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About Scrambled Eggs and Shrimp

Scrambled Eggs and Shrimp is one of my favourite things to order at dai pai dongs. Traditionally, these are eateries in Hong Kong, where the food is cooked outdoors using kerosene stoves, but most of them have moved indoors nowadays. It is very flavourful dish made with eggs, shrimp and scallions, and the eggs are fried in oil so that it has a very smooth and buttery texture. The texture along with the umami and saltiness makes it a great pairing with rice.

How to make scrambled eggs smooth and buttery

The trick to cooking the scrambled eggs in this dish is to use a hot wok, and a generous amount of oil.

To make this dish, we want to get the wok hot first, and then add the oil, and then eggs so that the wok wouldn’t stick. Of course, a well seasoned wok would help a lot. For stir-frying, remember the rule of “Hot Wok, Cold Oil“, and your stir-frys will have a much better result.

We want to cook the eggs halfway using a high heat, and then bring it together off the heat to let it gently cook. The eggs should not be runny, nor should it be chunky and dry.

Unlike normal scrambled eggs, the additional oil emulsifies with the egg and creates a better texture. However, if you want to control the amount of oil added in the recipe, feel free to do it, and it will resemble a home-cooked version of this dish. Be aware that adding too much oil isn’t a good thing either, since the eggs can only hold so much oil, an excess will split and pool in the plate.

Tips for Success

• Some restaurants mix a cornstarch-slurry with the eggs to make it easier to control while cooking and makes it smoother, however, adding too much can make the dish have a very mild powdery texture. For 3 eggs, I would recommend no more than 2 tablespoons of the cornstarch slurry.
• To make the shrimp have a better bite, mix it with a small amount of baking soda as the alkalinity alters the protein structure of the shrimp.
• I prefer to use smaller sized shrimp for this recipe as I find that it mixes better with the eggs, peeled frozed shrimp works well in this recipe.
• It is important that there is a high egg to shrimp & aromatics ratio for the egg to properly envelop the shrimp.

How to make Scrambled Eggs and Shrimp

First, we marinade the shrimp with some salt or fish sauce, white pepper, baking soda and cornstarch. Let it sit for 10 minutes.

Then, we prepare our aromatics, I am using Chinese chives today, but you can use anything you like. traditionally, alliums such as onions or scallions are used in this dish.

Beat the egg mixture until mixed, for 4 people I am using 5 eggs, season with some salt.

In a heated wok, we add some oil and stir fry our aromatics. We don’t want any colour, just to soften. (Skip if using green onions, chives or scallions), mix into the eggs.

Then, fry the shrimp until they are almost cooked. We will cook them with the eggs later. Add them into the eggs too.

Heat your wok on high until it is almost smoking, add a generous amount of oil, and immediately add our eggs.

Stir fry the eggs, bringing the cooked eggs in the middle to the outside by pushing them. Do this until the eggs are about 50% cooked.

Turn off the heat, and keep moving the eggs around until they are cooked to your liking, I prefer a doneness of 85% to 90% which is set but still runny in some places.

Plate it and garnish with some chopped scallions (if using) and serve.