586570 Fri Jan 09 14:48:50 -0800 2009 29 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 4311967 What's your definition of the following terms for ordering fried eggs? Here's my very unscientific definition: 1. Sunny side up = white firm, yolk still liquid 2. Over easy = Sunny side up but "flipped" so yolk doesn't appear "yellow" but is still "runny" 3. Over medium = over easy but cooked until yolk is set, but still runny in the middle 4. Over hard = over medium but cooked until yolk is firm 5. "stepped on" = over hard but yolk is smashed Fri Jan 09 14:48:50 -0800 2009 11583 ipsedixit 1 4312020 Ha, interesting. I didn't know there were terms for anything beyond 'over easy.' I guess I generally have my fried eggs over medium... The more you know... (cue rainbow). Fri Jan 09 15:10:12 -0800 2009 4311967 116513 linguafood 1 4312043 Those sound right to me! I've never heard of "stepped on," but I like it. I would have just said "break the yolk." Fri Jan 09 15:20:18 -0800 2009 4311967 74556 manraysky 2 4312094 Ever hear of "dippy eggs"? I have friends from the Philly area who order them that way (with a side of scrapple of course!). I'm a strictly soft-scrambled girl myself, so I'm no expert, but I think it's the same as sunny side up. Fri Jan 09 15:38:53 -0800 2009 4312043 125796 majorette 3 4313146 My mom calls over easy eggs "dippy eggs". We're from Delaware. Sat Jan 10 00:28:33 -0800 2009 4312094 229028 marietinn 3 4313275 I'm a dippy egg girl from PA. Dippy, for me, is a sunny side up egg. You fry it in the pan w/ a lid for maybe 1-2 mins. just until the whites are cooked. It takes no effort to break the yolk to let the beautiful golden yolk ooze everywhere!!! Sat Jan 10 05:28:18 -0800 2009 4312094 71241 lynnlato 1 4312136 Sounds good to me. Like manraysky, I've never heard of stepped on. I do like to order my hash browns (not home fries) "burnt" - which means very, very crispy on one side. Fri Jan 09 15:53:28 -0800 2009 4311967 148845 scoopG 1 4312147 hmm I'd always thought over hard meant the yolk was broken... Fri Jan 09 15:55:01 -0800 2009 4311967 153184 im_nomad 1 4312191 I tend to agree with your definitions, but recently saw a sign in a restaurant that defined things slightly differently. AFAIR, these folks claimed that an "over well" egg is one that has been fried both sides until the yolk is firm; "over hard" means the yolk has been broken. But then again, the same sign claimed that an "over easy" egg is supposed to have a runny white, so credibility is an issue. Anyway, don't forget "basted" eggs - like sunny side up, they aren't flipped, but the top side is lightly cooked by spooning or splashing hot cooking oil over it (or sometimes by adding a little water to make steam and covering with a dome / pot lid / etc.). Fri Jan 09 16:09:17 -0800 2009 4311967 58743 alanbarnes 2 4313470 My mother's standard technique was similar to your definition of "basted", but she just covered the pan the whole time--no added water. The white gets nice and creamy-cooked (partially set) that way, but the yolk is still runny. Sat Jan 10 07:30:36 -0800 2009 4312191 10668 johnb 2 4314469 I had never seen the basted egg until I visited my husband's family (done by his family by taking the spatula and gently flicking the hot oil onto the top of the egg).. It has become a new favorite of mine, and to me is a very 'pretty' looking egg. It's a nice way to prepare the egg when one is concerned with presentation. Sat Jan 10 14:18:07 -0800 2009 4312191 186923 Cachetes 2 4314637 My mother always referred to that type as Southern Fried...used a tablespoon to collect the bacon crease and spoon over top of the yolks Sat Jan 10 15:19:28 -0800 2009 4312191 11562 Hue 1 4312242 I think I recall Moe of the Three Stooges ordering a "sunny side DOWN. And DON'T turn it over". Fri Jan 09 16:29:36 -0800 2009 4311967 227406 JohnE O 1 4312259 What do you call it when, " ... the whites are a webbing of cedar colored plastic, especially around the edges and taste metallic while the yolk is runny, almost cold and snot-like, and the overall taste is of burnt plastic and warm salty spit" ? - From, "The Travels of Mas Akasijuf in America" circa 1970 Fri Jan 09 16:35:53 -0800 2009 4311967 36661 Sam Fujisaka 2 4312399 Eggs made by my mother-in-law? Fri Jan 09 17:23:07 -0800 2009 4312259 11701 MrsT 2 4314433 That