How to make your own 5 egg balls
What exactly is an egg ball?
The egg ball is a popular and strongly regionally determined snack. World famous in the North and East of the Netherlands. You can find it in cafeterias, vending machines and of course snack bars. An egg ball is in short an hard-boiled egg in ragout, hidden in a crispy jacket. Those who thought it was just a tasty local snack with no ambitions will be deceived. It is even part of the Groninger culture.
A veritable egg ball society has been making a case for the appreciation of this dish since 2015. They even succeeded in 2017 in getting the egg ball promoted to ‘Unesco intangible cultural heritage’. So visiting Groningen without tasting such a regional dish is a missed opportunity. A song has even been written about the delicacy. Rapper Olaf Vos sings about the “aaierbal” in 2015, inspired by Pitbull’s hit Fireball. And in the same year, Prime Minister Mark Rutte comes to taste the “aaierbal” at Friet van Piet. Finally, we even have an NK egg ball eating. The last winner had finished 11.5 of them in 10 minutes.
The reason that the Groningen delicacy has never risen above its regional status is probably also because you always have to prepare them fresh. Freezing them and storing them for a long time is not possible. Once frozen, an egg tastes more like rubber than egg.
Since 2013, however, we have succeeded in making a sustainable variant. As a result, this Groningen delicacy (which is also popular in Drenthe), is now also available in the rest of the Netherlands. Three friends from Nieuw-Buinen in the Dutch province of Drenthe designed a special machine that ensures that the perishable variety can now be kept for four weeks.
Sauce manufacturer Oliehoorn, with its headquarters in Zwaag and a branch in Drachten in Friesland, developed a special sauce for the snack. The ball is marketed under the name Aaierbaaln.
How did the egg ball come about?
As is often the case, the history of a dish is sometimes difficult to trace. And often the origin is also disputed. Some people think the Groningers were inspired by the Scotts Egg. But that one has a sausage filling and is eaten cold. If we try to discover the red line from all the reports, then cafeteria Sloots from Groningen wins. In the Nieuwsblad van het Noorden of 23 January 1951 there is an advertisement of Cafeteria Sloots. After moving to the Oude Kijk in ‘t Jatstraat 16 the reopening is announced with ‘Carbonade, sausage, minced meat, egg ball and croquet’. In Limburg we do see the frietei as a comparable product but there the origin does not go back further than 1959.
The fact that the egg ball appears just after the war is surely no coincidence. In the relative poverty of the post-war period, boiled egg soaked in stale bread was the precursor to today’s egg ball. To which the modern version tastes a lot better. Today it can be enjoyed not only in the classic variant but also in mini version with a quail egg. Also the variant with an ostrich egg has been made. This largest Groningen egg ball in the world had a size of 44 centimeters and it required two hours of cooking time. An expensive snack considering the price of an ostrich egg of €45.
The street art collective Kamp Seedorf from Almere was also enthusiastic about this typical Groningen dish. Since Wednesday, August 11, 2021 the quay wall at the Spilsluizen in Groningen is enriched with a painting of a tray with this Groningen delicacy. Complete with a Groningen flag on a stick. ‘Kampie loves Egg balls’, they write on their Instagram account. A day earlier they had already fabricated and placed a unique road sign with the text ‘Vindicat free zone’ on the corner of the Oude Ebbingestraat and the Hofstraat in Groningen. Referring to the illustrious Groninger student club that often makes the newspaper with dubious practices.
Eggball recipe
Anyone who has ever made croquettes will have a head start when making an egg ball. Start by making the ragout, as it will be processed cold later.
From the cooket of Peter Kars of the Genootschap Ambachtelijke Grunneger Aaierbal (GAGA) the following recipe:
Ingredients egg ball recipe
- 5 eggs M
- 80 grams of margarine
- 80 grams of white flour
- 750 ml. water, a light strained vegetable boullion will also do
- 2 tablespoons croquette mass Vero of Verstegen (it contains pepper, curry, mace, coriander, salt, ginger, thyme and nutmeg)
- Moist breadcrumbs or Japanese breadcrumbs
- The egg whites of 2 to 3 eggs, stirred with water
Preparation
Boil the eggs hard in 6 minutes. Prevent them from breaking through by cooling them immediately in cold running water. Peel the eggs and cover with a damp cloth until you need them. Make the roux by melting the margarine in a large pan over low heat.
Now add the spice mix and stir it for a while until it starts to bubble. Now add the flour and keep stirring for at least 1 minute using a whisk. Keep stirring to prevent the whole thing from sticking. Now add the liquid in sections and keep stirring. The result, the thick sauce, 3 minutes to cook. Now pour the roux into a not too high container and let it cool.
Divide the cooled and stiffened roux into 5 equal parts. Make sure you have a bowl of panel flour within reach. In another bowl, whisk the egg whites with a spoonful of water. Fold a portion of roux around the egg so that the egg is exactly in the center of the roux. The egg should no longer be visible on the outside. Roll the result through the breadcrumbs, then through the egg white and repeat. Finally, finish with a round of breadcrumbs. Pressing each layer well is important. Refrigerate the balls for several hours or a day, each individually covered in plastic wrap.
Frying
Remove the egg balls from the refrigerator and allow the to come to room temperature. Heat the oil or frying fat for 5 minutes at 180 degrees. Deep fry up to two or three egg balls at a time in the oil. It is important that the crust remains whole.
Enjoy your meal!