How To: Fry An Egg the Spanish Way

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!