The Weirdly Delicious Ingredient You Should Be Adding to Your Eggs

Cooking scrambled eggs couldn't be simpler: You need little more than butter for the pan and a dash of salt and pepper. You don't need to add more than that (well, except, maybe some grated Cheddar), because the whole point of scrambled eggs is that they're so darn easy.

So what, then, do we mean by a new surprising ingredient? We're simply suggesting that you add the sodium in a different form—instead of kosher salt, try seasoning with a splash of soy sauce. By stirring it into the eggs before they hit the pan, the saltiness gets evenly dispersed and doesn't run the risk of clumping up, like salt. Gluten-free egg-lovers can substitute tamari.

We can't take credit for this genius tip. We learned about it when Shirley Chung, runner-up of Top Chef Season 14, cooked a creamy breakfast congee for us in our test kitchen. In addition to the soy sauce, Chung seasoned her eggs with mirin and sesame oil.

More recently, blogger and cookbook author Joy Wilson showed us this technique again, claiming she stole the trick from Top Chef alum Stephanie Izzard, who uses soy sauce instead of salt—which can sink to the bottom—when she's whisking up eggs for a big batch of omelets. For an additional boost of richness and flavor, Wilson finished her eggs with a pat of butter, as well as a squeeze of lime.

• By Betty Gold
• By Grace Elkus