David Chang’s Microwaved Egg Technique Is a Total Game-Changer

Was I the last person on the planet to know that you can cook an egg in the microwave? I recently fell down a YouTube rabbit hole and stumbled upon this 12-year-old video of newly-minted Who Wants to Be a Millionaire winner David Chang preparing an egg in the microwave. It had never even occurred to me to cook an egg that way!

I immediately had a lot of questions. The microwave, really? Will it actually cook? Will it taste edible? I watched the video in disbelief as he did indeed whip up a fully-cooked egg in 30 seconds. Now, I was still fairly skeptical even after watching the video, but if it’s good enough for the founder of Momofuku, I figured it was good enough for me. I later discovered he also shared his microwaved egg technique on Jimmy Kimmel in May.

This is hands-down the fastest, easiest way to prepare an egg. Grab a small bowl or a big mug and grease it with a tiny bit of butter or oil. Next, crack one egg into the bowl. At this point, you can whisk the eggs like Chang does in the original video if you’re not a fan of sunny-side-up eggs.

Next, place the bowl in the microwave and let it cook for at least 30 seconds. Because the power of every microwave is different, test it out and see what works best for you. I microwaved mine for 30 seconds, and they were well-cooked with a perfect yolk.

When I tried this trick for myself, I was surprised all over again by the fact that it actually works. I was super impressed with how the yolk turned out — it was perfectly medium, which is my favorite. I decided to keep it simple and put my egg on a slice of toast and finish it with a sprinkle of salt.

Now, was it the best egg I’ve ever had? Definitely not. It didn’t taste as good as an egg cooked on the stovetop, and texturally the egg was a bit off from what you expect. But I suppose you can’t have it all when you’re getting a cooked egg in around 30 seconds.

While I don’t think I’ll always cook my eggs in the microwave, I’ll use this technique again when I’m making a really quick meal, or on a day where I’m feeling lazy. And honestly, had I known it was possible before now, I can think of many occasions where I would have put this technique to use. Thanks, David!