A high-protein item on the breakfast menu, eggs are one of the most popular options for the first meal of the day. The versatility of eggs allows us to make all sorts of dishes with them, but Britons have found a unique ande ka funda. They pair their boiled eggs with a few ‘soldiers’, and do you know what it’s called? ‘Dippy Eggs with Soldiers’.

The name gives away most of the dish, but for those of you wondering, dippy eggs are nothing but soft boiled eggs that have a runny yolk. Interestingly, people in the UK quite like the taste of this soft yellow yolk of the egg, but would often think of ways to avoid spillage. While the fanfare for eggs has been known since times immemorial, it was during World War II that rationing made this food item inaccessible to all.

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It was in the 1960s that eggs returned to the tables, but not alone this time. They were accompanied by ‘soldiers’. For the unversed, ‘soldiers’ are toasted bread that are cut into thin strips and paired with these soft boiled eggs. There are a few plausible explanations for this term. Some suggest that since the bread sticks were uniform and straight, they looked like soldiers going to war. Lined up together on a plate in a row, they gave the image of an army soldier in a parade.

In the centre of the plate, the soft boiled eggs are placed in an egg cup. The top of the egg is cracked open and the shell is removed which reveals the runny yolk. Sticks of bread aka soldiers are dipped into the eggs and eaten away. Another belief points us to the direction of the nursery rhyme, Humpty Dumpty. It is said that the bread symbolises the soldiers that rescued Humpty Dumpty when they had a great fall.

This British combination is considered a classic children’s breakfast that has also turned into a comfort food for many adults over the years. While this may seem like an easy dish to make, acing soft boiled eggs is also an art. Keeping a timer handy is very important because a few extra seconds can make the eggs more firm than desired. It is also recommended that one should keep the water to simmer when throwing in the eggs and cool them down immediately so that they don’t cook up inside in their own heat.  

Once you’ve got your soft boiled eggs in place, toast a few slices of bread and flavour with herb-flavoured butter. Cut it into thin strips so that they look like soldiers and your dippy eggs with soldiers are ready to be devoured. This quick and easy breakfast is healthy, nutritious and all things tasty.