How do you like your eggs?

Posted by mrcushtie@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 94 comments

I moved away from the UK about twenty years ago, and I've always been confused on those rare occasions that I've ordered fried eggs in other countries since (predominantly the US and Canada) and they've asked how I want them. As far as I was concerned, a fried egg is a fried egg: it's a white blob with a orangey yellow circle in the middle.

All talk of sunny side up, over easy, and whatever else was just meaningless squawking until my wife (Canadian) explained to me last week what they meant.

Was my idea of a fried egg normal, or would people in the UK specify what kind of fried egg they wanted?

Note that I'm not asking you to explain to me what sunny side up or any of these variants mean; I'm just curious as to whether other Brits have a similar conception of what a fried egg is, or if I was just brought up ignorant.

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split-tennisball@reddit

I like mine with a kiss

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mister_meaner7@reddit

Boiled or fried, I’m satisfied .

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DryJackfruit6610@reddit

As long as I get my kiss

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lovemycat02@reddit

I’ve got to have my love

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V65Pilot@reddit

I like mine with a blowjob, but we don't always get what we want....

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doctorgibson@reddit

But if you try sometime you'll find, you get what you need

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Snatchematician@reddit

That’s not how the song goes though

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kentgti@reddit

Very good 10/10 👏🏻

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-myeyeshaveseenyou-@reddit

I’m Irish, live in England and I’m a chef, I have a lot of thoughts on this. To me a fried egg should be runny, ask if you want it hard and please don’t give me terms like over easy etc I don’t know what they mean. My mother cooked me eggs on a trip home a few years ago, they were just perfect and then she flipped them. I still love her but I still think about this more than I should 🤣

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Dutch_Slim@reddit

I like the yolk runny, but the egg does need to be flipped - 20 seconds is enough. Top of the yolk needs to be opaque, not slimy!

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-myeyeshaveseenyou-@reddit

I just flip a bit of oil over the top if I’m so inclined, but at home I often cook eggs with a saucepan lid over the top, I’m also not opposed to a little egg white snot, but in work I flick hot oil over the top to ensure there’s no slimy white

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TheAngryBad@reddit

That's the way. Just a few seconds to cook that last bit of raw white on the top. Doesn't need much.

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90210fred@reddit

I've eaten in service stations on Eastern Europe where miming a flip was the only way to guarantee the egg was actually cooked. There's running, then there's 'oh'

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Broken_Woman20@reddit

I agree with you here. Generally a good fried egg in the UK has a runny yolk unless you ask for anything different.

Love a good fried egg.

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-myeyeshaveseenyou-@reddit

A good fried egg is one of the nicest things, I especially love them on things they don’t always come with like a steak, also love a good croque madame

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Ok-Set-5829@reddit

My favourite is on leftover Paella

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MainCartographer4022@reddit

Personally I like my yolk to be cooked through but I've no idea what any of those terms mean!

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Spiritual_Tie3348@reddit

I'll take the yolk anyway just no slime on the white🤮

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SionnachBaineann@reddit

A fried egg ideally is a little crispy on the bottom, and I steam the top with a pan lid until the white directly surrounding the yolk isn't snotty.

Yolk MUST still be runny or it is a serious disappointment and I often just fry another one out of spite.

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Some-Ad5770@reddit

Always doing too much - the perfect way to describe Americans.

A fried egg is a fried egg - crispy lace like edges and a delightfully jammy yolk!

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Willsagain2@reddit

No ta. Fried over low heat without any browning at all, and with the yolk broken first, is my preferred method. I'm willing to admit to being weird about this, though.

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GrumpyOlBastard@reddit

Sounds like what I call "messy fried eggs". Broken yolk and very lightly mixed -but not scrambled. Fried then flipped. My favourite way to eat an egg, unless I'm having egg n chips, then the yolk needs to remain whole and runny for dippage

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Former_Elk_7690@reddit

My kid hates crispy eggs . I do soft fried and over east for her. Other half has medium I have runny .cooking eggs isn't an American thing it's a thing we do with naming usually .

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wreckinballbob@reddit

An over easy fried egg is just a shit omelette.

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suspicious_odour@reddit

Runny not snotty.

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coffeeebucks@reddit

Gross but accurate

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helpnxt@reddit

Cooked...

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_Hoping_For_Better_@reddit

Ever since I discovered what over-easy is, that's how I cook my eggs it's just easier to get the maximum amount of runny yolk and no runny white.

