Have you ever heard of the famous Filipino street food called Kwek Kwek?

If not, it is a popular snack made of quail eggs coated in bright orange batter and deep fried until crispy. It is one of the most common street foods in the Philippines. You can find it almost everywhere. Every corner you turn there is usually someone selling it with their little frying station and vinegar dip on the side.

Today my mother bought quail eggs from our neighbor. They were three pesos each so she decided to get thirty pieces. She later asked me if I could cook them and make kwek kwek. I said yes right away since I was not busy and had nothing much to do. I thought it would be a simple task. Spoiler alert. It was not.

I honestly did not know how to cook it properly so I searched on YouTube and watched a couple of videos. After gathering the instructions this is what I used for the batter.

1 cup of flour
1 fourth cup of cornstarch
1 spoon of baking powder
ground pepper
1 teaspoon salt
food coloring

After preparing the ingredients I mixed everything together and added one cup of water. At first the mixture became too watery. I realized it was not supposed to look like that. I tried adding more flour and cornstarch thinking it would fix the problem. It did not. The batter stayed liquid no matter what I added. I eventually just accepted it and hoped for the best. That was my biggest mistake and I laugh about it now.

While I was preparing the batter I also boiled the quail eggs on the side. I figured it would save time if I did both at once. The eggs were cooking quietly while I measured the flour and mixed everything together. It felt like I was doing everything right at that moment. I kept checking the pot to make sure the eggs were not overcooked. Once they were done I let them cool for a bit so I could peel them easily.

I peeled the shells off the quail eggs and prepared the pan. It actually felt relaxing peeling each tiny egg and getting them ready for the batter. At this point I was still confident that the kwek kwek would turn out fine. I had no idea what was waiting for me after lol. When the oil was hot enough I started dipping the eggs into the batter and dropped them one by one into the pan. That is when the chaos officially started.

Because the batter was too watery the coating slid right off the eggs. Instead of sticking to the egg it spread out in the oil. The eggs cooked separately and the batter cooked separately. The whole thing looked more like tiny dumplings floating around the pan instead of proper kwek kwek. I could only laugh at what I created.

This was the final result. It did not look cute at all but it still tasted like kwek kwek so I guess that was a small win. I served it to my family and thankfully no one complained. They actually laughed and said it was still good. That made me feel better even though I was a little embarrassed. In the end it was just for us and we were not selling it so it was fine.

It was supposed to look like those perfectly round bright orange kwek kwek that you see on the streets but mine looked like their lost cousins. Still I am glad I tried. Cooking mistakes are part of the fun. Next time I will definitely put less water and follow the recipe more carefully.

That is all for this blog. I just wanted to share it because the whole experience was funny and cute at the same time. Thank you for reading and I hope this little kitchen disaster made you smile. :)