We have all had hard-boiled chicken eggs. Most of us think they’re decent, maybe even great (depending on the quality of the egg in the first place). Recently, I started playing around with duck eggs and they’re a whole different league of good.
Why are duck eggs so much better tasting than chicken eggs? There are several contributing factors. Unlike chicken eggs, most duck eggs you find are going to be from pasture-raised birds. They love to eat bugs, grubs, and other insects and this changes the composition of their eggs. Duck eggs vary in size, but are generally larger than the largest chicken egg. Gram for gram, duck eggs are higher in fat, protein, and cholesterol, meaning, they’re more nutrient dense, more satiating, and more delicious than chicken eggs. Although they’re fantastic fried, poached, or scrambled, my new favorite way to eat them is medium-boiled. You could alter the boiling time to be a minute or two less or more if you want a softer or harder boiled egg, respectively. When you’re ready to eat the eggs, be sure to top with fresh ground pepper and some sea salt. If you have it, large-flake Maldon sea salt is fantastic — it melts in your mouth along with the semi-solid yolk.
- Duck egg(s)
- Cold water
- Place desired number of eggs into a saucepan.
- Completely cover eggs with cold tap water, but only cover them, don't put in extra water.
- Place the saucepan with eggs and water onto the stovetop on high.
- Let the water come to a boil.
- Once the water is boiling, pull it off the heat and let stand for 12 minutes.
- After 12 minutes, carefully remove the eggs from the hot water and place into a new bowl under running cold water to cool quickly. Don't skip this step or the eggs will overcook.
*Not all calories are equal.