Sunday 4 March 2012

Ishiguro, and an egg



You can call us The Flu Family. Without coughing up the gory details, let's just say, it's been a ghastly fortnight. Apparently, when your body's temperature reaches absurd new heights, you not only lose your appetite. You also lose your mind.

In the most bizarre, sleepless night I have ever spent, I found myself plagued by something very strange. A name. Stuck in my head. Floating around, repeating itself. All night. Over and over.

Ishiguro.

Ishiguro. Ishiguro. Ishiguro. Till it came to a point where I saw the letters, thin and flat, like a thing. Sitting next to me. And in front of my eyes, Kazuo Ishiguro's mugshot from the back cover of When we were orphans. I love his work, but this was a bit much. In the midst of a midnight fever and incessant bouts of coughing, there was me and D. And Ishiguro. It was the most harrowing ménage à trois.




























After your body and mind have travelled through the twilight zone, there is just one thing to do. Eat an egg. Yes. Come morning, you must sit up, shake off the night, and eat an egg. Or two. Or three.

There's something very reassuring about a fried egg. The wobbly yellow in the middle. White around. The smell when it sits on the heat and crinkles around the edges. It's predictable. A good predictable. This is exactly what a fried egg looked like on Sunday mornings when I was five. And when I was fifteen.

A fried egg never lets you down.

Now, you're thinking this - what could she teach me about a fried egg that I don't know already. Keep faith, and read on. This is divinely different.

This egg has a layer of crunchy, brown sesame seeds stuck to its crinkly, fried underside. The sunny side is sprinkled with chilli flakes, drizzled with garlic olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt.


Fried egg with sesame seeds, garlic olive oil and chilli flakes


1 egg
1 tsp sesame seeds
2 tsp olive oil
1 clove garlic
Some chilli flakes
Sea salt











Crush the garlic into with 1 tsp olive oil. Then fish the garlic out and keep the garlic-infused oil aside to be drizzled in the end.
Heat a small round pan. I have one just the right size for frying eggs. but any small round pan will do.
Add oil, and into the hot oil, sprinkle the sesame seeds. As soon as the seeds begin to brown, gently crack an egg over it. Let the egg brown and crinkle around the edges.
Slip it onto a plate. Drizzle with the garlic oil. Sprinkle with chilli flakes and sea salt.


































12 comments:

  1. Oh, this sounds like breakfast perfection to me right now. Satisfying simplicity.

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    1. thanks leaf :) you must try it, and tell me what you think.

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  2. Perfect looking eggs. Great breakfast option. I hope you all are feeling better now, Pia.

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    1. yes, i'm finally starting to feel human again, anita :)

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  3. I hope you are feeling better now. I had really high temperature just once, when I was a teenager, and I do have hazy memories of fixating on a clock that was tolling every hours. It was a bit spooky. But Ishiguro, of all things! Mysteries of the mind. I love all things with sesame crusts, so my next fried egg will copy your idea.

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    1. thank goodness there were no loud clocks in my house that night! ishiguro and a grandfather clock together would've tipped me over the edge. i hope you like the egg when you try it!

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  4. When I saw the title, I thought, "Oh, Pia's got a Japanese recipe to share!" I rushed over and ... I'm going to be honest, I was just a little teeny weeny bit disappointed only because I love Japanese food so much! I don't even know if Ishiguro is Japanese. Anyway, I hope that menage-a-trois is over and done with in your household. I really, really like the subtlety of the colours in these photos, and then the yolk and chilli flakes just pop out of the screen.

    Have a wonderful week ... we're off in search for a wintry holiday!

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    1. :)) I think I find Japanese recipes daunting, Grace. My three year old, in fact, knows more than I do. They attended a sushi rolling class in their nursery last week!
      Wintry holiday - sounds exciting! I look forward to gorgeous photographs!

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  5. Wow, that looks fabulous! One of my friends once made me Korean boiled eggs in soy sauce and chilli which was the first time I had ever had an egg/chilli combination and I loved it, so this recipe is one to add to the list!

    So sorry to hear you have been unwell, I hope Ishiguro has left the building!

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    1. The shelves still have most of his books, but yes, he seems to have left the building, emma :) hope this egg lives up to the one you had before - which sounds delicious!

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  6. Love eggs but never thought of one with sesame seeds and garlic-oil. Tomorrow for breakfast this is going to be it.
    Hope you are feeling better.

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  7. Sandeepa, the flu's been packed off, thanks! i hope you enjoyed the egg :)

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