Menemen (Turkish Eggs with Tomato and Peppers)

Menemen is the Turkish breakfast everyone has a strong opinion about — eggs cooked soft and creamy into a simmer of tomatoes, green peppers and olive oil, gently spiced, and eaten straight from the little two-handled pan with as much bread as you can manage. It’s quick, cheap and endlessly comforting, the kind of thing cooked on a weekend morning and argued over the rest of the week.

Reduce the tomato first

The most common menemen mistake is watery eggs, and it almost always comes from rushing the base. Soften the peppers, bloom a little pepper paste and Aleppo pepper in the oil, then cook the grated tomatoes down until they’re thick and jammy before the eggs go anywhere near the pan. A proper reduced base is what lets the eggs set into something rich rather than boiling in tomato juice.

Soft, not scrambled

Menemen lives somewhere between a soft scramble and shakshuka. Crack the eggs into the hot tomato base, pause to let the whites begin to set, then stir slowly and gently so they form soft, glossy curds — and pull the pan off the heat while they still look slightly underdone, because they keep cooking. Scatter with parsley, maybe a little crumbled white cheese, and serve it sizzling. And the question of onion — soğanlı mı soğansız mı — is for you to settle.

For more of the Turkish table, try köfte and imam bayıldı, or browse the full recipe collection.