Three Surprising Ways to Eat Leftover Easter Eggs

Easter eggs can be eaten as long as you follow a few safety rules (and don’t try to eat plastic eggs). If it wasn’t, my mother would be dead: when my sisters and I gorged ourselves on bunny-shaped chocolate, this woman peeled and ate our dyed eggs, determined not to let this valuable source of protein go to waste.

I’m sure she salted them – or at least I think so – but she never did anything to spice up her egg-eating. If you’re happy eating hard-boiled eggs without decorations, like my mom, I’m happy for you. It sounds like a blissfully easy existence. If, like me, you can’t stand the monotony, try one of these unexpected ways to eat hard-boiled eggs.

fry them

These twice cooked eggs are amazingly delicious and perfect for those moments when you crave something warm and savory but only have access to smooth, cold hard boiled eggs. Frying eggs in brown oil gives them a deep nutty flavor and crispy edges. They’re great for salads, toast, and as a base for raw eggs , and they’re easy to make :

Cut an egg in half, sprinkle it with a little salt, and melt a little butter (about a tablespoon per egg) in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Once most of the foam has subsided and the butter is about to brown, add the eggs, cut side down, and let them fry for about two minutes, until browned and crisp around the edges. Try not to roll back and forth, as this can lead to strong pops. (Moisture gets under the flat side of the egg with each flip, causing a small explosion.) Once the cut is browned, turn the egg over and let the bottom part warm up a bit.

Wrap them in miso

I learned this trick while watching Samin Nosrat’s Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat . In the episode “Salt”, Sameen meets with Nancy Singleton Hachisu and they both start wrapping hard-boiled eggs in miso, then let them hang for four hours before carefully removing the paste. This discovery changed my life, or at least the hard boiled egg part of it.

Instead of relying on the yolk to provide flavor, the protein is transformed from a utilitarian source of protein into something very savory and a little out of the ordinary. This is an exciting variation on a hard boiled egg that is perfect for frying or eating without additional seasoning. (If you’re worried about how much miso you’ll need to dry an egg, don’t worry; miso can be reused after curing.)

cook eggs for ramen

One of the easiest ways to make a hard-boiled egg more interesting is to marinate it in an interesting liquid. My favorite is a mixture of mirin, soy sauce and sake with a little brown sugar. The salty-sweet result makes a great snack and one of the easiest ways to add some protein to a bowl of ramen. Simply prepare the marinade as described here , let it cool completely, then peel and submerge the eggs in a mixture of aromatic liquids and leave overnight in the refrigerator.