Kai Jiew is a Thai Style Omelette. Unlike western style omelettes, the eggs don’t get a filling inside of cheese and veggies and meat, although some people will add ground pork or ground chicken, or onion or green onion to it, but my mom never did. I love my mom’s kai jiew. I think every Thai kid can say that. I think every time I see her and there’s a kitchen available (be it at our home in Chicago or during our Christmas trip at a rental house in Manhattan Beach) I always request kai jiew. When I make it, it just doesn’t taste the same as my memory of hers, so I have to have hers every time I can.
It’s her birthday on 3/14- Happy Birthday! Sorry I’m not there in Chicago to hug you happy birthday mom. Miss you!
Kai Jiew is much more forgiving than western style eggs as you are aiming for fluffyness and crispness, but the look doesn’t have to be perfectly smooth and it will get a little brown. And, it is served with rice and is not just a breakfast option but an anytime of day dish. You need about 2 eggs per person if it is a main dish, but if served with other Thai food that is served family style, you could get away with 1 egg. Soy sauce is used to give it saltiness. You will not taste the fish sauce, but somehow if I exclude it, it doesn’t taste right. Although it seems like a lot of oil, this is really more of a flash fry than a deep fry- after I lift the egg out I reused the oil for another dish.
Serves 2- though in the photos you see I halved it just for myself. F doesn’t eat egg that tastes like egg. Actually, this is so good I could eat the whole thing by myself, but so I had to halve it to control myself.
Ingredients (serves 2):
- 4 eggs
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil (1/4 cup)
Directions:
- Break one egg into a bowl and beat with the fish sauce and soy sauce with a whisk or quickly with a fork until it is nice and bubbly with air. If you want to add other ingredients (ground pork or ground chicken, or onion or green onion) you should now before cooking it. That’s one of the differences between western and thai style omelette is that you can mix it all up beforehand, rather than messing with filling and folding it in the pan.
- Heat the large pan with the oil and wait until hot. If you drip a little egg from your whisk or fork it should sizzle and froth. Pour in the egg and deep fry until golden and the edges are a little crispy, about 2 minutes on each side. Lift the egg off the pan and to your plate, and shake off the excess oil a little on your spatula before you move it over the plate.
- Garnish with cilantro if you’d like, and serve with white rice and if you’d like, optionally chili sauce. I like mine plain.
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