The 1-Ingredient Upgrade for the Best Scrambled Eggs
J. Kenji López-Alt's secret to creamier, softer scrambled eggs.
I’ve made a lot of scrambled eggs, but the best recipe comes from Mandy Lee of the awe-inspiring food blog Lady & Pups via J. Kenji López-Alt, and it turns what I once thought to be true about making scrambling eggs upside down. Kenji shared Mandy's game-changing technique for making the creamiest scrambled eggs on The New York Times.
Necessity is the mother of invention, which aptly describes how the best scrambled eggs I’ve ever had came to be. I stumbled down an internet rabbit hole and learned that while Mandy was caring for one of her sick dogs—the Pups in the title of her blog—she made eggs with some starch. She was trying to create a paste-like substance to encourage her dog to eat. This dog food goo turned out to be the creamiest custard-like scrambled eggs she had ever made. Plus, it required little stirring and cooked in less than two minutes.
What's the trick? Make a slurry of cornstarch and milk, then combine it with beaten eggs before cooking. Kenji recommends potato or tapioca, but cornstarch may be more readily available in your pantry. I’ve tried both potato starch and cornstarch. While I found the potato starch to yield a slightly preferable texture, the difference was subtle.
For four eggs, Kenji uses two teaspoons of cornstarch dissolved in 1 1/2 tablespoons of milk—you can use water or half-and-half.
The starch binds with the protein, preventing the eggs from getting overcooked and rubbery. Also, the starch ensures no water leaks out of the eggs once they are cooked through—every breakfast cook's worst nightmare is solved!
Kenji takes this genius tip one step further by adding a bit of cubed butter to the egg mixture. Some of the butter is added to the pan, and some is whisked into the eggs themselves. As the eggs cook, the cubed butter slowly melts, yielding eggs that are moist, fluffy, and creamy.
While I would have never thought of this idea, it makes perfect sense. Hindsight is always twenty-twenty! When I think of an ultra-creamy texture, pudding comes to mind. The two key ingredients for any good pudding are eggs and some starch. While these scrambled eggs taste nothing like pudding, the texture will be reminiscent. And even though you can get a similar texture by cooking eggs slowly over low heat while constantly stirring, this smart shortcut saves time and energy. You should give it a try.
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