Quail eggs?

[mudster]

I'm not a huge egg fan, but I've come into a source of fresh quail eggs. Never had them before. What are they like? Do they taste substantially different from chicken eggs? Aside from the novelty of the teeny-tiny eggs, is there any reason to buy them?

Thanks!

[Veggo]

My favorite final sushi pair is usually salmon egg, with raw quail egg on top. Luscious.

[cheesemonger]

You know what's super cute? The egg in the toast preparation with the 100 different names (we call it "toad-in-the-hole"), made with "cocktail" pumpernickel bread and quail eggs cracked into the centers that were cut out with a skinny glass, like a vodka shot glass.

Tip- toast the bread first, because the egg will cook too fast to toast the bread in the pan. I love to do this for guests.

[tarteaucitron]

That sounds like a labour of love! I'll certainly save that idea for some special occasion.

I imagine the colour contrast would be quite nice too.

[Eat_Nopal]

Raw quail eggs in sherry (cheap sherry) a tummy warming, winter time specialty sold out of Smoothie/Juice/Fruit stalls in Mexico City... without the salmonella.

[hungry_pangolin]

Is the whole egg just dumped into the sherry, or is it beaten into the sherry? Sounds good, regardless.

[Eat_Nopal]

Technically... the sherry is dumped on the egg... the egg is cracked into the glass & then the sherry poured on top the minute you order it. It taste good, sticks to your ribs & makes you feel good.

[Melanie]

My fave way to eat them is raw, atop tobiko sushi nigiri. Delish!

[Passadumkeg]

Ooooo, good idea.

[tarteaucitron]

Or mixed in with natto, rice and soy sauce.

[Passadumkeg]

I've understood that they are very low in cholesterol. Comments? Boiled as part of an appetizer plate or rice dishes. Can be found canned (and peeled) in Asian markets.

[tarteaucitron]

And for some reason, a lot of Chinese, including my parents, seem to have the hard-set belief that quail eggs have much higher cholesterol than hen eggs. They think while they can have their chicken eggs from time to time, they should avoid the quail ones altogether. I have no clue why.

[OCEllen]

Yes, buy them! Apart from their 'cuteness' they are tasty and just as usable as their bigger relatives...boiling takes moments, frying seconds...and I think the wild naturalness of them is a great joy!

[tarteaucitron]

To me they're definitely tastier, and supposed to be somewhat more nutritious than regular eggs, richer in iron, calcium and other stuff.

Obviously it takes more work to poach, cook or peel them but why don't you try them once yourself?

I enjoy them soft-boiled, or poached and served on a warm salad.

[rworange]

How do they work scrambled or fried. That might be cute ... little, tiny quail fried eggs.

[chazzerking]

they work great fried and look just as cool as you would think. the taste about halfway between a chicken egg and a duck egg. I like to poach them and serve with minced bacon and finely minced tomatoes sprinkled over the top, inspired by Keller's Bacon 'n'Eggs. they're also good boiled til just set, cooled, cut in half and served with caviar and a tiny dollop of creme fraiche.

[tarteaucitron]

I like them fried too, 'cept I find it takes a lot of patience breaking and dropping them carefully, so that each of them is still perfectly sunny-side up (the shells are somewhat tougher than those of hen eggs).

The bacon and tomatoes sound good too.

[MMRuth]

I've also read (can't remember where right now) that there are not the same concerns about eating raw quail eggs vs. chicken eggs. No idea why.

[trininva]

I once had them pickled in a salad at a Cajun restaurant in New Orleans. Wonderful.

[fmed]

They taste close enough to chicken eggs. My kids love them. I use them in canapes and the odd thing (eg indonesian soto where the quail eggs replace sliced hardboiled chicken eggs.)