Egg replacements

We've probably read or heard all about the egg shortages in the US lately- that is, if some of us aren't affected directly by the shortages. While we don't live in the US, nor do we eat US imported eggs (as far as I know anyhow), eggs still aren't quite as cheap as they once were, so it definitely won't hurt to reconsider the amount of eggs we consume. 

Since we don't have egg shortages (unlike the other products that we have shortages of, which I blogged about a while ago), we don't strictly have to ration them. But I still like to save money whenever we can, and if that's by replacing one more expensive ingredient by a cheaper ingredient, that's good! And frugality aside, there are other circumstances in which eggless options become an necessity. Think of allergies and ethical/religious dietary requirements. If you're not allergic or being religious forbidden from eating eggs but you're in company of people that are, it's still nice if you can all enjoy the same meal. That's what I would feel like anyhow- being the one with a "special" meal will make me feel left out,  but perhaps that's just a remnant of my childhood trauma when I was always the only vegetarian among the meat eaters 🙂

Enough said... let's talk egg replacements. Since there are quite a lot, I'll just go through my list! 

Banana (mashed)/applesauce: this is great for baked goods such as (pan)cakes, muffins etc. 

Sweetened condensed milk: also used for making baked goods. I remember using them to make brownies and wasn't disappointed at all! 

Corn starch: haven't used it enough honestly, but I do know that they make great French toast. In fact, I actually prefer French toast made with cornstarch now over the variety that includes eggs - even if eggs were free, I'd probably still be using corn starch! I have read (but not tried out myself) that cornstarch is also very suitable to make pancakes, muffins etc. 

Gram flour/chickpea flour: this is whet it gets a bit different. While chickpea flour is a great egg replacement, it certainly has to be used with caution as it does, obviously, have a strong chickpea flavour, which won't always taste great in sweet baked goods (unless you bake Tunisian ghorayba 7oms, or chickpea flour cookies 😉 but that's for another post!). Still, in a lot of savoury dishes, chickpea flour is a very good option. Or when you want scrambled eggs minus the eggs! If you do like the texture of chickpea flour but you're not a huge fan of the taste, you can always opt for other legume based flours, such as soy or lentil flour. I once got a bag of soy flour from a friend that she wasn't using (yes, my friends know I waste nothing, lol) and it tasted quite neutral. 

Speaking of chickpeas- chickpea aquafaba is also a terrific egg replacement that can be used in many ways, I once posted a mayonnaise recipe that uses aquafaba instead of egg. Other people even make meringue with aquafaba instead of eggs, but I'm yet to try that out. Btw, make sure it's chickpea aquafaba and not another kind of bean/pulse water. Chickpea water is really the best to use. 

Flax seeds: flax seeds are very versatile. I mostly use them in my yogurt for breakfast, but I've also used them as an egg replacement. It's usually 1 teaspoon + some water to replace one egg. To get the best result, it's best to use broken seeds, but I just grind up whole seeds in my small coffee grinder, which works perfectly. Apparently, chia seeds function the same as flax seeds, but I'm not a chia seed fan so haven't tried that myself. 

Tofu: if you don't really like the chickpea-y flavour, you still can make scrambled "egg" by using tofu. 

Cream/milk: when you neef an egg specifically for an egg wash for your bread, cream or even milk seem to work as a decent replacement. I've heard that some people have even used pasta water... Not sure how great it would work, so iv you're trying it, do so at your own risk. 

Mayonnaise: apparently this works in savoury dishes such as casseroles as well as certain baked goods as cake, but don't hold me accountable as I've only vaguely remember once using mayonnaise for these purposes 

No eggs at all: you may find yourself in the situation with no eggs and no egg replacements, or just can't be bothered to use any substitutes. The good news is that in many cases you can just leave out the eggs altogether. I've made eggless cakes, pancakes, muffins, and cookies... sometimes you need to alter the recipe a bit, or switch to another recipe but it can be possible. 

Finally, I can boil eggs

It's funny how sometimes the seemingly easiest things can be a challenge. This is true in the kitchen as well! I don't consider myself a masterchef, but I definitely know how to cook. Not every dish that exists in the world, obviously, and not a lot of dishes from cuisines I'm not familiar with, but I can cook. And I do cook some more elaborate foods, too. 

But it's the easiest things that I sometimes struggle with to make right. For the longest time I struggled to make a perfect boiled egg. I prefer medium soft boiled eggs, and so does my family. Not too liquid, but certainly not too hard either. Somehow that just seemed impossible to make. It was always either towards the hard boiled side, or too soft! Quite frustrating. We do like to eat boiled eggs a lot: as a snack, with sandwiches, or as a side with our meals. And i knew it had to be possible to make a perfectly boiled egg thar suits our preferences, so I wad determined to keep trying until I had perfected it. I know there are many techniques nowadays and people use egg boilers, air fryers, or instant pots. With most things, I prefer the mild fashioned way- I don't like single purpose items/appliances. And I don't have an instant pot anyway. I'd sti like to try the air fryer one day, just for fun. But with most cooking, I prefer to stick to regular cooking pots.

I looked up a lot of tips and tricks on boiling eggs, all claiming to be THE best tip, but neither of them really worked so I figured it had to be my own way! And I finally did find the way to boil a perfect half soft boiled egg. 

I put 5 to 6 eggs in a pot with a lid, cold water, eggs directly from the fridge. Then wait till it starts to boil and time it: I boil it exactly for two minutes. If it's very small eggs, the boiling time should be decreased. Then take out all the eggs and put them together in a soup bowl- this step us important because the eggs all have a lot of residue heat, and will continue to "cook" a bit when in the boil. I leave the eggs like this for at least an hour, but usually just until we eat it- if we want eggs for lunch, I boil them early in the morning. It takes some time to cool down, even after one hour they're quite hot so I find that the easiest way. With this technique, it's important to use at least four eggs in one go, or it won't really work (yup, tried but failed!). Anyway, I'm happy to be able to boil eggs to perfection finally!