Telur Tempra is a simple Nyonya dish of sunny side up fried eggs topped with a sweet, sour and hot sauce. It’s deliciously rustic and just perfect as a quick lunch with rice or as a side dish in a more elaborate meal.
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
What does Telur Tempra mean?
Let’s break the name down, shall we?
- telur = egg in Malay
- tempra = colloquial word originating from the Portuguese word “temperado”, which means to season. Not unlike the English word, to temper, like when cooking south Asian dishes.
- Telur Tempra = seasoned eggs (referring to the highly flavoured sauce that’s poured over)
What’s with the Portuguese word, you ask? Let’s briefly talk about the Nyonyas to answer that question.
Who are the Nyonyas and Babas?
I break down all the ethnic groups in Singapore and Malaysia on the recipe collection page here. So besides the indigenous Malays, the “official” local population also includes the Chinese, the south Asians (Indian, Pakistanis, Sri Lankans), the Eurasians, the Arabs and the Nyonyas (also called Peranakans).
I lightly describe it as official, because I’m not talking about expats who’ve become Singaporeans over the years, nor of foreign labour. Hit the link above to read more.
Let’s talk about the Nyonyas. That’s the term to describe the women. The men are called Babas. This group of Singaporeans and Malaysians has its origin in Penang and Malacca. They are ethnically Chinese, but as a result of living in close quarters with the Malays in kampungs (villages), as well as intermarriages, they took on the language and the style of dressing, giving rise to a unique ethnic group.
Nyonya food is therefore, an incredible combination of Chinese and Malay flavours, with the odd foreign influence like in today’s telur tempra.
Telur Tempra Recipe
So today’s telur tempra comes from the Nyonyas in Malacca. I have a post on this very colourful state in Malaysia over on LinsFood, click here if you are interested in reading more.
Malacca has a very rich Portuguese influence, having been ruled by them between 1511 and 1641, before the Dutch and the Brits. You see it in the buildings, in the food and most certainly in the language spoken, especially by the local Eurasians.
So, that explains the origin of the word tempra in today’s Telur Tempra, doesn’t it? Sunny side up eggs seasoned with a mix of soy sauces and local aromatics.
It’s a very easy recipe to make. This is what we’ll be doing:
- Prep work (5 minutes).
- Make the sauce.
- Fry the eggs.
- Top the eggs with the sauce and serve.
That’s it, super easy.
Handy Tips
- You can make the sauce 2-3 hours ahead, then gently heat up before serving. But the eggs want to be freshly cooked.
- Keep your eggs runny, or cook them fully, that’s up to you, but you do want crispy edges, so have the flame on medium or medium-high.
- Any eggs will work.
- Use less chillies and a milder variety for a milder sauce in our telur tempra.
Know your Soy Sauces
To successfully cook South East Asian dishes, you need to have the three different soy sauces that we use regularly, in your pantry. Let’s take a look at what they are.
Light Soy Sauce
Many recipes only say soy sauce in their list of ingredients (not mine though!). When it doesn’t specify, then your best bet is to use light soy sauce, what I call the generic soy sauce. It is the most common one used in East Asian cooking.
It’s thinner and lighter in colour and is obtained from the first pressing of the soybeans, and its overriding flavour is that of saltiness.
This light soy sauce is used in place of or in conjunction with salt. It is also added to dipping sauces, whatever their East or South East Asian origin.
Dark Soy Sauce
As its name suggests, it’s a darker shade. Brewed for longer, with a tiny amount of added molasses (or other sweetener), and is salty with just a tiny hint of sweet.
Dark soy sauce is often used to add depth in cooking, whether when making fried rice or noodles. It is also used as a dipping sauce or condiment with added chillies, onions and just a touch of lime juice.
Sweet Soy Sauce
In the West, everyone associates this with Indonesian cooking, and it is often sold as Ketjap Manis (as spelt in Indonesian). We call it Kicap Manis in Singapore and Malaysia, which is its Malay name.
