Bacon Wrapped Quail Eggs

These bacon-wrapped quail eggs used to be one of our favorite appetizers at a Japanese restaurant in town that has unfortunately closed. We’ve been craving for them since but haven’t been able to find it on the menu anywhere. 

But once I found these fresh quail eggs at a local Asian grocery store, I decided to recreate this appetizer.  It’s so easy that I regret not trying to make them sooner so that we could have had them more often at home! They definitely are crowd pleasers at dinner parties and cookouts.

Related topic: Don’t know what to order at your local Japanese restaurant? Check out these ideas on what to order at a Japanese restaurant.

Quail eggs in recipes

Quail eggs are used frequently in Japanese cooking. They are sometimes used raw atop rice and sushi, or boiled and served as an ingredient in various dishes and bento boxes. But these charming little eggs are starting to be used more often in the U.S. as a gourmet ingredient.

Quail eggs taste pretty much like the regular chicken eggs except the egg yolk in hard boiled quail egg tastes creamier compared to the hard boiled chicken eggs.  Since the yolk to white ratio is higher for quail eggs compared to the chicken eggs, they just have an overall richer flavor.  Because of that, quail eggs are perfect for recipes like these bacon wrapped quail eggs that you want more of a richer, “eggier” flavor in each bite. 

How to boil and peel quail eggs

Peeling hardboiled quail eggs may seem like a lot of tedious work for, literally, a very little return.  Even though quail eggs may look delicate because of their petite size, their shells and inner membrane are surprisingly sturdy, which makes boiling and peeling them an easier task if you follow these steps:

1. Place the quail eggs in a pot and cover with water. Set the heat to high.
2. Once the water begins to simmer, gently roll the eggs around in the pot using a cooking utensil. 
3. Bring the water to a boil, and boil for 3 minutes.  Remove from heat then transfer them into a bowl of cold water. Let it sit for 3 minutes.
4. Once they are cooled, place the eggs into a glass or ceramic container with a lid.  Close the lid and gently shake the eggs in the container. The cracks should form in about 10 seconds.
5. Pour cold water into the container with cracked eggs and let it sit for a minute.
6. Start peeling the eggs and pulling the membrane should pull away the shell at the same time.
7. Rinse off any remaining bits of shells or membrane.

Bacon Wrapped Quail Egg Recipe

Ingredients

• 10 quail eggs
• 5 slices bacon, halved crosswise

You’ll also need

• 10 toothpicks
• Baking pan with sides

Instructions:

1. Boil and peel the quail eggs.  Follow the instructions provided above.
2. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
3. Wrap a half-slice piece of the bacon around the egg and secure with a toothpick.
4. Lay the bacon wrapped eggs on the lined baking pan and bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the bacon is golden brown.  Turn the eggs over after the first 5 minutes of cooking for even cooking.
5. Drain and let it cool on a paper towel for a couple of minutes before serving.
   

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