Sushi For Dummies
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Most people eat their first hard-boiled quail egg out of curiosity. When they taste how much flavor these little quarter-ounce quail eggs have, especially when dipped in matcha (powdered green tea) salt, they go on to eat three or four more.

If you can’t find quail eggs, you can substitute chicken eggs in this recipe. One hard-boiled chicken egg, quartered, equals four quail eggs.

Hard-Boiled Quail Eggs with Matcha Salt

Preparation time: 7 minutes

Cooking time: 8 minutes

Yield: 20 eggs (serves 4 people as appetizers)

20 quail eggs

1 tablespoon vinegar

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon matcha

  1. Open the quail egg container carefully.

    The little eggs break easily.

  2. Add the vinegar to a pot of cold water.

  3. Submerge the eggs in the vinegar and water.

  4. Bring the water just to a boil and then reduce the heat, simmering the eggs 2 to 3 minutes.

  5. Drain the eggs and put them in a bowl of ice water.

    Allow the eggs to cool (it takes just a few minutes).

  6. Roll a wet egg on the counter, cracking the shell all over.

  7. Peel the eggs from the rounded end first.

    Take your time!

  8. After the eggs are peeled, rinse them off to remove any little bits of shell.

  9. Refrigerate the eggs, covered, up to 1 day.

  10. Stir the salt and matcha together in a small bowl.

  11. Serve the eggs cold, stacked in a martini glass or pretty bowl, with matcha salt on the side as a dipping salt.

The speckled quail egg shells are so attractive that you may want to leave a few eggs in their shell for people to admire mixed in with the peeled eggs.

Peeling quail eggs is like peeling chicken eggs in that sometimes the shells peel off smoothly and easily and sometimes they don’t, so buy more than you need to allow for eggs that don’t cooperate and break apart while you peel them.

Per serving: Calories 71 (From fat 45); Fat 5g (Saturated 2g); Cholesterol 380mg; Sodium 639mg; Carbohydrate 0g (Dietary fiber 0g); Protein 6g.

About This Article

This article is from the book:

About the book authors:

Mineko Takane Moreno, born and raised in Tokyo, received her degree in French literature. Her love of food has inspired a lifelong education in many cuisines, including Japanese, Chinese, French, and Italian. Moving to San Diego in 1973, she began teaching Japanese cuisine, with a specialty in sushi. She currently teaches dozens of sushi classes a year at seven culinary schools, including Macy’s, Williams-Sonoma, and Sur la Table. Mineko consults with restaurants wishing to put sushi and other specialties on their menu. Her culinary work has been featured in numerous print publications and on television and radio shows. She is a member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals.

Judi Strada has a bachelor’s degree in Russian studies, which led her to study other cultures through their foods. She was the food consultant and spokesperson for The Sheraton World Cookbook and The Culinary Festival Cookbook and coauthor of The Best of San Diego. She is a frequent cooking guest on television and radio shows on both coas ts. Judi, an award-winning writer, is currently food editor of San Diego Magazine; kitchen garden editor of Garden Compass Magazine; and a member of the Authors Guild, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, the International Association of Culinary Professionals, and the James Beard Foundation. She is founding president of Les Dames d’Escoffier, San Diego.

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