Shakshuka – Best Baked Eggs Recipe

I had my first Shakshuka with the great hearty best-baked eggs years ago.

Once in a while, I will have this craving for classic North African and Middle Eastern dishes.

For me, this is more than what one would have for breakfast.

I fancy having this as any meal of the day.

I Suck At Cooking – Shakshuka

The first time I tried to replicate this, I was in Vietnam with some friends.

We do very well with the self-appointed cook – ME.

I have a couple of indiscriminate grocery shopping weaknesses as I forgot to buy oil, salt, and pepper.

And other Shakshuka-ish ingredients.

I pulled a fast one.

I wilted a big onion and poured a can of baked beans on top.

I mashed the beans a little, made small wells, and knocked in 6 eggs.

I got the eggs right. Cooked whites, runny yolks. YUMS!

Since everyone was so hungry.

We ate that up as a late supper.

Was it tasty?

You bet!

I lied; it was terrible. <hangs head in shame>

Shakshuka means “a mixture.”

Shakshuka is a vegetarian? Urmph, what’s egg then? Calcium encased liquid protein.

Anyways, Shakshuka means a mixture of simple, healthy ingredients.

The standard version uses hearty, delicious spiced tomato and pepper sauce with eggs poached on top.

Dory learns from Penelope Pussycat Life’s Lesson No. 1

Shakshuka Needs Skill and Skillet.

Dory: I like this – sends a photo of Shakshuka via 5G

Penelope Pussycat (PP): Easy to make. All you need is some skill – read rudimentary /ˌruːdɪˈmɛnt(ə)ri/ and a cast-iron skillet.

Dory: This shows another view of annoying food pix.

Dory: Me no skill or skillet. (laments loudly, how did I do that over text??)

PP: Skill can be trained. The skillet can be bought.

PP: Or get a Mediterranean man to cook for you 😝

PP: Where is this place?

Dory: Kafka

Dory: RM27.90 cheaper than skillet less stress than man.

PP: Expensive! I will make it for you.

Dory: Please take your beautiful photos. I can feature your version of Shakshuka.

PP: 🤣🤣🤣

Dory: Cheap. See, I saved money. Cast Iron Skillet RM50.

Dory: 🤣🤣🤣

PP: Aiyoh, I bought mine from Tesco for less than RM20!

Dory: You make for me. I will pay you RM20!

Dory: 🤭

PP: Cook until the cows come home, and I’m still cooking.

Dory: We go to eat and eat LAH. If we don’t like it, you can bitch, okay? That will be fun!

PP: 🤦🏻‍♀️

Shakshuka Brunch

I think about Shakshuka – Poached Eggs simmering in a healthy, comforting, flavourful must-try recipe with beautiful colors.

Something I can learn to make to serve Bae perfect for brunch on lazy weekends.

Shakshuka is best served right away after cooking.

I hear the sweet Kafka server tell me repeatedly, “Be careful. It’s very, very hot.”

Probably the one time I will eat any carbs like crusty bread or pita or thin crust, lightly crispy, crackly Vietnamese Baguette.

When I explode with descriptive adjectives for food, he knows it means I’m low on sugar and super hungry/cranky.

While debating with myself, I did deep-level research trawling the internet for

1. a cast-iron skillet.
2. A 7L portable crockpot.

I mull and debate with myself and think BIG thoughts about carrying food in hand luggage.

Yes, I keep that in mind all the time.

I know the drill; food products should be contained commercially branded packaging with the original seals unbroken.

Bangkok Airport

I bought a glass jar of coffee and almost couldn’t clear customs.

Don’t ask me why – it was a clueless day!

Manila Airport

Airport security checked my hand luggage and found –

They teased me if they could confiscate one bag to help me lose weight – All 7kg of Filipino Style Coconut Macaroons.

What was I thinking?

What were they thinking?

Houston Airport

I packed six 2oz sizes of tuna in brine in my hand luggage (another mad moment – please don’t ask why I bought canned tuna in the first place) went through the scanner twice.

I got the cans confiscated and held the flight up with my friend, who forgot to pack hair products in check-in luggage.

I think about an Italian-inspired version of this idea (Shakshuka not carrying spices in hand luggage), and if it tastes better, served in individual ramekins oven-baked instead.

Shakshuka Recipe

How to cook a Shakshuka as in following the recipe.

Penelope Pussycat looked at me in all seriousness.

“Just be sure to cook your sauce until the veggies are nice and soft and sweet.”

I wanted to ask if I should add a spoonful of brown sugar to annoy her.

Most of the time, I will wilt down the onions, add roasted peppers, and take a long time doing this.

I do well to simmer stuff.

Of course, I don’t tell PP.

I go for the jiggly, barely set eggs so I can stir the yolks in the sauce just before I eat it.

Once the egg goes in, the egg in that hot sauce will firm up instantly.

