In a much-loved episode of Reading Rainbow (now getting canceled, so sad!), LeVar Burton visits a diner and gets completely bamboozled by the colorful and confusing line cook lingo. We think of this scene almost every time we make fried eggs - but we still can't keep straight which is which!
For our benefit as much as yours, here's what makes an egg over easy or sunny side up:
Over Easy - Eggs cooked "over easy" means that it gets fried on both sides, but the yolk stays runny. To make one, you cook the raw egg just until the whites are set on the bottom, then you quickly flip it over to cook the other side. "Over" refers to flipping the egg, and "easy" refers to the doneness of the yolk. You can also cook eggs "over medium" and "over hard," depending on how cooked you prefer the yolk!
Sunny Side Up - This means that the egg is fried just on one side. The yolk is still completely liquid and the whites on the surface are barely set. You can cover the pan briefly to make sure the whites are cooked or baste them with butter. We've always assumed that the name refers to the way this egg looks like the morning sun.
How do you like your eggs?
Related: Top Five: Ways to Eat a Fried Egg
(Image: Flickr member Kennymatic licensed under Creative Commons)
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Give me over easy any day of the week, but I wouldn't turn down a plate full of eggs sunny side up.
My mother taught us to say sunny side up or sunny side down when we were "ordering" eggs for breakfast from her skillet. Made it very easy for us to convey what we wanted.
I love, love, love runny yolks but runny whites literally make me gag. Because of that, I've learned when dining out to order my eggs "over medium." I've had too many runny whites when I've ordered "over easy" and I'd rather risk having cooked yolk than uncooked whites (though my ordering method almost always gets me cooked whites and runny yolks).
Over easy.
My mom always said that Sunny Side Up eggs were too "nervous" for her (ie. the whites would shake and quiver). But my grandpa always said he liked his eggs a little nervous. ;-)
Exactly, Squirrely. Over easy means that the whites are a little bit runny around the yolk. If you want runny yolk and firm whites, you should order them over medium.
A greasy spoon cook once told me that they didn't actually flip eggs when they're ordered over-easy. They'd put a service plate cover (those stainless steel domes that are used to keep plates warm) over the eggs right on the cooktop. It lets the top of the egg cook slightly, without ever breaking a yolk... sneaky.
i've gotten strange looks in diners when i order over-medium. Instead, I have altered my order to "well done over-easy." Sounds odd but does the trick!
I love my eggs over medium!
What?! Reading rainbow is getting cancelled?? :( Sadness.
Oh this is good to know. My husband and I are always the sheepish customers in the booth who describe to the kindly servers how we like our eggs and the s/he takes tell us what that description is called. We never remember but this description will hopefully stick in my brain. And I choose between over easy and over medium. It depends on what I am having with it (potatoes, toast, etc.) and therefore if I wanted the yummy, runny yolk.
Rosebud,
Both over easy and over medium have runny yolk. The difference is that over easy has a slightly thinner yolk and the white around the yolk is also runny. If you want the yolk cooked through, you'd order "over well" or "over hard."
I made it almost thirty years before discovering the term "over hard". I finally can eat eggs out the way I like them at home!
Over easy for me. I want the whites cooked but the yolk is for dipping toast and hash browns. That's the whole point of the egg isn't it?
"Now, I'd like two eggs, over hard. I know, don't tell me; it's hard on the arteries, but old habits die hard — just about as hard as I want those eggs."
Over easy in a restaurant, and sunny side up at home. I put a cookie sheet over the pan at the end just to make sure the whites are set.
both... sometimes I'm in the mood for over easy, sometimes I want sunny side up.
I wish that I could get a soft boiled egg when eating out though, cause sometimes that's what I really crave.
MMmmmm... I love a hot and runny soft boiled egg, all squooshed up with a little butter, then scooped up on my toast.
Over easy and sunny side up will do just as well though.
What I really hate is when an egg is fried so much that there's crusty brown stuff on the whites. But that's how my husband and kids love their eggs. I don't know where they got it from. :/
I put the eggs in a pan sunny-side up, and then throw in a teaspoon or so of water and cover them up with a lid. This steam-cooks the tops and leaves the yolks nice and runny. There is an actual name for this method, but I forget what it is.
Oh Fnnkybutt, those little crusty edges on the whites are almost as good as the runny yolk. My perfect egg is an over medium with the heat kicked up right before you flip it to make those deliciously crunchy edges
Oneisco, I was going to mention the same thing. That's the way my mom makes them when I visit her, and there's none of that 'breaking the yolk' thing like I do sometimes (ok, a lot) when making eggs for my kids and try to flip them. Runny whites are disgusting, we call them 'egg snot.'
If there is a hint of any kind of goo - white or yellow, I can't eat it! My eggs have to be "well done", completely cooked through with the yolk mixed in and the crusty brown bits!
Maybe this is why I never order eggs out... :)
OMG, I remember that episode of Reading Rainbow. My dad would cook us breakfast on Saturdays and I would order my breakfast "diner style" after that. I can't believe the show is getting canceled, so sad.
I love eggs pretty much any way - runny yolks, hard yolks, I'm not picky. The only thing I don't much care for is scrambled eggs. I can eat them at home, piping hot out of the pan, but if they're just a little bit cold I find them disgusting.
Over medium!
Reading Rainbow's getting cancelled?! Won't someone think of the children!
Also, I couldn't live without over-medium eggs. Without those and peanut butter sandwiches, I'd eat out a lot more.
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I just don't get the runny yolk appeal. I like my eggs cooked through all the way, hard boiled or over-hard so that the edges get a little crispy.
Oneisco: that is a steam basted egg. Up: the top of the egg is uncooked; OE: runny whites and yolks; OM: runny yolks; OW: nothing runs, yolks unbroken; OH: nothing runs, yolks broken. I spend a lot of time w/eggs...
My eggs jhave to be cooked all the way through. Not burnt or anything- but I like a nice solid yolk.
poached over torn up pieces of buttered toast
I'm a Charleston girl and we love our grits!
In my opinion, the absolute best way to have grits is to cook them with plenty of salt and butter and serve them over a couple over-medium eggs. Cut it all up and the yolk serves as a kind of sauce for the grits and egg whites.
mmm...makes me wish I didn't already have dinner plans tonight.
My mom could never make eggs without breaking them. My poppy always cooked ours in the cast iron after he cooked the bacon, so those brown burnt bits were even that much more enticing. My brother and I, he who never ate the yolks...we also ate egg in a cup with soldier toast to dip in. I like eggs any way except with sauces, gag, cant do that. Hard soft, gooey crispy, cup or bowl . mmmm however nobody wil go out to breakfast with my Nanny because nobody can cook an egg to her liking lol. Id rather eat my eggs at home.