Forget Salt And Pepper: Make The Best Scrambled Eggs When You Add This Japanese Condiment

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In our seemingly endless search for protein to repair and maintain muscle, power metabolism, and provide energy, eggs are a no-brainer choice. However, a few too many plates of plain old scrambled eggs may have you lamenting Dr. Seuss style that you would not like them here or there, you would not like them anywhere. So, why not bring new life to those humble ovoids with a Japanese spice blend called shichimi, such as House Shichimi Togarashi.

Shichimi is a Japanese pantry staple that is actually a blend of seven spices: chile pepper, Japanese sansho pepper, citrus peel, black and white sesame seeds, ginger, and nori (seaweed). With one quick shake, you bring a range of flavors to the party, from spicy and nutty to briny and even citrusy. Adding shichimi to eggs levels up the flavors and wakes up your palate in new and tempting ways. The punch of Asian flavors may even inspire you to up your overall breakfast game, perhaps by pairing with sweet Japanese milk bread instead of your normal white bread toast, or complementing your breakfast with a soul- and body-satisfying cup of green tea.

Before you take your eggs to new flavor heights, set yourself up for scrambled egg success. Tap into some secrets for making the best scrambled eggs, such as using farm-fresh eggs and cooking over low heat. You can also channel your inner Anthony Bourdain and use his lauded technique that sees the eggs stirred gently in a butter-coated pan in a figure eight pattern to keep them moist and fluffy. To incorporate the shichimi, simply add ¼ teaspoon for every egg as you whisk them together before you start cooking.

The addition of shichimi provides its own flavor bomb that may make you look past salt and pepper moving forward. To further up the umami angle, add ¼ tablespoon of miso paste per egg to your scrambled ingredients. Other ideas to round out your Japanese-accented breakfast include blistered tomatoes or roasted shiitake mushrooms. Who knows, maybe this intro to Japanese flavors will have you willing to try a traditional Japanese breakfast, featuring fish such as mackerel, salmon, and sardines in addition to eggs. Then again, maybe the burst of flavors in the egg-and-shichimi combo is taking it far enough.