Shakshuka Recipe according to Chef John of Foodwishes

Ingredients for six small portions:

(one egg per share as an appetizer – double for the main course)

2 tbsp olive oil

One large onion, diced

large handful of sliced mushrooms

One teaspoon salt, plus more to taste

1 cup diced red bell peppers

One jalapeno pepper, seeded and sliced

One teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

28-oz can (about 3 cups) crushed San Marzano tomatoes or other high-quality plum tomatoes.

Of course, you can use fresh vegetables in season.

1/2 cup water or broth, or as needed

Six large eggs (or as many as you can fit in your pan)

crumbled feta cheese and fresh parsley to finish.

Spiced Chorizo And Tomato Shakshuka According to Tasty

Ingredients

for four servings

One tablespoon olive oil

¾ cup Chorizo (100 g), chopped into 1/4 in pieces

One medium onion, chopped

Two cloves garlic, chopped

red bell pepper, cut into 1/2 in (1 1/4 cm) pieces

One tablespoon paprika

½ teaspoon ground cumin

¼ teaspoon ground pepper

One pinch of sea salt

5 lb tomato (2.4 g), chopped

Four eggs

½ cup feta cheese (50 g), crumbled

¼ cup fresh parsley (15 g)

Chorizo Tomato Shakshuka at Kafka

After my morning run, the best thing I did was think about putting back the calories – in the right way, of course.

We reduce carbs, eat less salt, NO SUGAR if possible, little dairy, and give PIGS a miss.

The last part was a little hard to avoid at times.

I will not use words like awesome to describe Shakshuka.

That, to me, is an Abomination reserved for Super-Villains.

Kind of like me swiping Facebook and seeing people turning into a self-professed stars and point ratters.

Halloos, are you the Michelin Guide?

Anyway, I am a firm believer in not rating anything.

Since I pay for my food, I get to order what I fancy, eat it, or not eat it.

And for my friends, please don’t tell me to write this and that.

You can write to me, you know.

It might not be amusing, given you have better grammar and all.

Coming back to the Chorizo, or was that Shakshuka Again?

I will have the irritable urge to order anything with PIG in it.

Imagine my mortified face when Kishen Sg told me poker-faced that they have removed Shakshuka and Chorizo and Bacon from the menu.

I almost screamed Nooooooooo out loud.

It was a silent scream.

Then he cracked into a smile.

Kishen Sg, you jest with a Porker here.

I promise to visit often; keep Shakshuka and Chorizo and Bacon on the menu, okay?

Review of Shakshuka at Kafka

I will not say awesome.

The thing I miss is having two poached eggs instead of one.

Another bad habit – my telepathic powers don’t work without a mask on.

Or maybe it was too noisy.

Or I went on a day that everyone else decides to have brunch and speak Mandarin loudly to drown out the Twilight Zone track I was humming in my head.

I looked at the big red tomatoey mess, instantly, I was happy.

It looked delicious.

Of course, the Shakshuka doesn’t match my hair color since I bought six hair dyes with the wrong color code. <What was I thinking?>

The Shakshuka winked at me – I paid homage to the medley of chopped tomatoes, peppers, and aubergines tender and saucy – silky smooth and tomatoey.

The little server was correct.

The sauce and the cast iron skillet were super-hot.

I swear I saw a blistering bubble in the sauce with a proper balance of acidity, sweetness, and a slight saltiness.

It is also known as perfectly seasoned.

I did not reach for the salt shaker.

If you don’t know this, Chefs hate the proverbial Salt Bae wannabe customer.

I can hear the chefs nod in unison – enough with the extra salting, eat it, LAH.

Do I like it?

I was famished, and I ate everything except the skillet and thought about making a return.

Was it good?

Would I waste calories on a dish?

But if I made this, IF, and eventually, I might use red onions and caramelize it to help with the sweetness without THAT spoonful brown sugar.

I will add extra tablespoons of tomato paste, maybe make another Pesto Shakshuka for comparison and serve both sides by the side.

I will probably serve it with a perfectly crusty Vietnamese Baguette or even the ridiculously pillowy soft Pita Bread.

I will serve everything, the two Shakshuka, some delicious hummus and tahini, and a simple cucumber salad with mint yogurt.

With breakfast so beautiful to look at. It is lovely to dream about and beg to be devoured – why else would you eat your eggs hard-boiled?

I know John will roll his eyes at me as I dunk strips of toast in my soft, boiled, runny eggs.

He eats hard-boiled eggs mashed a little without butter or mayo between slices of Bengali bread.

That’s okay too.

We don’t point or star rate each other’s egg preferences.

We’re just good old buddies who drink a hot cuppa together when Steph’s out working.

So Dory, do you recommend the Shakshuka at Kafka?

Go, go, go, EAT LAH!

I didn’t say, Don’t go and Don’t EAT. Aiyoh!

Can you read correctly, eh?

 

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