Quail Eggs?

[stinemates]

I've had them many times before, but only prepared for me, never cooked them at home.

How the heck do you open those little guys? I tried cracking like a chicken egg.. that did NOT work. I might take a knife and chip off the top of one and drain it that way. Is there any other way?

 

[Loprraine]

I use a very sharp little knife.

 

[stinemates]

That's what I figured.

How do you cook yours? I've only had quail egg omlettes

 

[Loprraine]

I like them pickled. Or, a nice small first course is some homemade pasta rags with fried prosciutto and a poached quail egg on top. Also nice on a small mixed green salad with a curried mayo.

 

[VegasDramaQueen]

I've never seen a quail egg broken and poached. It's got to be - what- the size of a quarter?


A Day in the Life of this Drama Queen

 

[stinemates]

I've never seen a quail egg broken and poached. It's got to be - what- the size of a quarter?


A Day in the Life of this Drama Queen

They're meant to be small and dainty.

Here's an image of a 12pack..

 

[white_poplar]

stinemates, in Chinese (and Vietnamese cooking), quail eggs are normally boiled first, then peeled and added to the dish. For e.g.: Pork (or chicken) with soya sauce with quail eggs. Or use some minced meat to wrap up the boiled eggs then deep fry it. Sorry I don't have the recipes on hand. But they are really yummy that way!

 

[BreezyCooking]

While I have seen them sold fresh like chicken eggs at a couple of gourmet markets around here, I've never bought them.

I do, however, LOVE the hard-cooked peeled canned ones sold in Asian markets. They're an extremely interesting ingredient added to Asian stirfries & soups.

 

[karadekoolaid]

They're very, very popular here, used as cocktail snacks. Peeling them, however, is a royal pain in the whatsit. I once offered to make Quail Eggs for a New Year party ( 50 guests) and peeled over 200. It took almost 3 hours.

You hardboil the eggs and peel the same as chicken eggs - but since they're so tiny, it's a far more finickity operation.

These days I've discovered a place that sells them peeled, to order.That's where I go!!

 

[BreezyCooking]

Clive - have you ever seen &/or used the peeled canned ones? While I'm sure the taste is remarkably different from fresh boiled ones, they're quite delicious.

What I find funny when I serve them is that people don't even realize at first that they're eggs - lol!! But they are very good. Very mild & not at all "eggy".

 

[lulu]

Fresh and hard boiled with celery salt is pretty unbeatable. I used to make a fairly luxurious dish of pasta with asparagus gentle sauted in butter and poached quails eggs which was delicious.

 

[sattie]

I have had them raw on sushi... I think they call them lemon cups or something like that. It would be a mound of spicy tuna wrapped in seaweed and topped with a raw quail egg... it was pretty good. I have never bought them or done anything else with them tho.

 

[skilletlicker]

I have never used them, but they are inexpensive at a local Chinese market. I will pick some up shortly. Thanks to all for the suggestions and recommendations.

 

[shannon in KS]

hmmmm, growing up on a farm, only experience I had was hatching them... but now, I am wondering, to heck with the cute baby chicks, EAT EM!

 

[karadekoolaid]

Clive - have you ever seen &/or used the peeled canned ones? While I'm sure the taste is remarkably different from fresh boiled ones, they're quite delicious.

What I find funny when I serve them is that people don't even realize at first that they're eggs - lol!! But they are very good. Very mild & not at all "eggy".

No - we don't have canned quail eggs down here.
Actually the most common way to serve them here is with " Salsa Rosada" - half mayo, half tomato ketchup!! I tried them with homemade mayo and chipotle chili however - FAR superior!

 

[skilletlicker]

I tried them with homemade mayo and chipotle chili however - FAR superior!

Thanks, buddy. Is there any advantage to poking a hole in the shell as you might do with a chicken egg?

 

[hello there]

Where do you buy fresh quail eggs? the only ones I've seen here are canned

 

[AllenOK]

While I was offline, for New Year's Eve, I had to cook and peel about 50 Quail Eggs. I'll give you what I learned:

Boil for 5 minutes, then drain and submerge in an ice-bath to stop the cooking. This will result in perfectly cooked eggs with no green "tinge" to the yolk (a sign of over-cooking).

Quail eggs also suffer from the freshness problem that chicken eggs do when boiled. FRESH Quail eggs are really, really, hard to peel, just like fresh chicken eggs. Buy your Quail eggs a week or two in advance, then boil/peel them.

Peeling tip (I use this on Chicken eggs all the time, and it works for Quail eggs as well)

Take the blunt end of the egg, where the air pocket is located, and gently smash the shell against a cutting board. While the shell is pressed into the air pocket, roll the onto it's side, all the way to the sharper end of the egg, breaking the shell all the way. Carefully roll the egg front and back, pressing down lightly, to break the shell completely around the egg, but not hard enough to crush the egg white. Start peeling the shell at the air pocket. Many times, I've been able to peel the entire egg in one continuous strip.

I did 50 quail eggs in about 20 minutes or so.