Recipe: Scrambled ducks egg with pepino melon-strawberry rocket salad

Although salted duck eggs is popular in Asian cuisine, last week was the first time I cooked a regular duck egg. Duck eggs are becoming more readily available, you can find them in major supermarkets or wet markets. They are slightly more expensive than chicken eggs but larger in size (approximately 30% bigger).

Duck eggs are high in nutritional value, containing all eight of the amino acids essential for a healthy body as well as loads of vitamins and minerals. Each duck egg provide about 108 calories, 9.5g (about 15% of an adults recommended daily allowance), and higher fat content (7.3g) than chicken eggs. They are also quite high in cholesterol (about 2x the amount of chicken eggs). With many choosing to lead a healthy lifestyle nowadays, it is certainly one of those things that we should only indulge every once in a while.

Creamy scrambled ducks egg

I chose to scramble the duck eggs for lunch, using the Gordon Ramsay method (on-off the heat). Upon cracking the eggs, I immediately noticed that the yolk is almost 2x larger than regular chicken eggs. It also takes a longer time to cook duck's egg than chicken's egg. What you get is extra creamy, extra rich scrambled eggs. Wow! Luckily I had a healthy salad to balance it out. ;)

My daughter also had some of the scrambled duck eggs, and she said to me, "Mummy it tastes like the salted egg yolk custard pau that we have at Dragon-i", and you know what, she is absolutely spot-on. No wonder we like this scrambled egg so much as the custard pau is also something we order whenever we visit the restaurant.

This is a nice change as well as being a sinful treat, however for daily breakfasts or brunches, I will still stick to regular chicken's egg.

Pepino melon is a new fruiting plant that we bought for our garden. It is also known as solanum muricatum. The taste is a cross between a honeydew melon and cucumber. The fruit is a purple hue with purple stripes and becomes more yellow as it ripens. You can view more photos here.

We finally got our first harvest a day before I cooked this scrambled ducks egg. I thought of making a nice simple salad to go with the eggs, putting together a few ingredients such as rocket leaves, strawberries and pepino melon and finished off with honey vinaigrette. A refreshing salad, plus the vinaigrette helps cut some of the richness of the ducks egg. Pepino melon cannot be found easily in KL, so you can omit or substitute with other soft fruits such as avocado, kiwi or melon.

Pepino dulce melon

Extra rich, extra creamy.

Scrambled duck eggs
Recipe by Baby Sumo
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 8-10 minutes
Serves 2

Ingredients
3 duck eggs
1 1/2 tbsp cold butter
1/2 tbsp cold milk or whipping cream
Salt and freshly ground pepper

To serve
Dill
Cherry tomatoes-on-vine
2 slices toast

1. Break the eggs into a cold, heavy-based frying pan (do NOT season it now), add half the butter and put it on medium low heat. Using the spatula, stir the eggs frequently to combine the yolk with the white. Keep stirring (as you would when cooking a risotto - do not stop stirring).

Duck's egg - large orange yolk

Duck's egg (top) vs chicken's egg

2. Add the remaining butter as the mixture begins to set. Do not let them get too hot, you will need to move the pan on and off the heat - about 2-3 times. The eggs will take about 8-10 minutes to cook.

3. Add the cream/cold milk (brings the temp of the eggs down) and season the eggs with salt and pepper. Serve immediately with toast, salad (recipe below) and cherry tomatoes on side. Top with chopped dill.

Note: Your children can help with breaking the eggs (duck's eggs have a slightly harder shell) and help with scrambling the eggs on the hob (with supervision). You may need to help them take it on-off the heat depending on their age.

Pepino melon-strawberry rocket salad with honey vinaigrette
Recipe by Baby Sumo
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Serves 2

Ingredients
50g rocket leaves

3-4 fresh strawberries , sliced

3-4 pepino melon, peeled and quartered

Almond slivers

For the dressing:
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp cider vinegar
1 tbsp honey
Freshly ground salt and black pepper

1. In a bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients and set aside.

2. Place the rocket into a bowl and pour in half the dressing (from Step 1) and toss. Scatter the
dressed rocket on a serving plate and top with the strawberry and pepino melon. Drizzle the remaining dressing over the salad and top with the almond slivers.

*I am submitting this to the Little Thumbs Up "Egg" event organized by Bake for Happy Kids, my little favourite DIY and hosted by me (Baby Sumo of Eat Your Heart Out). You can link your egg recipes here.

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