Tastes & Travels
Awaze Avocado Toast with Soft Boiled Eggs
Awaze Sauce is a staple sauce of Ethiopia.. It’s base is berbere spice blend, moistened with t’ej - Ethiopian honey wine - to make a thin paste you can spread or drizzle on just about anything. Since honey wine is hard to find here, I use a combination of a dry red table wine and honey. I use this versatile sauce a finishing or dipping sauce for just about everything - meat, fish, roasted vegetables and especially eggs. Both the awaze and pickled red onions can be made and stored in the refrigerator for a week or two, so you can make this spicy, tangy breakfast (or lunch!) any day of the week.
Awaze Avocado Toast with Soft Boiled Eggs
Serves 2
- 2 large eggs
- 2 slices dark rye bread
- Ghee or unsalted butter, for brushing
- Awaze sauce, for drizzling, recipe follows
- 1 ripe avocado, pitted
- Kosher salt
- Pickled red onions and jalapenos, for garnish, recipe follows
- Fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish
- Put the eggs in a small saucepan with water to cover. Bring to a simmer and reduce heat to the lowest setting. Cook for 6 to 7 minutes (6 will produce set whites with a runny yolk, at 7 minutes the yolk will be almost set but still a bit jammy in the center), then transfer to an ice bath to cool. Peel and halve the eggs.
- Toast the rye bread and brush one side with ghee or butter. Put a peeled avocado on each slice of toast. Mash coarsely with a fork and season with salt. Top with the egg halves. Drizzle with awaze sauce and top with pickled red onions and jalapenos and cilantro leaves.
Awaze Sauce
- 1/2 cup dry red wine (120 g)
- 1/4 cup honey (84 g)
- 1/2 cup berbere spice blend (48 g)
- 3 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt (3 g)
- In a small bowl, stir together the red wine and honey.
- Stir in the berbere spice blend and ½ teaspoon salt. The sauce will be a little runny, but will thicken as it sits.
This makes more awaze than you’ll need for the recipe, but it keeps for at least a week in the fridge and is wonderful on roast meats or vegetables or stirred into cooked grains. If it is too thick once refrigerated, stir in a few teaspoons of hot water.)
Pickled Red Onions and Jalapenos
- Makes about 1 cup
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 inch piece fresh ginger, sliced
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds
- 1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 medium jalapeno, thinly sliced
- For the pickled red onions and jalapenos, combine the vinegar, 1/2 cup water, sugar and salt in a small saucepan.
- Add the ginger, coriander and mustard seeds. Simmer to dissolve the sugar and salt, about 1 minute.
- Stir in the red onions and jalapenos and let cool.
Extra pickled red onions will keep in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.