Egg  for perfect breakfast

By Czarina Teresita S. Martinez
Science Research Specialist I, FNRI

Eggs are widely enjoyed as breakfast entrée.  Some would like their egg steamed to perfection.  Others would prefer it scrambled or with vegetable, meat, seafood or in combination of a whole lot more. 

Some people like a soft cooked egg, almost coagulated. Many more start the morning with the sunny side up.

Tastes and preferences differ.  But can we eat egg every day?  Egg is high in cholesterol and blamed for the accumulation of plaques in the arteries resulting to constricted blood flow, reduced elasticity of arteries, and elevated blood pressure. 

But egg also contains the essential minerals and vitamins except vitamin C.  It is a good source of quality protein or the right quality of essential amino acid to build tissues.  Chicken egg is readily available in the market.

Weighing the good and bad sides of egg consumption, doctors and dietitians recommend a weekly diet of 2-3 pieces of eggs.

The Department of Science and Technology's Food and Nutrition Research Institute recently completed a study on “The Effects of Egg Consumption on Lipid Profile among Selected 30–60 Year-Old Filipino Adults”.

Scientist III Celeste C. Tanchoco who led the researchers said “eating one egg a day is unlikely to have substantial increase in blood lipid.”  She also advocates a stronger attention to other aspects of lifestyle such as weight maintenance, and regular exercise in disease risk reduction.

How do we cook eggs right?  Here are some practical steps:

Finely poached egg guarantees that it was made from fresh eggs.  Start off by using only fresh eggs.  Egg is cooked in water at about 85-98OC, the temperature below boiling point, when bubbles form slowly and collapse below the surface.  Break the eggshell carefully, keeping the yolk whole.  Slowly slide the egg into the simmering water.  Allow the egg white to set at a desired degree.  When done, remove egg using slotted ladle.  Drain and serve. 

Eggs may be boiled hard or soft in the same saucepan.  Remove eggs from refrigerator at least 30 minutes before cooking.  It is important to have the eggs at room temperature because the sudden extreme change in temperature will cause the eggshells to break.  It is also important to have all the eggs in saucepan immersed in water. 

Cook the eggs at simmering temperature.  Soft cooked egg is done after simmering for five minutes while hard cooked egg needs 15 minutes.  To achieve desired results, cooked eggs must be dipped in cold water to prevent overcooking.  A fast spin distinguishes hard from the soft cooked one.

Sunny side-up and over easy are fried eggs.  Eggs are broken out of the shell, then pan fried in cooking oil.  Cook the egg until the white is set and the yolk thickens but not hard.  The yolk may be moistened with hot oil to have an over easy fried egg. 

Scrambled egg is prepared by whipping the whole egg.  Milk is often added to achieve softer finish.  A good scrambled egg is evenly coagulated but not tough nor burned.  Scrambled eggs easily turn into omelets by adding sliced tomatoes, onions, mushroom, cheese, bacon, red or green pepper, meat, sea foods, etc.  This omelet is also called “torta”.