Menemen
Menemen is often confused with shakshuka, but it is a different dish and a different technique: here the eggs are stirred through the sauce rather than baked whole in it. Two things decide the result: the tomatoes must be cooked down to a thick pulp, and the eggs folded in over low heat and taken off sooner than seems right. Menemen should be moist and glossy, never dry.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Peppers 8 min
- Tomatoes 10 min
- Eggs 4 min
Step by step
0 / 6 doneFry the peppers until soft
Slice the peppers into rings and fry in the oil for 6–8 minutes over medium heat, until soft and blistered in places. Peppers need more time than tomato — added together with it they stay raw and crunchy, and they should be soft.
Ingredients: 3 tbsp olive oil · 2 pcs green peppers · 500 g tomatoes · 1 tsp sweet paprika · ½ tsp chilli flakes · ½ tsp salt · ¼ tsp pepper
Soft, with blistered patches.Grate the tomatoes instead of chopping
Halve the tomatoes and grate them on the cut side, holding the skin — the skin stays in your hand and smooth pulp falls into the bowl. It is much quicker than blanching and peeling.
Ingredients: 3 tbsp olive oil · 2 pcs green peppers · 500 g tomatoes · 1 tsp sweet paprika · ½ tsp chilli flakes · ½ tsp salt · ¼ tsp pepper
Reduce the tomatoes to a thick pulp
Add the pulp to the pan with the spices and cook for 8–10 minutes, until reduced and as thick as sauce. This step looks dull but is decisive: eggs poured into watery tomato set separately and the whole pan splits.
Ingredients: 3 tbsp olive oil · 2 pcs green peppers · 500 g tomatoes · 1 tsp sweet paprika · ½ tsp chilli flakes · ½ tsp salt · ¼ tsp pepper
Thick, dark pulp — only now the eggs.Turn the heat down and add beaten eggs
Turn the heat to its lowest, add the butter, pour in the lightly beaten eggs and fold slowly with a spatula, drawing in from the edges. High heat gives rubbery lumps — menemen should be a mass of large, soft folds.
Ingredients: 4 pcs eggs · 20 g butter · 60 g white cheese · ¼ bunch parsley · 200 g bread
Slow folding from the edges, large curds.Take it off while the eggs are still wet
Take the pan off the heat while the eggs still look slightly underdone and glossy. The hot pan finishes them within half a minute off the burner — waiting for doneness over the flame always ends in dryness.
Ingredients: 4 pcs eggs · 20 g butter · 60 g white cheese · ¼ bunch parsley · 200 g bread
Serve straight from the pan
Crumble over the cheese, scatter parsley and serve in the pan, with bread for dipping. Menemen is traditionally served in the pan it was cooked in and shared, scooped up with pieces of bread.
Ingredients: 4 pcs eggs · 20 g butter · 60 g white cheese · ¼ bunch parsley · 200 g bread
Before you start
Menemen versus shakshuka
In shakshuka the eggs go in whole and bake, and the sauce is built on onion, cumin and often harissa. In menemen the eggs are stirred through and the spicing stops at paprika. They are two different dishes, not variants of one.
Onion: a contested question
In Turkey the argument about onion in menemen is a running joke. Many leave it out. If you want it, soften one finely diced onion before the peppers — the dish becomes sweeter and more filling.
Out of tomato season
In winter use tinned tomatoes, but drain off the juice and reduce them half again as long. A teaspoon of tomato paste deepens the flavour.
