One of my daily pleasures is to take some eggs and transform them into dinner. My knee-jerk reaction is an omelette, egg fried rice, the occasional okonomiyaki but not usually fried eggs, which are still working on their acceptance into my dinner canon. Recently, they made a bid for my affection via these Malaysian eggs, or telur masak kicap, in which they are doused in an onion, sweet soy, garlic and chilli sauce that works splendidly over rice. Welcome to the party, fried eggs.
Malaysian eggs
Kecap manis is a dark and rich, thick and sweet Indonesian soy sauce that can easily be found online and in most south-east Asian supermarkets.
Prep 10 min
Cook 20 min
Serves 2
4 tbsp neutral oil, such as rapeseed
4 large eggs
1 large onion, peeled and thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
1-2 bird’s eye chillies, stalks discarded, flesh finely sliced
2 tbsp kecap manis
¼ tsp ground white pepper
1 tbsp light soy sauce
Cooked short-grain or jasmine rice, to serve
Measure 120ml water into a jug and put to one side. Put two tablespoons of the oil in a nonstick pan on a medium-high heat – test it’s hot enough by putting a wooden spoon in the pan: if bubbles form around it, the oil is ready. Crack in the eggs one at a time and fry for four or five minutes, until the whites are set and the edges are golden and crisp. Transfer the eggs to a plate.
Pour the remaining two tablespoons of oil into the same pan and turn down the heat to medium. Add the onion, fry, stirring, for seven minutes, then add the garlic and chilli, and fry for another three minutes.
Stir in the kecap manis, white pepper, soy sauce and the measured-out water, then leave to cook for a minute, just until the sauce bubbles. Slide the eggs back into the pan, cook for another minute or two, then turn off the heat.
Serve the eggs hot over steamed rice with plenty of the sauce spooned over the top.