 1/4 inch of olive oil in a very small, heavy skillet. Heat over medium-high heat until very hot; it should just be beginning to smoke. Crack an egg into a cup or mug. When the oil is hot enough, carefully slip the egg into the oil and immediately turn the heat down to medium-low. Spoon the hot oil over the egg as it cooks. Cook for no more than a minute and a half then take the pan off the heat and remove the egg with a slotted spoon.
Sprinkle with sea salt and fresh pepper and enjoy immediately!
I'm Spanish and my (American) husband teases me relentlessly about my abundant use of olive oil for frying eggs for our breakfast. I learned to do it from my Yaya in Spain and my favorite thing about it is the crispy meltiness of the white :)
view bluestar's profile
bluestar- I too learned from my Yaya in Spain! It's the one thing that my dad made really well when I was a kid. A sign that you're doing it right is if you get a nice brown edge when it's done, almost like a crunchy little doile trim (that's what my mom called it, anyway).
view Laura (murray hill)'s profile
This is my favorite Sunday supper. Fry some garlic and sage in the oil and butter before dropping in the eggs. And instead of toast, toss it with pasta so the yolks break and run all over the pasta. Easy, fast, and delicious. Afterwards, go to your doctor and get a prescription for cholesterol medication.
view noarch's profile
Now I now why I haven't been able to make fried eggs like my mom and aunts made them when I was a child. I've been using body when they were using olive or vegetable oil. thanks for the tip.
view eddieb's profile
Mmmm, that sage sounds delicious. I love fried sage! Funny, I've been frying my eggs in olive oil for the last few years because it's healthy (okay, relatively speaking). It's true that the whites come out all lacy and nicely crisply brown. I don't think I use as much oil as mentioned here though... not enough to spoon the oil over the top. Although maybe I'll try that tomorrow morning!
view betsbillabong's profile
I've been frying eggs in extra virgin olive oil for a few years, didn't even know it was 'the Spanish way'. They are delicious!
view Leeds's profile
I made this for dinner last night - served over toasted ciabatta with fresh parmesan and tomato slices.
Now I want to eat eggs everyday.
view Swan's profile
If you don't have a very small skillet, could you use a saucepan instead?
view Ingrid's profile
I made eggs this way over the weekend & wow, they were good. I was a bit unsure on the spooning the hot oil over the top of the egg part, but whatever I did worked because they were amazing. This is now my preferred method of egg frying & next weekend I will try the garlic & sage version ... yum!
view robyn's profile