Tunisian Brik à l'Œuf (Crispy Tuna and Egg Pastry)

About This Recipe

Brik à l'œuf is the dish every Tunisian knows how to make and every visitor falls in love with — a triangular pastry of paper-thin malsouka (similar to filo or brick pastry) folded around a raw egg, flaked tuna, capers, harissa, lemon zest and chopped parsley, then deep-fried for ninety seconds until the pastry is shatteringly crisp and the egg yolk is just barely set inside. You eat it with your fingers, biting into the corner; the trick is to catch the molten yolk on the second bite before it runs down your wrist. Tunisians say a brik is judged by two things: whether the pastry shatters audibly when you bite, and whether the yolk stays liquid all the way to the table. Both demand exact timing — too long in the oil and you have a hard-boiled egg in a pastry case, too short and the pastry is greasy. It is essential street food in Tunis, served at every market stall and home iftar during Ramadan, and the dish that almost every Tunisian living abroad makes when they're homesick. The closest cousins are Algerian bourek and Moroccan briouats, but neither matches the brik for the singular drama of breaking open hot pastry to a runny yolk. This recipe uses easily-available filo or brick pastry sheets; if you have access to malsouka in a North African grocery, all the better.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 4 sheetsmalsouka pastry (or 4 sheets of brick pastry, or 8 filo sheets stacked in pairs)
• 4 largevery fresh eggs, kept whole until ready to use
• 1 tin (160g)good-quality oil-packed tuna, drained well and flaked
• 2 tbspcapers, rinsed and roughly chopped
• 1 smallboiled potato, mashed with a fork (about 100 g — adds body)
• 1 small handfulflat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 1 tspharissa paste (more if you like heat)
• 1 tsplemon zest, plus salt and pepper
• 750 mlneutral oil for frying (sunflower or peanut)
• to serve:lemon wedges, extra harissa, salt

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the filling

   In a bowl, mix the drained flaked tuna, mashed potato, chopped capers, parsley, harissa, lemon zest, a pinch of salt and a grind of pepper. Mash gently with a fork to combine but keep some texture. Divide into 4 equal portions and shape each into a small disc that will sit inside one triangle of pastry.

2. 2

   Prepare the workstation

   Set up an assembly line: pastry sheets covered with a damp tea towel, bowl of filling, eggs in a small bowl each (crack one at a time as you fold — you do not want to crack four eggs and then start folding), small bowl of water for sealing edges, frying pan or wok with 3 cm of oil heating to 180°C (350°F).

3. 3

   Fold the first brik

   Lay one pastry sheet flat on the workstation. Place a portion of the filling in the center of the lower half, leaving a 3 cm border. Press a hollow into the middle of the filling with the back of a spoon — this is where the yolk will sit.

   If using filo, stack two sheets together brushed lightly with oil to mimic the thicker malsouka. Single filo sheets tear at the egg.

4. 4

   Add the egg

   Working fast, crack one egg into the hollow in the filling. The white may spill a little — that's fine, it helps seal. Immediately fold the top half of the pastry down over the filling to form a rectangle. Tuck and fold the left and right sides in to form a triangle or neat envelope, pressing the edges firmly to seal.

5. 5

   Fry immediately

   Lift the brik on a spatula and slide gently into the hot oil. Fry 60–90 seconds per side, spooning hot oil over the top to puff the pastry. The pastry should be deep gold and bubbled, the egg white set but the yolk still runny inside. Lift out with a slotted spatula and drain on paper towels for 10 seconds.

6. 6

   Repeat for the rest

   Work one brik at a time — start to finish per brik takes about 3 minutes including frying. Don't crack the next egg until the previous brik is in the oil; raw eggs left sitting in folded pastry sheets will leak and turn the pastry soggy.

7. 7

   Serve immediately

   Move briks to a serving plate while still molten. Serve with lemon wedges and a small bowl of harissa for those who want extra heat. Eat with your hands — bite into one corner, catch the running yolk with the bread-like crispy edge, and proceed. Briks wait for no one.

Variations

• •

  Brik à la viande — replace tuna with seasoned ground lamb or beef cooked with onion and cumin.

• •

  Brik fruits de mer — use a mix of cooked prawns and crab in place of tuna for a luxurious version.

• •

  Vegetarian brik — replace tuna with mashed spiced chickpeas or crumbled feta.

• •

  Baked brik — for a lighter version, brush both sides with oil and bake at 220°C for 8 minutes. Texture is less spectacular but still good.

Storage

Briks must be eaten within minutes of frying — they are not a make-ahead food. You can prepare the filling up to 24 hours in advance and refrigerate; fold and fry only when ready to eat. Leftover fried briks reheat poorly; if you must, 180°C oven for 5 minutes restores some crispness but the yolk is long gone.

Frequently Asked Questions