This in the same direction as British fried eggs, which should have a “frilly brown petticoat”, in the immortal words of either Frank Muir or Dennis Norden - not chefs of course - on a radio show half a century ago - except the British version would not use poncey Olive oil but rather bacon grease or whatever
It basically reminded me of a question that’s bothered me a little … as I understand it all serious chefs say that a fried egg should NOT have any brown bits nor any bubbles even in the white. So quite the opposite to this. At least one cooking show has even based a challenge on this (how many perfectly fried eggs, as just defined, can they knock out 10 minutes or whatever).
I’m curious where this orthodoxy (no bubbles , no frilly brown bits) came from. To me its really a matter of taste. What do people here think?
I am firmly of the opinion that they should be fried, but beyond that am open to stylistic interpretation. Put another way - this ain’t Beef Wellington, man, it’s fried eggs! Eat 'em how you like 'em.
My usual breakfast is a fried egg over whatever vegetables are leftover from dinner the night before. I consider the day off to a good start, and my heat control on point, when I get nicely browned edges. There’s so much more flavor that way.
Crispy brown edges, little browned bits from the bacon frying which immediately preceded the egg frying, and a slightly runny yolk is perfect, though one can stray somewhat from perfection and still be plenty tasty.
I think fried eggs should be done the Jaques Pepin way:
BTW, his way to crack eggs against a flat surface changed my life. I always did it against a sharp edge. His way is much better - only took me (almost) 50 years to figure that one out!
Cooked in the grease after bacon or sausage is my wAy to go too. There’s no way to make that look pretty, but come on that’s flavor! Cooked whites are fine I guess, but is there any more neutral of a food without something added?
I like Spanish fried eggs (like Josè Andrès), but they aren’t practical to be made at home given the quantity of olive oil needed. They get crisp and puffy with perfect yolks.
There are quite a few videos that have Jose demonstrating how to make Spanish fried eggs with much less olive oil than in the video linked. It is actually reasonably practical to do at home, especially if you are doing more than one. Here is one link (THE WORLD RECORD EGG THAT SHOULD'VE BEEN | THE JOSE ANDRES OLIVE OIL FRIED EGG - YouTube) but google returns many. I use this approach on occasion and like it very much.
I hadn’t seen the Jaques Pepin method before but I will definitely give it a try. I find it interesting that both Andres and Pepin (both chefs that I revere) prefer an approach that uses much more fat than what is normally seen. I may need to rethink my approach to cooking eggs…