Scrambled eggs mustn’t have a protracted ingredient listing, and I’m not going to make it any longer. In reality, the ingredient I’m going to let you know so as to add is hardly an ingredient in any respect. It’s water—only a mere splash out of your kitchen sink or that cup you’re slurping proper now. You’ll be rewarded with scrambled eggs which might be delightfully fluffy, just like the 8 a.m. equal of a tulle robe.

I began doing this not for the eggs themselves, however for matzo brei, a Jewish consolation meals beloved for Passover that my household depends on year-round. The pan-fried dish is reasonable and quick, and everybody makes theirs somewhat in another way. I rinse a sheet of matzo beneath the tap, then crumble it right into a bowl with a pair eggs, and add one other splash of water for good luck. Finally I began doing this in my matzo-less eggs too.

Many scrambled egg recipes let you know so as to add a pour of heavy cream, half-and-half, or entire milk. The concept is that these components enhance the flavour (dairy tastes good), tenderness (the fats within the dairy interrupts the proteins within the eggs), and fluffiness (the water within the dairy puffs into steam).

Which is all properly and good—besides that my fridge hardly ever has heavy cream, half-and-half, or entire milk. What can I say? I favor shelf-stable oats and soybeans. And water works wonders in its personal method.

Steamed eggs are the last word instance of this, like on this recipe from Jessie YuChen or this one from June Kim. In YuChen’s recipe, you add over ¼ cup water per egg, and in Kims’s, just below 3 tablespoons. Both method, the liquid, paired with the steaming method, yields a cloud-like soufflé—eggs so fluffy that, in the event you turned your again, they could float away.

However you don’t want that a lot water to realize fluff. Even somewhat makes a distinction. As cookbook creator J. Kenji López-Alt explains it in The Meals Lab, including water to scrambled eggs “means extra vaporization happens, creating bigger bubbles within the eggs and lightening them.”

I like so as to add about 1 to 1½ teaspoons of water per 1 massive egg. Although I’ve to let you know: I by no means measured the water earlier than penning this piece. For a pair eggs, I simply activate the tap, then flip it off as shortly as my humble human reflexes permit. Don’t overthink it.

And don’t fear about diluting the flavour both. This can be a small quantity of water, and also you’re salting and peppering the eggs, and also you’re cooking them in fats. To me, any taste distinction is indistinguishable, whereas the textural distinction is thrilling. Swiftly scrambled over medium warmth, in a beneficiant puddle of melted butter or olive oil, the eggs construct up extra rolls and wrinkles than a pug pet. It’s wild what somewhat hydration can do.

This text first appeared on Bon Appétit. 

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