Menemen (food) facts for kids
Turkish breakfast with Menemen (left)
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| Course | Breakfast |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | Turkey |
| Region or state | İzmir Menemen |
| Main ingredients | Eggs, tomato, green peppers, and spices such as ground black and red pepper, salt and oregano, onion, garlic, chili powder |
| ~120 kcal | |
| Similar dishes | Shakshouka |
Menemen is a super popular and yummy traditional Turkish dish. It's made with eggs, tomatoes, green peppers, and tasty spices. These ingredients are all cooked together in olive oil.
You can sometimes find Menemen with onions, but adding them is a big debate! People often add onions if they eat Menemen as a main meal, not just for breakfast. This dish is quite similar to another one called shakshouka.
Menemen is usually eaten for breakfast and served with fresh bread. The dish gets its name from a small town called Menemen in Izmir Province in Turkey.
Making Menemen: A Delicious Dish
Making Menemen is quite simple and fun! First, the tomatoes are usually cut into small pieces or grated. You can even mix both diced and grated tomatoes for a different texture.
The Great Onion Debate
If you decide to use onions, they are cooked in a pan with green peppers and some butter or oil. A spice called Aleppo pepper can also be added. The big question is: should onions be in Menemen? Many people argue about it! Adding onions is more common when Menemen is eaten as a main dish, not just for breakfast.
In 2018, a famous Turkish food critic named Vedat Milor even started a poll on Twitter about the onion debate. A huge number of people, 437,657 to be exact, voted! The "onion team" won by a tiny bit, with 51% of the votes. So, it seems most people like onions in their Menemen!
Adding More Flavor
After the peppers get soft, you can add sucuk, which is a dried sausage like salami. This adds a lot of flavor to the oil. You can take the sucuk out before adding the tomatoes if you want, but it's not always necessary. The tomatoes should become very soft, and the mix shouldn't be too watery before the eggs go in.
The eggs can be beaten with salt, pepper, and fresh herbs. Or, you can just crack them directly into the pan. If you're using pastırma, a type of cured beef, you add it with the eggs. Sometimes, Kaşar cheese or white cheese is sprinkled on top of the eggs just before they finish cooking. A garnish of fresh herbs or green onions makes it look even better!
Menemen is usually served right in the pan it was cooked in. This special pan is called a sahan and has two handles. It's always served with fresh bread for dipping!
See also
In Spanish: Menemen para niños
