Menemen (The Ultimate Scramble)
(meh-neh-men)
Kahvaltı (The Weekend Before Coffee Spread)
In Turkey, menemen isn't just breakfast; it's a way of life, a reliable comfort food, and the subject of fierce national debate over whether or not to include onions. The unwritten grandmother rule is simple: skip the onions for a slow weekend breakfast, but toss one in if you're throwing it together for a frantic weeknight dinner. This is the canonical, stripped-down breakfast version. Forget watery bell peppers—grab Anaheim and banana peppers to mimic the delicate Turkish sivri biber. And whatever you do, pull the pan off the heat before the eggs look done. The residual heat carries them to silky, jammy perfection on the short walk to the table.
Before you start
Use the box grater hack for perfect tomatoes.
Skip the tedious boiling and peeling process. Rub the cut side of your halved tomatoes against the large holes of a box grater set over a bowl until only the flat skin remains in your hand. Discard the skins. You now have a perfect, skinless purée that will melt beautifully into a jam.
Ingredients
- extra-virgin olive oil2 tbsp
- unsalted butter1 tbsp
- Anaheim pepper1 med
- banana pepper or Cubanelle pepper1 med
- vine-ripened or Roma tomatoes3 med
- eggs4 large
- Aleppo pepper or gochugaru1 tsp
- kosher salt1/2 tsp
- black pepper1/4 tsp
- crusty bread1 loaf
Method
- 01
Sauté the peppers gently.
Place a 10-inch skillet over medium heat, add the olive oil and butter, and once melted, toss in the chopped peppers with a pinch of salt. Sauté for about 5 minutes until they soften and turn vibrant green, taking care not to let them brown or burn.
- 02
Build the jam.
Pour the grated tomatoes and their juices into the skillet, stirring in the Aleppo pepper, salt, and black pepper. Lower the heat to medium-low and let the mixture bubble gently for 7 to 10 minutes until the raw, watery edge cooks off and it thickens into a rich, cohesive sauce.
- 03
Introduce the eggs.
Crack the eggs into a small bowl, pierce the yolks with a fork to give them a very lazy stir, and pour them over the simmering tomato base. Turn the heat down to low, wait about 15 seconds for the bottom layer to set, then use a wooden spoon to gently scrape the bottom of the pan from the outside edges toward the center.
- 04
Coast on the residual heat.
Continue to gently fold and scrape for just a minute or two until the eggs look marbled with streaks of white, yellow, and red. While they are still soft, wet, and slightly runny, immediately remove the skillet from the heat.
- 05
Serve immediately from the skillet.
Let the heat of the pan finish cooking the eggs on the walk to the table. Garnish with a little more Aleppo pepper, place the skillet in the center of the table, and eat it directly from the pan using torn pieces of bread instead of forks.
Notes
Make it dinner.
To turn this breakfast staple into a hearty weeknight main course (the famous "soğanlı" version), finely dice a small yellow onion and sauté it right alongside your peppers.
The butter finish.
For an incredibly luxurious texture, drop one extra tablespoon of cold, cubed butter into the center of the pan right as you pull it off the heat so it slowly melts into the warm eggs.
From Turkish Heritage Kitchen.