Ditch Regular Oil When Frying Eggs And Try Chili Oil Instead
Using olive oil to fry your eggs is fine, but why stop there when life can be so much more exciting? Thanks to TikTok, we know that there are greater possibilities out there. I'm of course talking about Parmesan eggs, and pesto eggs. These both involve adding their titular ingredients to the frying pan before adding your eggs and infusing them with lots of flavors and crispy goodness.
The new kid in this genre of breakfast fare is chili oil eggs. This new trend works just like the others and involves frying your eggs in chili oil for a spicy, savory fried treat. It comes to us courtesy of users like @snackqween who tried this technique as a riff on pesto eggs to delicious results. The eggs crisp up around their outer edges and take on some of chili oil's signature red hue as well.
"I did this and put it on top of ramen noodles and lemme tell you...game changer," responded one user.
What is chili oil
In its most basic form chili oil is a spicy Chinese condiment that consists of chili peppers, pepper flakes, and oil. It's a common staple in Chinese restaurants where diners can add as much additional heat to their dishes as they would like.
However, in recent years social media has added the wide and varied world of chili crisp to menus and pantries all over. The difference between chili oil and chili crunch is right there in their names. Chili crunch has additional crunchy bits like fried garlic, ginger, peppercorns, and other goodies that add a unique savory quality to the standard heat of chili oil, as well as a good bit of texture.
Based on Snackqween's video, chili oil eggs seem to use chili crisp — specifically Lao Gan Ma brand — as opposed to chili oil which is why there is so much charred goodness around the edges of the eggs.
While spicy chili crisp can sound intimidating to those who can't handle spicy foods, there is a ton of variety out there between different brands. Some will have more spice than others, meaning you won't be left out of the fun if you can't take the heat.
How to make chili oil eggs
Making these eggs is incredibly simple. Heat your pan on the stove at medium-high. Add the desired amount of chili crunch, and let it heat slightly before adding your eggs. Once the whites have solidified and started to bubble, put a lid on top of the pan. Keep the lid on until the yolks and the rest of the whites cook to your liking. Then remove the lid, add any additional seasonings, and serve with rice or bread.
One possible upgrade to this approach would be to separate the chili crunch from the oil itself as seen in Brian David Gilbert's unique approach to popcorn. This method is best for those that don't want their crunchy bits (which is the correct technical term) to be too charred, but still want all that flavor. To do this, use just the oil from the jar of chili crunch to fry your eggs, and set the crunchy bits to the side to use as a topping later. That oil is already infused with all of the same flavors, so your eggs will still pick up on all of that while they cook. The crunchy bits have also already been cooked in the oil, and are probably closer to burnt if you put them in the pan with everything else which makes them better saved as a crunchy topping instead.