How to Fry Eggs like an Arab: Crispy Fried Eggs in Olive Oil

Smooth or Crispy?

As a young newlywed, my husband's Pennsylvania-Dutch father taught me:  heat the pan gently, melt a pat of butter, crack the egg and wait.  Flip once, if you like.  Slide out of the pan.

I was amazed.  I had never had a fried egg like that.  The whites were tender, with a homogeneous texture, and the yolks were smooth, smooth, smooth, with all of the comfort of a diner breakfast.   My husband and I ate these gently butter-fried eggs since we were newlyweds, perfecting our technique on leisurely weekend mornings.

And then, recently, I remembered.

I remembered the crispy olive-oil fried egg of my Palestinian childhood, with all of its dramatic sizzling olive oil, the writhing whites boiling up and puffing, and the technique my own father showed me:   tilt the pan and spoon olive oil over the yolk to help it set.  I wondered, after all of those years of  tender buttered whites, would I relish the crisped, laced bottom of an oil-fried egg?

Only one way to find out.

Frizzled Whites, Crispy Bottoms, Runny Yolks: Yes, Please.  

The verdict?  YUM.

This fried egg has a completely different personality than those buttery-smooth eggs.  The bottoms are crispy and caramelized, like the bottom of a good grilled cheese sandwich, with the whites perfectly set on top and the ooey-gooey goodness of a runny yolk.

I've been frying eggs for anyone who dares to pass through my kitchen.  Once, I even heated up a pan of oil and left my husband to it, and he thought he had done it all wrong because really, should egg whites boil up?  Yes. Yes, they can and they should.

And they are so much fun to prepare.  Gather up your household, because this is egg-frying as-performance-art.  Stand back, ladies and gentleman and enjoy this show.

Crispy olive-oil fried eggs are making a serious entrance on the American foodie  scene right now. Even though traditional cultures have prepared eggs this way for generations, what's-old-is-new-again and food bloggers are singing praises for "frizzled whites" and posting videos and tutorials (and love letters!) on the the olive oil crispy fried egg, a the newest egg obsession.  Some refer to this style of fried egg  as "fried the Spanish way," so this is not a uniquely Middle Eastern practice.  Across the Mediterranean and the Levant, people are throwing their eggs into hot oil and serving up supper. Why  not give it a try in your kitchen?

How to Fry an Egg in Olive Oil

1)  Select a small pan.  It's best to fry one egg at a time, and in a small pan so that you can save your oil.

2)  Pour a generous amount of olive oil into your pan.  It should be a like a deep puddle (but not a bath!) for your egg.  Turn your burner to medium heat, and wait a few minutes until you can feel the heat emanating from the pan when your hold your hand over it, but not so hot that your oil starts to smoke.

(Most other tutorials recommend heating your oil until it is hot and smoking.  I don't recommend this for a few reasons.  First, your egg will pretty much explode into the oil  If you chose to try this, do stand back!  And prepare to clean oil splatter!  Second, I don't like to heat olive oil all the way to its smoke point, because the oil degrades and oxidizes.)

The heat level matters.  For comparison, here is a side-by-side of two eggs fried in oil, one at a medium low temperature ("3" on my range) and the other at a slightly higher temperature ("4" on my range).  I like the slightly higher temperature.

3)  Crack your egg into the pan.  The whites should start to bubble up immediately and set at the edges.  It will look like your egg is boiling.

4)  As soon as the egg whites are set enough that you can tilt the pan without disturbing them (just a few seconds) grasp the skillet handle and tilt your pan gently, and use a stainless steel teaspoon to spoon hot oil over the yolk.  The top of the yolk will blanch and begin to cook through a little.  Do this until reach desired firmness (for runny yolks, just do this briefly).

5)  Lift egg out of pan with a flexible spatula.  Sprinkle liberally with seas salt, fresh ground pepper,  and, if you have it, fresh herbs, sumac or za'atar, and feast immediately.

Sahtain!

Related Posts:  

*Middle Eastern Breakfast Bowl:  Za'atar Skillet Potato Hash with Fried Egg

*Fresh Herb Gaza Omelette, or Ijee

*Savory Palestinian Cauliflower Pancakes