want my egg half done

[joham]

I ran across with such a question:

---How do you want your egg?
---____. I like my egg tender.
A. Very much B. Well done C. Good job D. Half done
The given answer is D.

Could you please tell me whether you native English speakers say 'I want my egg half done'? If you want a half-boiled egg, how would you say it?

Thank you very much.

[baqarah131]

I don't like the question at all. I'd never refer to an egg as tender or half done.
When you're boiling an egg in its shell, the two alternatives are "hard boiled" and "soft boiled."
You can say "well done" if you're talking about a steak.

Though you didn't ask, let me add a couple more points about cooking eggs.
When you first take an egg out of its shell, then boil it, you have a "poached" egg.
When you fry an egg, the alternatives are "both sides" or "sunny side up."
When you stir an egg while you fry it, or before you fry it, you have a "scrambled" egg.

I'm afraid there are problems with tests and texts in China. Whenever possible, concentrate on materials written by native speakers. And continue to use this forum when you find something that doesn't make sense.

best wishes
edward

Originally Posted by joham

I met with such a question:

---How do you want your egg?
---____. I like my egg tender.
A. Very much B. Well done C. Good job D. Half done
The given answer is D.

Could you please tell me whether you native English speakers say 'I want my egg half done'? If you want a half-boiled egg, how would you say it?

Thank you very much.

[vil]

Hi joham,

I will make an attempt to acquaint you at some length with the characteristics by preparing plain egg dishes.

There are the following plain egg dishes:
-coddled egg
-Fried egg
-Boiled egg
-Omelette
-Poached egg
-Scrambled eggs
-Shired egg

Coddled eggs are slightly cooked eggs. One recipe calls for pouring boiling water over the egg and letting the egg and water stand for 10 minutes.

A fried egg is an egg cooked by frying, typically in butter, cooking oil or margarine, for the purpose of eating.

When ordering eggs in North America, one is invariably asked, "how would you like your eggs?" This often bewilders visitors from Britain or Ireland, where this terminology is rarely used. North American may choose between the following methods (and refer to the British and Irish methods as "sunny side up")

"over hard" also called "hard" - cooked on both sides until the yolk has solidified.
"over medium" cooked on both sides until the yolk is fairly thick but still a liquid.
"over easy" also called "runny"- cooked on both sides (not clear) but yolk is still liquid. This is occationally called "sunny side down". Those aer also commonly referred to as "dippy eggs" or "dip eggs". Also called somewhere "treasure eggs".
"sunny side up" - cooked only on one side; yolk is liquid (the oil or fat may be used to baste the sunny side, however). This is often known simply as "eggs up".

boiled eggs are cooked by immersing in boiling water with their shells unbroken.(Eggs cooked in water without their shells are known as poached eggs.)

Hard-boiled eggs are produced by boiling until both the yolk nd the egg white are solid, while for soft-boiled eggs the yolk and sometimes even the white remains "runny".

omelette is a mixture of eggs, seasoning and sometimes water or milk cooked in butter until firm and filled or topped with various filling such as cheese, ham, mushrooms, onion, peppers, sausage and herbs.

poached eggs- a poached egg is an egg that has been cooked in vry hot but not boiling water, until the egg white has mostly congealed, but the yolk remain soft. A small amount of white vinegar may be added to the water to keep the egg white from spreading out.

The advantage of poached eggs over other types of cooked eggs is that no oil or fat is used to cook them and so they are healthier than other methods.

scramble eggs is a dish made from beaten whites and yolk of eggs (usually chicken). The dish often contains other ingredients. Cream, butter, milk, water or oil (used in China) will delude the egg protein to create a softer texture.

I think we might leave it at that!

Regards.

V.

[baqarah131]

Thanks, Vil. I gave the most common ones. You've added some I didn't know. A lot of good info here; I've done a printout.
I'm going to try your idea of using vinegar when I poach eggs.

happy eating
edward

[MrPedantic]

I wouldn't ever refer to eggs as "half done" or "tender" either; though D is the only possible answer to the question.

If a native speaker did say that he liked his eggs "tender" or "half done", I would take it for a whimsical metaphor (from the preparation of steaks).

MrP

[baqarah131]

In North America, our options for a steak are rare, medium, and well done.

regards
edward

Originally Posted by MrPedantic

I wouldn't ever refer to eggs as "half done" or "tender" either; though D is the only possible answer to the question.

If a native speaker did say that he liked his eggs "tender" or "half done", I would take it for a whimsical metaphor (from the preparation of steaks).

MrP

[MrPedantic]

Yes, it's the same here in the UK.

(I should have said, a whimsical metaphor on the part of someone who had only an imperfect grasp of the terminology of steak preparation.)

MrP

[joham]

Thank you very much for the great trouble you've taken to answer my question. I'll take down all these ways on the page of the entry of 'egg' in my dictionaries so that I learn to say them and even do my eggs these ways.

THANK YOU AGAIN.