Dippy Eggs: Teaching Your Kids to Play With Fire
Kids love cooking because it’s a grownup activity and slightly dangerous. A gas stove is the best way to cook with kids because it involves an open flame, which is inherently interesting. Your kids are more likely to listen to you if there’s fire involved.
The dippy egg is the first thing I learned how to cook. Technically, it’s an egg cooked over easy but I was taught a slight variation which adds a little bit of magic. Our household calls it the dippy egg. One nice thing about having kids is you can make up names for things and your kids will grow up thinking that your invented nomenclature is the standard.
How to Make a Dippy Egg
You need:
- Eggs
- Butter
- Bread
- Non-stick spray
- A frying pan
- A lid from a pot
Turn on the stove and get the frying pan nice and hot. I use a low to medium flame. You don’t want to go too hot or the egg will cook too quickly. Too low and you’re heading to Salmonella Town. (Salmonella Town is just like Flavor Town except everyone has diarrhea. I don’t recommend it.) If a you add a drop of water or butter and it boils up, it’s ready to go. Mostly, I’m mentioning this so your kid doesn’t crack an egg over a cold frying pan. Cooking is exciting, but you still have to wait!
While this is going, I like to put the bread in the toaster. You will need at least one piece of bread per egg. You can figure out your preferred ratio. Maybe you don’t want any bread. If so, you’re doing it wrong, but that’s your problem. It can be a pain getting everything ready at once. If the bread’s in there, you can just hit “toast” after you start the egg.
So, let’s start the egg. Spray some non-stick oil or add a pat of butter to the pan. If it sizzles, you’re ready to go. I like to give the shell a little whack with a fork before I crack it open. Then hold it a couple of inches over the pan, press your thumbs into the crack, and pull the egg open so it drops into the pan.
This is your chance to yell, “Careful! It’s hot!”
Don’t be too scary, though, or your child will crack the egg open two feet above the pan and the yolk will burst. This is a chance to be strong and brave but also don’t burn your wrists on the edge of the pan. Seriously.
Your child may break the first few yolks, but eventually they’ll get the hang of it. It is your job to eat the broken ones even though they don’t taste as good. If your kid is really bad at this, consider getting a dog. (To eat the eggs. Not to replace your children. Just clarifying here.)
Did you remember to start the toast?
You don’t want your egg to get cold while you wait for the toaster.
Watch the egg sizzle. Isn’t cooking fun? The clear goo will start to turn white. Wait until the thicker part around the yolk is just about all the way white. Then, take the lid from a pot and add a little bit of water to it. You can measure it out if you’re some kind of weirdo. About half a shot should do it.
Here’s where the magic comes in.
Take the lid with the water in it and quickly cover the frying pan. The water will boil up and steam will rise. Listen until the boiling slows down (this takes about a minute) and pull the lid back off. Ta-da! The egg white on top of the yolk is cooked now, too.
A Quick Science Lesson.
My personal scientific opinion is that if you fried the egg as described and you managed to cook the whites on top off the yolk, your egg should be safe to eat. I am not a scientist, but I also don’t have salmonella. One of the reasons I like this method is because it provides obvious clues to whether your child cooked the yolks sufficiently. You don’t want to spend Father’s Day on the toilet.
Now you get to teach your kid proper spatula technique.
I prefer quick, firm jabs to get under the egg but you can tell your kids whatever you want. It’s your dojo.
Transfer the egg to a plate and check in on that toast.
Did you time it right? You have approximately two minutes before your egg gets cold and tastes totally gross. I hope your toast is about ready. There’s nothing better than buttered toast dipped in yolk with just the right amount of white egg on it.
That’s it.
My daughter loves making dippy eggs. When she first learned how to do it, she became a short order cook and would make eggs on demand anytime I wanted one. She still enjoys making them, which means I get a free brunch every weekend.
Now I just need to trick her into doing the dishes.
