Okay, let's talk about eggs. They're probably the biggest bang for your buck available in the culinary world. Even if you splurge (like I've been known to) on the four dollar dozen fresh eggs from a local farm the value is hard to ignore. They keep an incredibly long time, they're endlessly versatile. You can make tons of delicious deserts, sauces, and breakfast foods with eggs and a small list of other ingredients.
I suppose I'll start with breakfast.
Poached eggs in broth.
This is probably my favorite thing to eat when I plan to go out and get things done. It's an unusual breakfast in that it completely discards the starchy carbohydrate saturated elements in favor of pure protein and calories.
For the stock you will need:
5 pounds pork rib or neck bones or beef joints
1 large daikon, diced into about 1 inch pieces
3-4 carrots, diced in 1 inch pieces
3 leeks washed, ends discarded, cut in half and into 1 inch slices
2-3 yellow onions diced
8 cloves garlic, peeled but whole
about 1 inch of ginger sliced
a bunch of scallions ends, roots discarded and lightly crushed
parsley stems
3-4 star anise, whole
10-15 black peppercorns
10-15 coriander seeds whole
1/2 inch stick of cinnamon
2 bay leaves
~8 whole cloves
fish sauce, soy sauce, rice vinegar to taste.
Method:
This broth is reasonably close to a traditional pho, but I'm not really interested in getting into a semantic argument about what that might entail. So the bone choice is really up to you. I like pork bones the best, but pork soup seems perenially unpopular in most of the places I've lived. If you use beef bones marrow is always a plus.
Additionally, there are things you could do to make this broth more academically perfect. There are techniques which will make it crystal clear, but I can't be bothered with that when I'm cooking at home. If it matters to you there are lots of resources available to you concerning stock technique.
Salt and oil your bones and throw them on a tray in your oven at about 350 degrees.
Toss the first group of veggies in oil and salt and put them on a separate pan in the oven.
Roast the vegetables until they are tender and beginning to brown. Roast the bones until they are quite brown and aromatic.
Add everything to a large stock pot and fill it with cold water. Yes, it's important that this water is cold.
Toast the spices in a dry pan if you feel like it. You can make a sachet out of cheesecloth or you could just throw them in whole and strain them out, which is what I usually do. Toss them in along with the ginger and scallions and start heating the pot over low heat.
Your broth should never boil. It helps to be going in and out of the kitchen while you make this recipe, because you know it's getting near hot enough when the smell of broth completely fills your house. As soon as bubbles break the surface you can back the heat off.
Skim the sludge off periodically as it comes to the surface.
I've let this broth simmer as long as 16 hours. It's not really necessary to go that long, but I do think you will have a sweeter more subtle broth if you take your time cooking it. I've read sources that claimed that all the flavor from the bones is extracted after 3 hours, but I don't really buy it. In any case, the difference in sweetness and body is obvious if you try cooking this several times and back the heat off.
When it's done cooking drain it, discard the bones and veggies and let the liquid cool. You can freeze some of it at this point, which will be necessary unless you live with lots of people who really love soup.
To poach the eggs:
Heat about 2-3 cups of your broth up. I usually add the soy, fish sauce, rice vinegar and salt at this point rather than adding it to the whole batch. When you reduce broth the salt level rises, which is why it's always wise to salt liquid just before you eat it, unlike almost all other foods.
When the liquid is boiling, whisk it hard and immediately crack two eggs straight into it. The motion of the water should cause them to retain their shape, unless you break the whites. Immediately remove the pan from heat, allow the eggs to cook in the liquid for a minute or two, until they retain their shape but the yolk still feels soft.
Serve the eggs and broth. You can either allow the eggs to continue cooking or smash the shit out of them and allow the yolk to mix with the liquid. Squeeze a little lime or toss some cilantro leaves in there.
Nothing is better on a rainy day.
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