In this edition of Epicurious 101, professional chef and culinary instructor Frank Proto demonstrates how to make the best French omelet at home. From a perfectly whisked yolk to cooking it before it colors, follow Frank’s guide to get creamy, fluffy French omelets at home.
Start your free trial and access over 50,000 expertly-tested recipes from Epicurious, Bon Appétit and more on the Epicurious app. https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id312101965?pt=45076&ct=EpiVideoDescriptionYT&mt=8
Still haven’t subscribed to Epicurious on YouTube? ►► http://bit.ly/epiyoutubesub
ABOUT EPICURIOUS
Browse thousands of recipes and videos from Bon Appétit, Gourmet, and more. Find inventive cooking ideas, ingredients, and restaurant menus from the world’s largest food archive.
– French omelets are hard
to master, but not for you. I’m Frank, a professional
chef and culinary instructor, and today I’m gonna show
you how to make a true French omelet. No more lumpy consistency,
botched flips onto the plate or dry interiors. This is French omelet 101. French omelet is one of those things that if someone makes it for you, it’s a truly special thing. Unlike an American style
omelet, which is firm brown and filled, a French omelet
is a smooth un brown roll finished with herbs and butter. It’s one of the simplest dishes on paper, but the most telling in practice. But guess what? I believe in you. The French omelet is about
the texture of the omelet, which is soft and pale. Getting the right color and texture for your omelet starts right here when we mix the eggs together. We wanna blend them really
well so that the whites and the yolks are completely combined. Takes a few extra minutes, but that’s the way you’re
gonna get it right. First thing I wanna do is crack my eggs. I have a bowl for my shells. Whenever I crack eggs, I try and crack ’em on a flat surface, not on the edge. If you crack them on
the edge, you get little fragments of shell in there. Crack it on a flat surface, two thumbs in. Open that up, right? If you happen to get shell in there, believe it or not, shell attracts shell. Shell is the easiest
thing to get shell out. Oh, see, I got a big piece
of shell in there, right? Get that shell out with your shell. I’m gonna use a fork, not a whisk. Whisks add a lot of air into things and I don’t want this
to have a lot of air. I want it to be a fairly dense omelet, so I’m just gonna break my
yolks and I’m just gonna whisk and give it a good two or three
minutes with no visible yolk or visible white. If you see streaks, things
cook at different temperatures, you might not get an evenly cooked omelet. Chef is going to yell at you. I think I have no more
striations in there. I mix it up really well,
and we’re good to go. I think I can cook this omelet. Everything’s here and it’s
gonna move really quickly. Let’s talk about a few
things before we start. It’s really important that you have everything you need close by. I have salt, butter, eggs and my plate because this omelet comes
together super quick. Well, I’m doing a really
traditional French omelet, super simple, no fillings. We can fill them, but the
omelet is kind of a celebration of the egg itself. I’m using a 10 inch non-stick pan. We’re gonna add our butter to the pan, and once we start hearing the butter speak to us like a little crackling, that’s when we’re gonna add our eggs. Are you ready for the magic? Heat my pan, medium high heat. I’m gonna put two nice
dabs of butter in there because I want this to
have a nice buttery flavor. Just let my butter melt. That doesn’t mean I
want color on my butter. I don’t want any color on my butter. We’re just gonna wait
for our butter to start snap, crackle and pop a little bit. I like that sound. I’m gonna add my eggs into the pan. A nice pinch of salt
while they are liquid. I want my eggs to be slightly liquidy and creamy when I take it off the heat. The key here is movement. We want to move the eggs
around, get in there and really mix it up. Mix, mix, mix, mix until our eggs start to form a really nice base, right? And we’re just gonna flip it
over, getting your omelet down to the crook of the pan, and that’s gonna give you a
little bit of a football shape. Give it a tap. Try and get it to come out to the edge. It’s a tilt and pour out onto your plate and shape our omelet. So right there is where
I really want my shape in my omelet. That is a nice French omelet. What I like to do here is just
take a little pad of butter, brush it on top. Get a little bit of chives on top. Just add a little oniony garnish. And that’s how it’s done. Like I said, it comes together real quick. Timing, control, and a
little bit of finesse makes a nice French omelet. When you look at the
omelet, it’s nice and shiny. I rub a little butter on top. The eggs are super pale. It’s got that nice kind
of football-like shape. Making a french omelet is super fast, but look at the end result. You have a beautiful,
creamy, bright yellow omelet that is almost like kind
of art gallery type. Alright, so it’s time to taste. Let’s cut into it and see how we did. You generally learn
this in culinary school and some chefs will actually
test their cooks on a French omelet because it is deceptively simple. You can see the interior
is moist and custardy. I’m gonna give it a taste. It’s buttery, it’s light, it’s creamy. A good French omelet is all about texture. The texture here is on
the money, soft and silky. It’s not firm, it’s not overcooked, my eggs are creamy, and that’s how I know that this is a delicious French omelet. French omelets are all about temperature, timing, and technique. Keep practicing, don’t
stress about perfection. Every time you make an omelet,
you will learn something new.
22 Comments
I broke both of my wrists and ended up with stir fry…
I’ve had these in France many times but they have always made them with fines herbes and salt and pepper. Is this a modification, or the true original recipe?
"The easiest way to get a shell out is with a shell" WHAT?!?! I thought that was equal to putting out a fire with more fire but it works. Frank is the best.
I always thought French Omelette's must use clarified butter. Not butter.
Going to make this tomorrow morning for my dad. He's got some health issues, so butter will be slightly reduced, but he's going to love it. Thanks, Frank. Any vid with you is an automatic like.
Tired of chefs using non-stick pans for eggs. Come on, help us regular folks
Chapter 2 is school … would love to see this section unedited
Jeebus! Thas a lot of butter. (Brought to you by the Dairy Council)
Nice, this is how I like them, same as J.Pépin. This is one dish in which I do not care for Julia Child’s technique. She doesn’t stir and I don’t care for brown eggs.
Just had a video recommended some kind of egg tornado omelette. So I either want to see Frank try that, or an Omurice :p
Would be nice to see a professional try that without practice and get behind his tought process, as Frank probably has some ways to go for it with all his expierence
I never scramble in the pan…let them set on lower heat and fold. But will give this a try.
One of the most difficult dishes to make because the process is lightning quick
It looks delicious on video, but when I use that much butter – it’s wayyy too much.
Frank’s the best.
Super entertaining.
I love the way Frank teaches!
"it's buttery……" uh, ya, 12 tablespoons of butter for 3 eggs will kinda do that. thanks, france!
オムライス？
What size pan did you use
Yay Frank 🎉
So french omelette is a plain omelette without anything?! 😢
Pet peeve but can you guys stop adding "Restaurant-Quality" to every title? I know it's for SEO but it's just tacky. The title already says "best omelet" so we get the gist. I don't know why it annoys me so much.