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tobotic@reddit

I like my eggs in cake form, or possibly quiche.

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yolo_snail@reddit

Scotched

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VardaElentari86@reddit

Boiled egg i can't eat under any circumstances (the smell alone puts me off)

But I'll basically eat egg in any other form

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EffDubya@reddit

I am the same! Were you fed on soft boiled eggs a lot as a baby by any chance?? I was, and I still can’t eat separate yolk and white now as a 46yo 😂 give me an omelette though and I’ll smash it, no problem 👌

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MsScaryPoppins@reddit

I call these a scromlette ! 😂

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VardaElentari86@reddit

This forced me to Google the descriptions. Im seemingly between over easy and over medium

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emvaz@reddit

Inside me, it makes me feel hopeless when I lose one, then I bounce back as the next one roles down...

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adymann@reddit

Runny yolk, tomato ketchup and Worcestershire sauce, all mixed in with the bean juice and mopped up with buttery white bread toast. Mmm mmm.

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Dutch_Slim@reddit

Yes because I don’t like the snotty bit on top of the yolk, I would ask for over.

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SampleAlternative954@reddit

I’m with you OP, a fried egg is a fried egg.

The only specification I would give would be if the options are fried, poached or scrambled.

I mean, who in their right mind would want their fried egg flipped to either break the yoke or make it hard?

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Willeth@reddit

A fried egg is "sunny side up" by default. If you want anything else you have to say so.

If you order a fried egg in the UK and they've fucked with the yolk it's their fault, not yours.

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RedWife77@reddit

Over-easy is best - the yolk is runny and the white is set. I achieve this at home by spooning some of the hot fat over the yolk as I fry it because I’m far too cack handed to flip a fried egg without breaking it. I once ordered eggs sunny side up, the first time I had brunch in Sydney, thinking it just meant ‘soft yolks’. Never made that mistake again. Breakfast places in the UK don’t seem to have grapes over-easy so I usually order scrambled when we have brunch out.

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MmmThisISaTastyBurgr@reddit

You're just describing a fried egg though

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RedWife77@reddit

I’m describing a good fried egg. Mostly when you get fried eggs in the UK, the whites are still juuggly.

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MmmThisISaTastyBurgr@reddit

Eww, you've been having some horrible eggs and bacon, my friend. Runny white and unrendered bacon fat are disgusting and wrong.

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RedWife77@reddit

100%! That’s why I order scrambled eggs when I have brunch out, and always ask for well done bacon - though often kitchens interpret that as ‘give it another 10 seconds on the grill’. I know we’re famous in the UK for our Great British Fry Up, but heretic that I am, I prefer a US or Aussie brunch, where you actually get what you ask for.

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BigJDizzleMaNizzles@reddit

I'm the other way. Can flip it no problem but then, without fail break the yolk when I'm trying to get it out of the pan.

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Groxy_@reddit

Why wouldn't you specify? I like it a bit runny but still solid. My dad likes his fried eggs flipped, I don't want my eggs flipped though. I don't think I've ever not specified.

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Sea-Still5427@reddit

If you asked me the question in the headline, my answer would be hard boiled, but I wouldn't dare tell a professional chef how to cook. That seems incredibly rude.

If the question is how do I like fried eggs, as long as the white's completely set, the yoke is hot and runny, I don't care how you get there.

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glytxh@reddit

Unfertilised.

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BreqsCousin@reddit

If you wanted the yolk hard then you'd specify.

Otherwise a friend egg is default a white blob with a yellow circle, where the yellow circle is runny when your pierce it.

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MmmThisISaTastyBurgr@reddit

Yep. A fried egg is just what it says and is meant to be simple enough you can make it while very hungover, hence why it's a staple of a full English.

There's no need to flip it at all if you can make a fried egg properly. If your yolk is anything other than runny, you've cooked it for too long. If it's somehow crispy, why are you trying to kill your fried egg? Turn the heating down. If your white isn't setting, stick a lid on the frying pan for 30 seconds.

You shouldn't overthink a bloody fried egg.

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Crochet-panther@reddit

I’m sorry but a crispy white on a fried egg is the best type of fried egg

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urban_shoe_myth@reddit

Absolutely the best. Super hot fat in the pan, crisps up the white quickly but the yolk stays runny. Awesome for fried egg butties.

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SaltSpot@reddit

A stranger egg is just a friend egg you haven't met yet.

