Duelos y Quebrantos Manchegos

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy frying pan, 26cm
• •Medium mixing bowl
• •Wooden spoon or broad heatproof spatula
• •Kitchen scale

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the eggs

   Crack the eggs into a bowl and beat them just until the whites and yolks join. Don't add milk or cream. This is a revuelto held together by egg and rendered pork fat, and dairy only dulls the chorizo and makes the pan watery. Leave the salt out for now because both meats may provide enough.

2. 2

   Render the panceta

   Put the panceta into a cold 26cm heavy frying pan and set it over low heat. Cook for 7 to 8 minutes, turning occasionally, until the fat has melted into the pan and the edges are lightly browned while the centres remain tender. This slow rendering is the step that decides the dish: it gives you seasoned fat for the eggs instead of tough pieces of hurried bacon.

   If the pan remains dry after 3 minutes because the panceta is unusually lean, add the 15ml olive oil. Most panceta needs none.
3. 3

   Cook the chorizo

   Add the chorizo and raise the heat to medium-low. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, turning the pieces, until their edges darken slightly and the fat in the pan turns red with pimentón. Don't let the paprika blacken or it will taste bitter. If more than about 30ml fat has collected, spoon off the excess and keep it for frying potatoes.

4. 4

   Fold in the eggs

   Turn the heat to low and pour in the beaten eggs. Wait 10 seconds, then draw a wooden spoon slowly across the bottom and fold the setting egg over itself. Continue with broad, unhurried folds for 2 to 3 minutes. Stop when the curds are soft and glossy with no pool of liquid egg remaining; the heat of the pan will finish them. Taste and add the measured salt only if the pork hasn't already done the job.

   For pregnant people, young children, older adults, or anyone with reduced immunity, use pasteurized eggs and cook until the eggs reach 71°C.
5. 5

   Serve without waiting

   Take the pan off the heat at once and transfer the revuelto to a warm shallow dish so it doesn't continue cooking against the hot metal. Set it down with thick slices of bread for carrying the soft egg and pimentón-stained fat. Duelos y quebrantos waits for nobody, which is sensible advice for most scrambled eggs.

Chef Tips

• •Buy a firm Spanish chorizo whose first flavours are pork, garlic, and pimentón. If you use chistorra instead, crumble or slice it and cook it fully before adding the eggs; the finished revuelto will be softer, oilier, and redder.
• •Spanish panceta is usually less smoky than common breakfast bacon. Unsmoked slab bacon is the closest substitute. Smoked streaky bacon still makes a good pan, but the smoke will speak louder than it does in the Manchego dish.
• •Don't add milk, cream, onion, cheese, or parsley. Eggs, chorizo, and pork belly are enough. This is poor-table abundance, not an omelette waiting to be filled.
• •Use fresh eggs and beat them only until combined. Hard whisking fills them with air, then they rise and collapse instead of forming the broad, tender curds a revuelto wants.
• •Eat it straight from the pan or within five minutes. Refrigerated leftovers are safe for up to two days when chilled promptly, but reheated scrambled eggs become firm. Fold leftovers into bread rather than trying to restore their softness.

Advance Preparation

• •Cut the panceta and chorizo up to 24 hours ahead and refrigerate them separately in covered containers.
• •The pork can be rendered up to 4 hours ahead. Cover it, then warm it gently in its fat before adding the eggs.
• •Do not cook the eggs ahead. The finished revuelto is at its best immediately, while the curds are still soft and the rendered fat remains glossy.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 210g)