Cooking: Fish-Fragrant Puffy Omelet (Budget Version)

Back in the kitchen after a long break. Today’s project: fish-fragrant puffy omelet.

The proper high-end version comes out fluffy and legit impressive.

But the pantry’s limited… so a stripped-down version first. Eggs are the main event, fish-fragrant sauce is the supporting act.

Let’s take them separately. Eggs first:

Basically, beat the eggs until smooth, and if you feel like it, whisk a little starch slurry into the egg mixture.

Hot pan, cold oil to start, and use a lot of oil — a lot — then pour in the egg mixture once the oil is hot enough. The eggs puff up fast. Use the spatula to push them from the center outward, spreading them out. Once the base firms up, start thinking about the flip. After the flip, keep an eye on it, and when the eggs look about done, slide the omelet straight out of the pan.

Then the fish-fragrant sauce.

Roughly what you need: scallions, garlic, light soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, pickled chilies.

Scallions, garlic, and pickled chilies — about a small bowl’s worth each. Light soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar at a 1:2:2 ratio works well. I bought pickled chili paste, which already has salt in it; if you pickle your own without salt, you’ll need to add some, plus a little MSG.

Stir-fry the scallions, garlic, and pickled chilies first, then add the soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, and the rest. Once it smells good, add a bit of water and thicken with starch. Wait for the sauce to reduce and thicken, then scoop it out and pour it over the eggs you just made…

Honestly, though, the hardest part is keeping the eggs in shape. The first time, by the time the sauce was ready the eggs had gone a bit cold and lost their fluff.

The second time I ran two pans at once, but the egg pan had too little oil and the oil wasn’t hot enough, so the omelet still wasn’t thick enough. Better than the first attempt, though.

Taste was fine. Next time I’ll get the oil temperature under control and aim for a thicker omelet, and finish the fish-fragrant sauce properly too.

The full version of the sauce calls for wood ear mushrooms and minced pork. This was the low-spec version — I’ll do the full one next time.

I was going to post it in my feed to win some points with a girl I was set up with, but she just roasted me with “what even is this”… sigh…