Uni Scrambled Eggs and Tet Give Away!

Who says breakfast can't be can't be luxurious?  When it comes to breakfast, especially a lazy weekend type of breakfast, we often turn to Vietnamese soups such as pho or bun bo hue or stews such as bo kho. Occasionally we'll have eggs, but typically hot ga op la style (take from the French for fried egg oeuf au plat), a sunny side up with a dash of Maggi seasoning served right in the pan with a small loaf of toasted baguette.  Over the weekend,  however, we decided to make breakfast extra special for no particular reason other then we had some time and we really wanted to make a dish featuring some new nonstick pans we were testing out.  But instead of hot ga op la, we decided to fancy it up with sea urchin roe, or as the Japanese call it uni, a favorite delicacy of ours when dining out.

Uni has a light, sweet, and briny flavor and creamy consistency that we thought would be wonderful with scrambled eggs. We adapted the idea from a great blog called Marx Foods, which also happens to purveyors of some great delicacies. You can typically find trays of uni like this in your local Japanese and Korean markets.

Although scrambling eggs seemingly is a simple task, if you ask 10 chefs, you might get 10 different answers on the best recipe and technque for perfect scrambled eggs. There's the Martha Stewert method, the Gordon Ramsey method and countless others.

Uni Scrambled Eggs
Printable Recipe (serves 2)

3 large eggs
3 ts milk (whole or low fat)
3 sea urchin roe (use more or less according to your taste, save additional sea urchin roe to top)
1 tbs butter
1/4 sheet of nori cut in tiny strips

In a miniprep or food processor, puree the 3 sea urchin roe with the 3 ts of milk.   Crack three eggs into mixing bowl and add the puree. Whisk well, for about 1-2 minutes.  In a medium heated nonstick pan add butter and when it liquefies, add the egg mixture.

Feel free to use your favorite method to scramble eggs. When the mixture is just about to set, we use the Martha Stewart method of using a spatula to push the eggs to the center and tilt the pan to distribute the runny parts. Continue and break apart any large pieces. When there are no longer any runny parts, flip the eggs over and cook for another 10-15 seconds and remove from heat. Add salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to serving plate, top with additional sea urchin roe and nori strips and serve immediately.

Cooks note: This recipe is easily adjustable, adding 1 sea urchin roe and 1 ts of milk to the puree for each additional egg.

Some consider uni an aphrodisiac, so with Valentines day around the corner, prepare this unique and luxurious breakfast for your loved one and they'll love you forever..

We'll be remissed if we didn't point out that Tet, the Vietnamese celebration of the lunar new year is February 3rd.  For Vietnamese, it is the year of the Cat, the only animal that is different from the Chinese zodiac. For the Chinese, it's the year of the Rabbit.  Last year we had a series of posts on traditional Vietnamese foods but this year, we have a different plan. If you haven't noticed, we cooked these eggs in a beautiful red ceramic coated Aeternum pans from Bialetti.  Red being the color of weatlh, prosperity, and good fortune during Tet, we thought it would a perfect time to do a giveaway of a a set of Aeternum pans courtesy of Bialetti.

As you can see, these pans are visually stunning. It was pleasure to cook with them as well as to photograph them, not to mention they look great on the stove. But looks aside, how does this pan perform? We've made quick stir fries, dumplings, eggs, and more with these pans and it did a great job. The nonstick surface is made of white nanoceramic coating which is free of PFOA, PTFE, and free of Cadmium.

The heat seemed well distributed and weight of the pan felt sturdy. Our only concern was that the beautiful white surface might stain especially with colorful foods such as curries and that the coating might chip. So far, with routine use neither has been a problem. As with any good nonstick pan, the amount of oil we used was reduced without much noticeble difference in flavor of foods. Browning of foods such as dumplings also was suprisingly good.

So to cut to the chase, Bialetti has generously provided us with an entire SET of Aeternum pans which retail on the Bialetti site and on Amazon for $89.99 (currently they're so hot, its out of stock on both sites!). So how do you win our Tet give away? It's easy and you can do any or all of the following to increase your chances of winning (we apologize, but due to shipping costs, only US address only):

1. Subscribe to our blog via RSS or email for one entry and leave a comment stating what you wish for your loved ones in the New Year. If you already subscribe, no need to unsubscribe and re-subscribe, just state what you wish for your loved ones in the New Year. Unlike western New Years tradition of making personal resolutions, the Vietnamese tradition is wishing well upon others in order to receive good luck and "li xi" lucky money!

2. Like the Ravenous Couple Facebook page and leave a separate comment on this post stating such.

3. Like Bialetti's Facebook page and leave a separate comment on this post stating such.

4. Follow us on Twitter and tweet this statement exactly " Vietnamese New Year #Tet #giveaway: win a set of Bialetti Aeternum pans  from the @ravenouscouple http://j.mp/hyjRxw Pls RT " without the quotes and leave a separate comment on this post saying you tweeted.

The contest ends in one week 2/9/11 12 am pacific time and we'll notify the winner by email. Using Random.org, congratulations to Kim who left the comment: My mamma, who gave up her career as a teacher in VN and traveled over by boat to the USA to give me a better life... and who has worked in "manufacturing" ever since (not the same as teaching), is now, in these economic times, looking for a job. So this year, I wish her (and the rest of my family) a little more prosperity. We'll contact you!


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Again we apologize to our international and Canadian readers. Good luck and Chuc Mung Nam Moi!

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