would be eggs cooked on a blazing-hot grill-top, like the ones my girlfriend and I had at a working-man's greasy spoon at five one morning in Jackson, Tennessee. You paid upfront and got your ticket, then got in line behind one of the stools. When your stool came vacant, you sat down and slapped your ticket on the counter. The cook would glance at it, break eggs onto the grill, slide a piece of toast and whatever meat and potatoes if any onto the plate, and then your eggs - exactly as fast as this is taking me to write it. You were expected to eat it at the same pace; after having escaped a tornado in Oklahoma City and then driving all night, that was not a problem for us. Sat Jan 10 14:04:55 -0800 2009 4312259 11478 Will Owen 3 4314454 Beautiful story. Why were there so many people at 5:00 am? And did it happen in black and white, i.e., how long ago? Sat Jan 10 14:10:58 -0800 2009 4314433 36661 Sam Fujisaka 4 4314470 That would be on or about the 1st of November 1974, in very nice color (Jackson is a pretty town, particularly at dawn). For all I know these were all guys getting ready for work in the railroad yards or wherever. Judy was the only female in the place, and I'm sure we were both the only folks who didn't have to jump up and go to work. We just needed to get to Nashville in time for lunch... Sat Jan 10 14:18:08 -0800 2009 4314454 11478 Will Owen 5 4314626 1974. Right about the last time I had one of those plastic edged cold in the middle fried eggs, back when Kathie, my first wife, and I mostly cooked but also sought out good independent restaurants in the Pacific NW, A bit before I left the States to live and work elsewhere - always to miss such eating in America adventures (although I've had much more than my share elsewhere). Sat Jan 10 15:15:21 -0800 2009 4314470 36661 Sam Fujisaka 1 4312444 You left out "nuke 'em," i.e. fry them until totally cooked. Actually at home, I prefer the whites barely cooked and the yolk very cooked. Fri Jan 09 17:44:15 -0800 2009 4311967 13192 chocolatetartguy 2 4312761 Just curious -- how do you accomplish that? Fri Jan 09 19:45:35 -0800 2009 4312444 14515 Stephanie Wong 3 4313007 With a Creme Brulee Torch maybe? Fri Jan 09 21:55:29 -0800 2009 4312761 11583 ipsedixit 4 4314253 Separate the egg first? Sat Jan 10 12:53:34 -0800 2009 4313007 13722 small h 1 4313134 "With a skirt" - sunny side up, runny yolk, whites firm but with crisp edges. Sat Jan 10 00:08:47 -0800 2009 4311967 55318 DockPotato 2 4313244 You've answered my question above. Sat Jan 10 04:55:42 -0800 2009 4313134 36661 Sam Fujisaka 1 4313624 That's about right - I;ve heard all of those in diner parlance. There are two levels of over hard (just like two levels of hard-cooked eggs) - the first level is where the yolk is firm but still tender and orange, the second is where the yolk is firm and crumbly and yellow. If the first level could be analogized to "medium well", then I'd have a great name for something I am fond of. One thing this list is missing is the delights of the deep fried egg - egg poach-fried in the European way, suspended in hot oil. Drain on paper and season - a delight. Sat Jan 10 08:50:57 -0800 2009 4311967 13819 Karl S 2 4314448 According to one French cookbook I have, oeufs frites are deep-fried like that; our 'fried eggs' are oeufs dans le poele...or something like that. Sat Jan 10 14:09:40 -0800 2009 4313624 11478 Will Owen 1 4314399 Way off topic - but microwaved eggs. I'm usually in a hurry in the morning, and I found a "clam shell" type microwave egg cooker. Break an egg into each side, poke the yolk so it won't explode, and nuke for 48 seconds (in my tiny little unit). Bingo - two eggs, yolks just a little runny (over medium is the closest), no added fats, no messy cleanup. I have to put the toast in first because it takes longer! Sat Jan 10 13:51:34 -0800 2009 4311967 48210 KevinB 2 4314493 that works in a coffee mug with a napkin on top too. Not the best eggs, but certainly FF and quick Sat Jan 10 14:24:22 -0800 2009 4314399 224238 Caralien 1 4315322 It can be catch-as-catch-can. I was once in a coffee shop where I overheard the manager telling the cook how to fry an egg. Another time, O ordered eggs over easy amd they arrived basically heated but miraculously hardly cooked at all. Sat Jan 10 21:57:02 -0800 2009 4311967 55316 mpalmer6c