Kwek Kwek Recipe
Homemade Kwek Kwek recipe to enjoy this Filipino street food at the comfort of your homes! Hard-boiled quail eggs coated in bright orange batter then deep-fried until crisp. Dipping it in manong’s sauce or vinegar and you’ll sigh with contentment!
We enjoy having orange eggs for snack especially when dipped in special sweet-spicy sauce. It also reminds my husband of their canteen back in the Philippines because they used to make them but bigger called “tokneneng” which uses chicken eggs.
This kwek kwek recipe not only brings us back home to the Philippines but also gives fond memories of other street food like fish balls, squid balls, and kikiam. So if you crave for kwek kwek and manong’s street food sauce, give this a try and let us know how it went.
How to prepare quail eggs
As the prominent ingredient for this recipe, I will share with you some tips and tricks to easily boil and peel them.
- Fill an right-sized saucepan or pot with water enough to cover the eggs by an inch and bring to a boil. Carefully add the eggs using a slotted spoon and cook for 4-5 minutes.
- Peeling quail eggs after boiling can be tricky. You can place them in cold water to cool down quicker.
- Once cool to touch, roll the eggs between your hand until the shells crack then peel away.
- Rinse peeled quail eggs to remove any shells left behind.
Manong’s special street food sauce
Dipping kwek kwek in spicy vinegar is great but for me, the sweet and spicy brown sauce is better. You can even make it “not spicy” by removing the chili peppers from the ingredients. To make it:
- In a sauce pan, Mix 6 cups water, 2 tbsp. flour, 2 tbsp. cornstarch, 6 tbsp. brown sugar, 1/2 cup soy sauce, dash of salt and pepper. Stir until sugar is dissolved and no more lumps from flour.
- Cook in medium heat while stirring for 4 – 6 minutes. Taste and adjust with salt and pepper according to preference.
- Add 1 chopped chili and 3 cloves sliced garlic and simmer for a minute. Transfer in serving bowl or jar and let it cool down.
Tips for an amiable experience
- When making the batter coating for the quail eggs, it needs to be thick yet smooth flowing. Gradually add water into the flour whilewhisking.
- Dredge eggs with cornstarch before coating so the batter will not fall off when deep frying.
- Annatto powder or achuete powder is used to color the batter. You can add a bit of orange food coloring if you wish.
- Cook kwek kwek in batches to avoid undercooking and make sure that there is enough oil to keep them deep frying.
The secret ingredient is always LOVE
You may also like
- Otap Recipe made completely from scratch! Baked goodies that are crispy and flaky like puff pastries coated in sugar.
- Ampaw or puffed rice snacks that are sweet, crispy and simply delicious! Made from super simple ingredients and just as easy to make.
- Sweet and Spicy Dilis with it’s sweet and spicy coating and crunchy anchovies will definitely tickle your taste buds! You can have it as an appetizer or just snack on them while watching a movie.
Kwek Kwek Recipe
Ingredients
- 54 pcs. quail eggs (hard boiled and shells peeled)
- 1/2 cup cornstarch (or potato starch – for dredging)
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tsp annatto powder
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- cooking oil (for deep frying)
Instructions
- Hard boil quail eggs and peel off shells. Set aside.54 pcs. quail eggs
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, annatto powder, salt and pepper.1 cup flour, 1 tsp annatto powder, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- Gradually add water while whisking until batter is thick but smooth flowing.3/4 cup water
- Place cornstarch in bowl and dredge peeled quail eggs 10 pcs. at a time.1/2 cup cornstarch
- Add dredged egg one at a time in the orange batter and turn them over to fully coat.
- In a small pot, heat enough oil over medium-high heat. When oil is hot enough, scoop the eggs one at a time using a spoon and deep fry for 1-2 minutes each side or until crispy.cooking oil
- Remove the eggs from the hot oil and transfer into a plate lined with paper towel to remove excess oil. Repeat process until all eggs are cooked.
- Serve with special sauce or vinegar. Bon appetit!
Notes
- You can also use orange food coloring as an alternative for annatto powder.
- See post on how to properly boil and peel quail eggs.
Nutrition
