On my recent trip to the Philippines last May, I made it a must to visit the street food district in my hometown. I spent a good part of one afternoon wandering from vendor to vendor, gorging on adidas (chicken feet), isaw (chicken intestines), one day old (battered duck eggs), fish ball and of course, kwek kwek (battered quail eggs). Sure, considerable number of products indigenous to the Philippines are now available to us Filipinos here in California but there are still quite a few “ethnic” food that we can’t readily access. It has been years since my last bite of BBQ chicken asses! So today, I tried to recreate the gustatory memories of that May afternoon and attempted to make battered quail eggs at home. Yes, they were delicious~golden and crisp~but may I tell you a secret? I enjoyed more the kwek-kwek I had on that street. Not that they tasted better or were done better as my version had the extra boost from the addition of garlic powder and chicken base flavoring. I think it was just the whole street experience that made the kwek kwek more delightful.
- 24 pieces quail eggs
- 1 teaspoon annnato powder (more if darker color is desired)
- ½ cup water
- 1-1/4 cup flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon chicken base powder
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 eggs
- salt and pepper to taste
- vegetable oil
- ¼ cup vinegar
- ¼ cup ketchup
- 4 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 teaspoon soy sauce
- In a pot, place quail eggs and enough water to cover. Bring the water just to a boil, reduce heat and simmer eggs for about 2 to 3 minutes. With a slotted spoon, remove eggs and place in bowl of ice water to cool. To peel, roll a wet egg on the counter to crack shell and peel from the rounded end first. Rinse under running water to remove any bits of shell left. Drain well and set aside.
- In a small bowl, dilute annatto powder with the water. In a large bowl, whisk together 1 cup of the flour, baking powder, chicken base and garlic powder. Add annatto-colored water and beaten eggs. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Whisk until well-blended and smooth.
- In a shallow dish, lightly dredge boiled eggs in the remaining ¼ cup flour. Dip in batter to completely coat. Repeat with remaining eggs.
- In a pan, heat about 1-inch of oil and deep-fry battered eggs for about 3 to 5 minutes or until golden brown and crisp, turning on sides if necessary. Remove from pan and drain on paper towels. Serve hot with dipping sauce.
- In a sauce pan, combine vinegar, ketchup, brown sugar and soy sauce. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally, and cook for about 3 to 5 minutes or until sugar is dissolved.
lyn says
May 1, 2019 at 4:00 pmHi! What kind of flour did you use? Is rice flour gonna be fine?
Lalaine Manalo says
May 1, 2019 at 8:59 pmI use all-purpose flour. Unfortunately, I haven’t tried rice flour for this recipe so I am not sure of the outcome 🙁
amie calcana says
August 3, 2018 at 5:56 amthank you for sharing
Jec says
April 13, 2017 at 11:11 amCan I use apple cider vinegar and tomato ketchup on the sauce?? Or it has to be white vinegar and banana ketchup?
Lalaine says
April 13, 2017 at 4:45 pmYou can use whatever dip you like 🙂
Jec says
April 14, 2017 at 6:00 pmSorry for the question again. Can I do the batter without the food coloring? Will it taste the same? I don’t have any in the pantr now and I am so craving for it.
Lalaine says
April 14, 2017 at 10:22 pmHi Jec,
You can skip the food coloring if you don’t have. It’s really more aesthetic than for flavor. Enjoy!
mercy says
September 7, 2015 at 6:54 ami always go to taguig city at fti. they have this wonderful sauce for this recipe.
it was a mixture of cucumber, vinegar, onion and chili. try it…. it’s so nice for the dip
Charlotte says
August 18, 2014 at 1:22 pmI made this today and the batter is flavorful. I used regular eggs instead of quail eggs because I don’t have one. I made a mistake of making the sauce (I didn’t heat it up) but its pretty tasty. Thanks Lalaine for sharing.
Lalaine says
August 18, 2014 at 5:45 pmI believe they’re called tokneneng when regular eggs are used 🙂
Leila says
October 15, 2013 at 3:14 amWill going to try this one of these days. But let me clarify the cooking time: 15 hours????
Lalaine says
October 15, 2013 at 10:12 pmThanks, corrected recipe 🙂