Main · North Africa, especially Tunisia

Shakshuka

Eggs poached in a spiced tomato and pepper sauce.

About the dish

Shakshuka is a dish of eggs poached in a spiced sauce of tomatoes and peppers. It comes from North Africa, with Tunisia most often named as its home, and it is now everyday food in Israel and across the Middle East.

The sauce is onion, garlic and sweet peppers softened in olive oil, then simmered with tomatoes, cumin, paprika and chili; in Tunisia, harissa often brings the heat. It needs to cook down until it is thick enough to hold a well, or the eggs will spread and sink. The eggs are cracked into hollows in the sauce, and the pan is covered and kept at a gentle simmer until the whites set and the yolks stay soft.

Tomato brings sweet and sour notes and savory depth, the spices bring warmth and heat, and the runny yolks add richness that softens the acid. Shakshuka is served in the pan it was cooked in, with bread to scoop it up, and sometimes topped with crumbled feta or herbs. Green versions use leafy greens in place of tomato.

Written from general cooking knowledge, as background on a dish from the game’s recipe book. It is not a tested recipe.

The flavors it leans on

Shakshuka in Night Kitchen

In the game, Shakshuka is a main in the recipe book. A plate is named Shakshuka when it holds these cards and is cooked with exactly this technique, with at most one extra ingredient.

Ingredients

  • Eggs
  • Tomatoes
  • Chili flakes

Technique

  • Simmer

How those cards taste

Cooked from just these cards for an average ticket, before tonight’s mood and quirks, it would please Odile (3 stars), Dot (3 stars) and Lou (3 stars) most.

“Eggs cooked right in a hot tomato sauce, with chili. Breakfast at three in the morning. My kind of breakfast.”

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