- Kicap = soy sauce, also used as kicap tomato to refer to tomato ketchup, note the Indonesian spelling above
- Manis = sweet
Sweet soy sauce is also extracted after a long brewing time with lots of palm sugar or molasses added to it. It’s primarily used as a cooking ingredient, not just in stirfries but also to deepen stews and curries. Telur tempra is often made with a little sugar. I skip the sugar and use kicap manis instead.
How to Serve Telur Tempra?
If you’re going for a quick and easy meal, this is perfect with some rice and a small side salad, or even just some slice cucumbers and tomatoes. Probably my favourite way.
You can also serve telur tempra as part of a meal, as another side dish. It will go with any East or South East Asian meal, whether that’s one of our local ones (Malay, Chinese, Eurasian) or in a Japanese, Korean, Thai or Vietnamese meal. The flavours work well with all these cuisines.
And now, shall we get cooking?
If you like the recipe and article, don’t forget to leave me a comment and you feel like a star, that 5-star rating would be appreciated! Thank you!
And if you make the recipe, share it on any platform and tag me @azlinbloor, and hashtag it #linsfood
Lin xx
Recipes that will complement Telur Tempra
Telur Tempra (Fried Eggs in Hot, Sweet and Sour Sauce)
Equipment
- knife
- chopping board
- 1 large frying pan for the eggs – non stick allows you to use less oil
- 1 small – medium frying pan or saucepan for the sauce – non stick allows you to use less oil
- spatula and ladle as needed
Ingredients
The Sauce
- 1 large, brown onion
- 1 medium clove garlic
- 2 red chillies or 1, for less spice
- 2 green chillies or 1, for less spice
- 1 Tbsp vegetable or peanut oil
- 2 Tbsp sweet soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp dark soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp light soy sauce
- ¼ tsp ground white pepper black will do too
- 125 ml water
- 1 Tbsp fresh lime juice about ½ a lime or 2-3 calamansi limes
Everything Else
- 4 large eggs duck eggs will work too
- 2 spring onions (scallions)
- 2 sprigs fresh coriander leaves (cilantro)
Instructions
Prep Work
- Halve, then thinly slice the onion.
- Slice the garlic widthwise.
- Thinly slice the chillies.
- Slice the spring onions thinly and chop the coriander leaves and set aside as garnish.
Let's cook the Sauce
- Heat the oil in your chose pan on medium heat and fry the onions for a minute.
- Add the garlic and chillies and fry for 30 seconds.
- Add all the soy sauces, the water and the white pepper and bring to a simmer. Lower the heat right down and cook for 2 minutes.
- Turn the heat off and stir in the lime juice. Check seasoning and add more soy sauce or salt if you need to. Or more water if you'd like more sauce or find the sauce too strong.
Fry the Eggs
- Heat 1-2 Tbsp of oil in a large frying pan on medium heat. I use a non stick pan so only use 1 Tbsp of oil.Cooking the eggs together will probably result in the egg white mixing with each other. Just break them up with the edge of your spatula BEFORE they crisp up.Or you could fry them individually if you like, which will take longer, naturally.
- Stop cooking when the eggs are done to your liking. I go for set whites but very runny yolks.
- Tip the eggs out onto your serving plate and pour the hot sauce all over, covering the eggs completely.If your sauce has cooled down, just simmer it while you are cooking the eggs.
Thank you, have made it a few time now. Time saver!
Awesome, thanks for letting me know, Jim!
Your Telur Tempra is so easy to prepare and tasted very delicious with rice or with sandwich bread. Thank you.
.
A pleasure, Roland. I’m pleased you enjoyed it.
This made a very staisfying and easy lunch yesterday.
Awesome!
Oh I had to rush here to get the recipe, as soon as I saw your FB post! Fried egg with crispy edges, runny yolk and topped with this gorgeous sauce – I can’t stop salivating! This has to be cooked tomorrow!
Thank you, it’s a very handy recipe for sure!