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Comment by random42_ | Hacker News Reader

Curiously egg whites are also used to remove particles from stock (chicken, veal, beef) when you want to have a crystal clear liquid.

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Also used to filter wine - see https://www.winespectator.com/articles/are-egg-whites-really...

And Swedish egg coffee.

Which funnily is absolutely not a thing here in Sweden.

First time I heard about "Swedish egg coffee" from American colleagues I was really puzzled, had to do some research about it because I never heard or seen it. It seems to come from some Swedish immigrants to the USA that used eggs instead of fish skins to remove impurities from coffee.

Wait, so swedish fish coffee is the real deal?

In the 19th century, for sure!

Interesting! I first saw it at a state fair in the US. They mentioned Swedish immigrants too, but didn't say whether they invented the technique.

I was skeptical but...it's actually great.

Yes, that's also where the french dessert canelé comes from: the egg whites being used for wine filtering, you have a lot of yolks left. So instead of wasting them, they were/are used to make canelés.

Consomme technique.

I found this a very interesting technique when you posted it, but I actually wonder now if there is much point to it. Most of the gunk is filtered out when making a stock when you pass it through a sieve and/or a cheese cloth.

OfIs a clear broth actually something that matters besides a gate keeping technique in French cuisine?

Maybe you have specific aesthetic goals.

> Maybe you have specific aesthetic goals.

Traditional French (beef) buillon is made this way, it's presentation and taste is specifically light as it's the starter course in a multi-course meal so it's there to just whet the appetite not serve as a stand-alone meal. The way that it' finished is using the egg technique to ensure it's clarified after being passed through a cloth and chinois.

It's the same way in Japanese cooking, in order to get a proper dashi you have to ensure you don't let things get to a boil because the katsubushi or my personal favorite niboshi can break up and then ruin it entirely at those temps and it will become bitter and unusable to make soups, sauces and braises with.

So, yes, it has a purpose beyond just looks.

As already mentioned in this thread, this is done mostly for aesthetic purposes, like when making a consommé - which is judged also by how clear the liquid is, besides flavor. Other than that, you shouldn’t bother if you’re using the stock to make other dishes.

If you aren't careful with how you make your stock (e.g., including the scales and whatnot in a fish stock and cooking on higher heat levels), the egg whites will pull out some off flavors. Otherwise it's mostly aesthetics.

First thought I had : grandma used to clarify broth with eggs.

Iirc you can also use it to prepare coffee when camping. The egg binds to ground coffee in a saucepan so it’s better separated from the coffee you pour into your mug

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