Like many people, I love miniaturized versions of things. "What is this, a center for ants?" as Derek Zoolander would say. So I came up with a random idea... Deviled eggs "for ants".
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| Standard chicken egg for scale |
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| So teeny! |
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| They're as big as his thumb |
I'll go through the process in case anyone is curious about the method I used! It was a fun project and they tasted great. I'm a huge fan of deviled eggs and these turned out much better than I expected.
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| Quail eggs! |
I picked up a pack of 15 quail eggs for ~$3 at the local Asian market. A bit pricey for so little egg-matter, but the novelty of it was so worth it to me.
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| Surprisingly easy to peel! |
I did some research on how long to cook quail eggs so that the yolks are set (but still yellow) and how to avoid a rubbery white. I compared recipes and settled on bringing the eggs to a boil in salted room temperature water with 2 T of white vinegar mixed in. Once boiling, turned down to medium and cooked for 5 minutes. Make sure to put them in a bath of ice water once done so they stop cooking!
After cooling the eggs for 5 minutes, I gathered the courage to peel. It was surprisingly easy! Apparently the vinegar breaks down some of the calcium in the shell, so you can almost just pinch the shell and start peeling.
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| Carefully sliced open. Big yolks! |
The yolks are quite large in comparison to the white, so I tried to slice them with the yolk as centered as possible to avoid tearing (you can see a bit of the yolk through the white in areas). Very pleased with the texture and color of the yolk!
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| Mixing up filling, same as regular sized eggs! |
Hands down, the most difficult part was scooping out the yolks! They're so small and difficult to handle. But with some patience I got them out with minimal white tearing.
Mash the yolks up with a fork before adding your favorite deviled egg ingredients. I go with mayo, mustard, hot sauce, salt, pepper, garlic, and cayenne. Relish and Worcestershire sauce go great too.
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| Egg whites ready for filling in small sandwich bag |
After mixing up your filling and tasting for seasoning, plop it into a sandwich bag and snip off the tip. Pipe filling in and dust the tops with paprika or cayenne. So tiny!!
Also, COMPLETELY unrelated, but I cooked the couple quail eggs remaining "sunny side up". It cooks quickly but was delicious on some ramen. Here's a picture!
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| One bite worth of fried egg |
DEVILED QUAIL EGGS
Ingredients:
~12 quail eggs
2 T white vinegar
4 cups water + pinch of salt
1 T mayonnaise
1 t yellow or spicy brown mustard
Pinch of salt, pepper, garlic, cayenne to taste
Paprika or cayenne to garnish
Method:
Place quail eggs in salted room temperature water, mixed with white vinegar
Set temperature to "HIGH" and boil water
Once boiling, lower temperature to "MEDIUM" and cook 5 minutes
Remove eggs from water and place in ice bath
After 5 minutes of cooling, peel eggs and slice in half
Remove yolks and smash with fork or hands
Add mayo, mustard, and spices to mixture
Stuff mixture into plastic baggie, snip off corner
Pipe into egg whites and top with paprika or cayenne
DONE!
