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Filipino kitchen

Kwek-Kwek

Quail eggs in a shocking orange batter, sold on street corners and eaten off a stick with vinegar dripping down your wrist. Bright, crunchy, and completely unserious in the best way.

Total time
17 min
Serves
2
Effort
Easy

What you need

Written for 2 — nudge the counter and the numbers follow.

Cooking for
2 people

0 of 8 in the basket.

How you make it

  1. If starting from raw, boil the quail eggs for 4 minutes, then plunge them into cold water and peel - they should be fully set through, whites and yolks.

  2. Whisk the flour, cornflour, annatto, salt, baking powder and water into a smooth batter about as thick as double cream.

  3. Toss the peeled eggs in the 2 tbsp dusting flour so the batter has something to grip.

  4. Heat the oil to 175C, then dip the eggs one at a time and lower them in, frying 6 at a time for 2 to 3 minutes until the coating is crisp and vivid orange.

  5. Drain on a rack and serve immediately on skewers with the vinegar, shallot and chilli dip.

Read all that and thought “absolutely not”?

Completely fair. Kwek-Kwek is sitting in the Filipino kitchen right now, it costs nothing, and it will never arrive.

Order it instead

Sweet, sour and salty, all turned up at once.