Scrambled Eggs - Still in the Shell !

Intro: Scrambled Eggs - Still in the Shell !

Notice how the egg under that shell is a delicious shade of yellow rather than the typical white?  In Japan this is called a Golden egg. 

That's a nice name, but a more descriptive one would be "Scrambled egg still in the shell".  This is a simple egg trick my Sensei told me about; it's easy and fun and makes a tasty hard-boiled treat.

**UPDATE**    I've done some research. The actual name in Japanese is  �rD�gu �   or   MD�D�g_~T   which means Yellow Boiled Egg.  Pretty straight forward name.  I guess Golden egg is just the poetic version.    (Instructables apparently doesn't support non-roman characters, so the Japanese didn't show up.)

STEP 1: Getting Started

All you need to make a Golden egg is:

1. a raw egg
2. one leg cut from a pair of nylons

Slip the egg into the nylons and place it half way between the toe and the opening.

**EDIT**It's been suggested that what I'm really using here is one leg from a pair of stockings.  This could very well be true, as I know literally nothing about nylons or stockings.  If so, just replace each instance of "nylons" with "stockings", and go at it!

**EDIT #2**       Apparently the type of stocking / tight / legging / nylon may play a larger role than I knew.  The stockings I use have a relatively low level of stretch.  If the material is too stretchy then it won't spin properly.  Also, it took me 4 eggs before I finally got a Golden egg (before I figured out the flashlight check in Step 3), so hang in there if it doesn't work on the first try!

STEP 2: Scramble Time

Now we scramble!  Grab the ends of the nylons, one end in each hand, with the egg suspended in the middle.  Begin to twist the nylon around the egg, about 20-25 twists.  When it is fully twisted, pull the ends of the nylon apart quickly.  The nylon should untwist itself, spinning the egg rapidly.

Repeat about 10 times.

If you are letting the kids help, you may be concerned about handing them what are essentially flails made of nylon and raw egg.  I don't blame you :)  But have no fear!  Simply put each egg in a ziploc bag before you put it in the nylon.  Now if they smack an egg on a table top (or their sibling's head), there'll be no mess to clean up (only hurt feelings).

STEP 3: Is It Golden Yet?

To check if your egg is properly scrambled, go to a dark room and shine a flashlight through your egg.  An unscrambled egg will appear bright and yellow, and you may even see a shadow inside cast by the (still intact) yolk.  A properly scrambled egg will be a much darker red color, since the yolk is now mixed with the albumen. 

STEP 4: Boil and Bubble

Of course, now that your egg is scrambled in the shell, you can cook it anyway you desire.  I like to hard boil them, myself. 

Put the eggs in a pot of lukewarm water until they are just covered.  Heat.  Once the water reaches a rolling boil set a timer for 6 minutes.  When the timer rings, turn off the heat and soak in cold water to stop the cooking (and keep your hands safe).

**EDIT #3**      People have commented on something I forgot to mention, which is that hard-boiled Golden eggs are harder to peel than regular hard-boiled eggs.  For whatever reason, the scrambled egg grabs to the shell a bit stronger than usual and can make for an ugly peeled egg.  (My first four eggs were hideous.  Tasty, but hideous.)  To solve this problem, and produce the not-ugly egg you see in this instructable, I used the back of a spoon to gently break the shell into small pieces, and then peeled it while submerged in a pot of cold water.  It helped alot.

STEP 5: Now What?

Now that you can make Golden eggs, what can you do with them? Well...

• Just eat it.  Hard-boiled Golden eggs taste good by themselves, but a little sprinkle of salt never goes amiss.  Or you can chop them up and throw them over a salad for some delicious protein.

• Mix it into a batch of regular boiled eggs.  Like the old English tradition of hiding a coin in the pudding, whoever gets the golden egg gets good luck for the week.  If it's Easter eggs we're talking about, then the Golden egg can grant good luck for the whole year.  This throws a whole new twist into the Easter egg hunt tradition.

• Put a raw scrambled egg back in the carton as a harmless prank.  The next time someone goes to make a sunny-side up they'll get a scrambled surprise.

• Hollow it out.  Traditionally when hollowing out eggs you must break up the yolk with a long needle before it can be blown out.  Golden eggs already have scrambled yolks, so just poke two tiny holes and blow it all out.

Like I said, I usually just eat them.  But I'm sure you creative folks can think of more uses for Golden eggs.  Go nuts!

Comments

[Peanutellabutter]

I noticed after spinning the eggs will weep through the shell. Does that happen for anyone else?

[xxxnel]

To start the mix, I give the egg a few good wrist flicks. The shake will break the the whites and yellow.

