The Unexpected Sauce You Need To Spice Up Fried Eggs

Fried eggs are a simple, straightforward breakfast and a prime addition to sandwiches or steak. Although they are painfully easy to cook, they can also be so simple that they end up bland. A fried egg mistake that's ruining your breakfast is not trying out fun toppings and sauces. One such sauce you might not expect to work is sweet and sour sauce. In reality, it's a match made in heaven.

To try this pairing, there are a few ways you can do it. The easiest is to cook the fried eggs as you usually do, then drizzle a small amount of sweet and sour sauce on before eating. If you want crispy fried eggs, baste them in oil instead of butter before topping with the sweet and sour sauce and adding chili oil for a pop of spice. You can also make your own sweet and sour sauce from scratch if you want to get extra fancy.

Another way is to cook the fried eggs in sweet and sour sauce. Once your eggs start to get crispy around the edges, pour a few tablespoons of the sauce into the pan and sauté them for a couple more minutes. If you'd prefer, remove the eggs and then heat the sweet and sour sauce until it reduces some before putting the eggs back in. The sauce will thicken as it reduces and you can use it as a topping drizzle at the end. Serve the eggs over rice or as a side for your usual breakfast.

Before you dismiss this hack as too odd a pairing, keep in mind that the flavor notes of sweet and sour sauce and eggs work better together than you might expect. Eggs have a naturally rich umami flavor due to their yolks and sweet and sour sauce also has umami, so the two components strengthen each other. The sauce's acid contrasts well with the mild-tasting but sumptuous fat in the egg, while the sugar helps all the flavors balance out. Still not convinced? Restaurant-style sweet and sour sauce typically contains ketchup as one of the main ingredients, and many will attest that ketchup complements eggs perfectly.

It's not just some viral Internet fad, either. In traditional Thai cuisine, there's a dish called Kai Look Kuey, which features medium-boiled eggs which are fried and topped with sweet and sour tamarind sauce. In Malaysia, they have a well-loved fried egg sweet and sour dish called Telur Masak Belanda. In other words, it's hardly a new hack.

Just because it's traditional doesn't mean you can't add to it with your own creative ingredients, though. Top the eggs with fried or green onions for an extra tart pop and texture change-up. Put a sweet and sour fried egg on a burger for a zestful, Asian-inspired variation. If you want additional umami flavor in your fried eggs, consider putting a little tomato paste into the pan as well. As long as you highlight the rich umami of the egg yolk, the sweetness in the sauce, and the tanginess of the acids, you're sure to get something bold and fun.