Today’s Wonder of the Day was inspired by Grant. Grant Wonders, “How do eggs transform into hard boiled eggs?” Thanks for WONDERing with us, Grant!
What's your favorite meal of the day? You've probably heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But you may prefer lunch or dinner…or maybe even an after-school snack!
If you've ever ordered breakfast at your local diner, you may have been asked a question you weren't sure how to answer. When ordering the Big Buckaroo special, which comes with pancakes, bacon, and eggs, the waitress probably asked you how you want your eggs.
Hmm…good question! If you've never given it much thought, you're about to learn that eggs can be cooked many different ways.
For example, many kids like their eggs scrambled. This means that the cook breaks the whites and yolks and mixes them together before cooking them.
If you cook them all the way through, they're known as "hard scrambled" eggs. Many people, however, prefer "soft scrambled" eggs, which are cooked a shorter amount of time, so that they're still just a bit wet or runny.
If you cook "hard scrambled" eggs but don't mix them up, you can make an omelet or a frittata. Simply fold the flat "hard scrambled" eggs around a filling, such as meat, cheese, or vegetables, and you've got an omelet. A frittata is similar, except that it's served open-faced rather than folded around the fillings.
Another way to cook eggs that's popular with many kids is "sunny side up." This means the egg is fried until the edges brown without flipping it, so that the yolk looks like the bright yellow Sun. If you flip a "sunny side up" egg over and let it cook just enough so that a thin film forms over the yolk, you've just made an "over easy" egg.
If you don't like how runny "over easy" eggs are, you can continue cooking them for a longer time. For example, "over medium" eggs are fried until the whites are cooked through but the yolk is still soft. "Over hard" eggs are cooked even longer until the whites and yolk are completely cooked and the yolk is broken.
If you want to pack an egg for lunch, then a hard-boiled egg is the way to go. Hard-boiled eggs are cooked in their shells in boiling water for 10-12 minutes. After they're cooled, you can crack the shell off and eat them by themselves or chopped up over a salad.
You can also create soft-boiled eggs by following the same process but remove them from the boiling water after about six minutes. This leaves you with boiled eggs that have cooked whites and runny yolks.
For those who like their eggs a bit fancy, you can make poached eggs. Making poached eggs is like making soft-boiled eggs without the shell or "over medium" eggs without a frying pan. They're a bit more difficult to make, but many people love them mixed with hollandaise sauce in a dish known as eggs benedict!
Even though we've covered several different ways to cook eggs, creative chefs have come up with even more over the years. Eggs are very versatile and easy to cook, which leads to all sorts of creative uses for them in the kitchen. So, how would you like your eggs?