[AndrewL254]

So, I'm hoping someone can help me out a bit here...
More than half of the times I've tried, my eggs have popped open while boiling. I've looked around and seen a lot of conflicting "best ways" to cook them, from slow cooking them in just-under-boiling water to placing them directly into rolling boiling water, though none of them mentioned how to prevent popping. Can anyone give me advice on how to deal with this explosive problem of mine?

[xxxnel]

Hi. Try half a cup or salt in the water you are boiling with. I agree with slow heat the eggs.

[inthesnow]

I always start with my eggs in a cold pot, then add water, THEN put over medium-low heat. This brings the water to a boil slowly and gives the eggs time to heat up uniformly. I keep them at a boil for 1 minute (yes, just 1) and then set a timer for 14 minutes. Lid stays on, pot stays on the hot burner the whole time. Then rinse under cold water, or put in a bowl of cold water, until cool enough to handle, and peel. Eggs are firm all the way through without being overcooked and rubbery, shells come off easily, and none get broken during the cooking process. Good luck, and thanks for sharing this!

[Ozwaldster]

bring all your eggs to a rolling boil, just from the fridge if you like, then take them off the burner and let them cook in the hot water. 20 min for 8 eggs; less min for less eggs. when the timer goes off, put them in a pan of cold, ice chilled water to stop the cooking so they don't over cook.

[MitchellB49]

Make certain your eggs are at room temperature. Leave them out on the counter at least an hour before boiling. Cold eggs will often "explode" or leak when boiled

[oaking]

Decades ago (yes, really), as a kid we took an electric drill with a straightened paperclip, carefully poked the wire inside, ran the drill for a few seconds, then cooked the egg. sometimes a tiny bit would leak out while cooking, but they were good!

[DDW_OR]

several years ago my friends accidentally did this when we went to Lake
Pleasant in Arizona. we went to Humbug Bay to do a weekend
fishing/camping trip. they had a Jumping Jack pop-up tent trailer and
had their eggs in the rear cooler. the road was soo bad that 1 mph in
some areas was too fast.

the next morning when they cracked open the
eggs they found them already scrambled. they also found their
half-n-half milk had been made into buttermilk. worked good in the
sourdough pancakes

[AndrewL254]

On that same note... If anyone else is having problems with popping eggs and can't find a solution, I HAVE found that even if slow cooking doesn't necessarily make them less likely to pop, the quality of the end result isn't anywhere near as strongly affected if it does pop. An egg that pops in a high boil will usually become foamy in texture, while one cooked in a non-boiling hot will only be ugly looking, but still taste the same.

[lbuser]

Don't boil them. Put the eggs in COLD water, turn on the heat and just bring to a boil, then turn the fire off. Put a lid on the pan and let the water cool. Perfectly unpopped shells every time and perfectly cooked eggs. I've been doing this for years. It works whether you have one egg in the pot or a whole load of them.

[Sharon McNeilA]

I buy farm fresh eggs and frequently they are scrambled in the shell. I don't know it of course until I crack them open. I always wondered how this happened and if it means anything in particular. I still use them and they taste the same as any other egg. Does anyone know?

[MitchellB49]

Typically this is a sign of an egg that is not fresh. Fresh eggs [even two weeks old] should have a firm yolk when cracked. I would question how fresh the eggs are.

[ElectroFrank]

Just to guess: This method scrambles eggs by spinning them, so maybe the egg rolling down a chute (eggway ?) would do the same thing ?

[Daisytikityke]

I have raised chickens and eggs for many years and have never seen one come out scrambled. I would really question your supplier!

[AmaranthimT]

If you make your eggs in a pressure cooker using the 5/5/5 method- 5 minutes of boiling, 5 minutes of releasing pressure and 5 minutes in an ice bath - they will peel easily. I have not tried with these eggs- but it works perfectly every time for regular hb eggs. Does not need to be a fancy InstantPot or similar- plain pressure cooker works just fine.

[StuartP3]

Oh, doesn't the heated egg EXPAND more than the shell and makes peeling difficult? Say anyone tried freezing raw eggs before cooking? Thanks for sharing thinkers.

[LadyAnneJT.]

There is an air pocket in the broad end of the egg; eggs won't crack when you boil them unless you go off and play *just one* game on the computer, and let them boil dry. And you can guess how know THAT.

[zaqwert777]

the real secret to easy peel eggs is to use eggs that are not too fresh. Of course you don't want them to be beyond the expiration date on the carton, that would be foolish. But a few days before would be great.

[LadyAnneJT.]

The eggs in a grocery store are already several weeks old, so you don't need to worry about them being "too fresh". If you are fortunate enough to buy your eggs from a farmer, anything over two days old will peel easily.