I have recently started to keep quail as well as my existing flock of chickens and get about 30 eggs a week from the little birds.
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Some are sold to help towards their food and bedding etc, family take a few but I have still built up a little stockpile of eggs so the question is what to do with them?
Although small, a quail’s egg contains a similar amount of nutrition as a chicken egg just in a smaller package. One egg contains just 14 calories but is packed with vitamins and minerals.
Should I fry them? You need about 5 to cover a slice of toast. But I want to store them so I opted to make pickled eggs.
I have found two recipes for both plain and soy pickled quail eggs which I reproduce below.
How to (Hard) Boil Quail Eggs
Many of us know how to boil a standard chicken egg. But because quail eggs are smaller, cuter and a bit more fragile, they need to be boiled a bit differently.
Since quail eggs are so small, using a pan instead of a pot will make the water boil faster. Just make sure the eggs can be entirely covered by water!
We also recommend boiling room-temperature eggs as this will prevent them from cracking early! Just add them to a bowl of warm water for a few minutes before boiling.
- Place the pot or pan on a stovetop and heat on high, bringing the water to a rolling boil. Once boiling, add the quail eggs.
- Start your timer! Let the eggs boil for two minutes (soft-boiled), three minutes (medium-boiled) or three and a half minutes (hard-boiled).
- When the time is up, move the eggs to a bowl of cold water (we recommend adding some ice cubes). Dip a slotted spoon into the water and fish out each egg, placing each one into the bowl of water. They should cool off in a minute or two.
- Once they’re cool enough to handle with your bare hands, take them out and get peeling!
The cool water makes the shells come off a lot easier while you peel them. You’ll see in the next section!
How to Peel Quail Eggs
Peeling a quail egg is like peeling a chicken egg, but the quail egg’s size means it’s a touch more fragile and needs to be handled gently.
- Put down a paper towel to catch any eggshell pieces that fall as you peel the eggs.
- Take each egg out of the bowl of water where they’ve cooled.
- Tap each egg on something hard to crack the shell.
- Gently roll each egg to crack the rest of its shell. Don’t apply too much pressure while rolling the egg or you’ll crush it! Just do it lightly.
Pickled Quail Eggs
Ingredients
- 24 quail eggs
- 2 shallots
- 120 ml white wine vinegar
- 60 ml dry white wine
- ¼ teaspoon celery seeds
- ¼ teaspoon aniseed
- 8 cloves
- 2 fresh bay leaves
- ½ teaspoon each fennel seeds peppercorns, coriander seeds
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
Conversions
Instructions
- Boil and peel the quail eggs. Peel and slice the shallots.
- Combine all the ingredients, except the eggs, in saucepan on medium heat. Boil, then simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. Cool.
- Place the eggs in a sterilised jar and pour over the vinegar mix. Marinate for at least 24 hours in fridge before serving.
Soy Pickled Quail Eggs
Ingredients
- 12 quail eggs
- 150 ml of rice wine vinegar
- 150 ml of light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp of mirin
- ½ red chilli
- 1 garlic clove bashed
- 1 knob of ginger peeled
- 1 handful of coriander stalks
- toasted sesame seeds to garnish
Conversions
Instructions
- Boil the quail eggs for 2.5–3 minutes depending how soft you’d like your yolks. Plunge into iced water
- Carefully peel the eggs and set aside
- Combine the rest of the ingredients, apart from the sesame seeds, and add the eggs to the pickling liquor
- Place a circle of greaseproof paper over the top to ensure the eggs are fully submerged
- The eggs will be ready to eat after 12 hours. Carefully slice in half and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and sea salt
You may also like one of my other favourite recipes …
