The Thai-style soft omelette is called ‘Khai Khon’ ไข่ข้น in Thai. And it simply means soft and oozy scrambled eggs with a choice or two of meat, usually seafood, with crabmeat and shrimps the most popular. For those who are familiar with a samrap of Thai meal, you’d already know that an omelette is usually considered a neutraliser of a generally-spicy Thai meal. But then, about four, five years ago, in a certain corner of Thai street food scene, the omelette has gradually been transformed, from a mere side dish to the main dish, glammed up with chunks and chunks of crabmeat.
But here’s the catch, a perfect plate of soft-scrambled eggs is not that easy to manage. Leaving the eggs on the heat too long, you’d be faced with a parched and tough texture. Leaving the eggs on the heat too short, then, you might not be cooking enough of the added protein. A perfect plate of soft-scrambled eggs for me is a soft combination of eggs with the selected meat, all things still juicy and, yes, soft. And after poring over clips after clips of both Thai and foreign-produced YouTube, I managed to find a way.
Please slide through my IG post above, using the arrow within the frame so you see the last video when I was pouring the finished product on the plate.
Here are the secrets:
1. Pre-cooked your meat first, if you are using fresh shrimps, for example, to make sure that the meats are well-cooked. Also, in the case of fresh shrimps, you can cut them up into bite-sized for easier cooking. Still, you will not want to cook everything for too long. You want everything to be just cooked, still juicy and delicious.
2. In case you are using pre-cooked meat such as crabmeat, you can still cook the meat first for a couple of minutes before sliding in the eggs.
3. All eggs must be room temperature.
4. Rubber spatular is the perfect tool, along with a non-stick pan for this dish.
HOW TO MAKE A PERFECT PLATE OF KHAI KHON ไข่ข้น OR SOFT-SCRAMBLED EGGS, THAI-STYLE, WITH A CHOICE OR TWO OF seafood. วิธีทำไข่ข้นปู
(Please scroll up to the first image for reference. This is the recipe for that one.)
Ingredients:
Yields: Enough for two, each with a plate of steamed Thai Jasmine rice.
- 4 eggs
- Chopped garlic, one tablespoon
- Soy sauce + white pepper, to taste
- Almost two cups of crabmeat
Instruction:
- With a non-stick pan, a dash of vegetable oil, fry the chopped garlic until aromatic. Add the crabmeat, soy sauce, and white pepper, cover – instead of stir – to cook.
- Once the crabmeat is cooked, add the four eggs, whole and not beaten, as if you would fried eggs. This is to create a marbling effect of the yolks and the whites.
- Wait until the eggs start to set a little, then use the rubber spatular to scrape the bottom of the pan, as you would scrambled eggs. If you are adding herbs, such as chopped green onions like I did, add them at this point so there’s enough cooking time to create the desired aroma.
- When the eggs are two notches before they reach the doneness of your liking, kill the heat. The eggs will be just perfect at the serving a minute later.
Bon Appetit!
© OHHAPPYBEAR