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northyj0e@reddit

I thought a stranger egg was when you sit on your egg so it feels like it's someone else's?

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Easy-Equal@reddit

I like mine with a kiss

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Solid_Bodybuilder_89@reddit

How do you like your toast in the morning?

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Itchy-Series7105@reddit

Poached egg. Not that deep.

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Occamsfacecloth@reddit

A shallow pan?

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SmartPipe3882@reddit

I don't think there's any question of what a fried egg is, just an overly-abundant mindset in America that the customer needs to be given all the choice in the world. Whereas we tend to be more "you'll have it the way the chef has cooked it, or you can fuck off" because the service staff don't have their ability to pay their rent resting on satisfaction-driven discretionary spending, i.e. tips.

To answer your headline question; I prefer a soft scramble, but if I'm having them fried then sunny side up, crispy edges.

To answer the body question; tipping culture.

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PrimeWolf101@reddit

I like mine with a hug

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V65Pilot@reddit

Over easy. Cooked whites. runny yolks. Odd fact: In New Jersey, it's illegal to serve an egg sunny side up even if it's requested.

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Fizl99@reddit

I like over easy but i break the yolk too often so go sunny side up

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a-punk-is-for-life@reddit

Unfertilized

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Shot-Specialist-9841@reddit

I break the yolk and mix it into the white

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DryJackfruit6610@reddit

Get out

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BigJDizzleMaNizzles@reddit

Yes officer, this maniac right here.

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60s_Child@reddit

Mostly in a sausage omelette (Lincolnshire and chorizo), if I'm having fried it depends on if it's going in a sandwich, in which case I want the yolk popped, or not, in which case I want the yolk runny so I can dip my fried bread in it. Oh, and I want it on top of a slice of black pudding.

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Perception_4992@reddit

How did it take you TWENTY years to figure that out?!!

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CactusCastrator@reddit

Fried with crispy eggs and soft yolks.

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CactusCastrator@reddit

My thing is a high temperature then add some water and add a lid so the steam sets the upper without the yolk gelatinizing.

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Harald_TheEnduring@reddit

Do you not fry your eggs in oil? Adding water seems.. dangerous.

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CactusCastrator@reddit

A couple of teaspoons is plenty. I personally rinse the lid and use the moisture on that. It's a very common cooking method known as a basted egg.

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Harald_TheEnduring@reddit

Basted huh? Well I never knew.

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spoo4brains@reddit

Over medium.

Am not a big fan of the US right now, but I like the concept that I can order an egg done to my taste rather than at the whim of the cook.

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Veinmire@reddit

Eggs are eggs. I'm not really fussed.

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bitterlemon80@reddit

So what does all the American squawking actually mean?

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Harald_TheEnduring@reddit

Sunny side up is just a fried egg, over easy is flipped with a soft yolk from what I remember.

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TorazChryx@reddit

and over medium would be flipped with a gummy yolk

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DingoBingoWimbo@reddit

Just fuckin boil them and eat 6 of them in the morning w a multivitamin

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Upper_Paramedic_2043@reddit

A fried egg is a fried egg. Trust the yanks to over complicate the situation

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joshygill@reddit

Chocolate

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YetAnotherMia@reddit

Scrambled with so much butter!

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TrousersTrousers@reddit

I like mine over easy, but as this isn't a British thing I just put up with however it comes as 'fried'.

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Touchtheheart@reddit

Same! Over easy is my preference but, like a cup of tea, I'll take it however it's made without fuss!

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kentgti@reddit

I find EU countries don’t cook the white enough and it’s all blobby… my preference on holiday is over easy for this reason.

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HauntingTheVoid@reddit

I like the yolk hard and even then I prefer the whites. It's a texture thing mostly

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VolcanicBear@reddit

No idea what any of the terms mean, but I want my yolk runny.

I once asked for a runny poached egg in the Maldives. The chef looked confused, then appeared to understand. The white was runny. Of course I ate it anyway.

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Octahedral_cube@reddit

SURELY you flip them for a few seconds if it's going in a sandwich. Otherwise it'll be an absolute mess. So you intuitively understand "over easy"

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MarlaDurden144@reddit

I’d ask for a fried egg with a runny yolk.

I know the American diner terms (thanks to US tv and movies) but I’d never use them here.

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AnonymousTimewaster@reddit

Poached if possible.

But yeah I'm with you 20 years ago. No idea what any of that other stuff is.

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