Huevos Pericos: Colombian Eggs with Tomato and Onion

Name: Huevos Pericos (Colombian Scrambled Eggs with Tomato and Onion)
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 8 min
Total time: 13 min
Ingredients: 6 eggs; 1 onion (finely chopped); 2 ripe tomatoes (chopped or grated); 3 slices ham (optional, diced); Salt and pepper, to taste; 1 tsp oil

Onion and tomato cooked down first, then the beaten eggs stirred into them. This is how eggs are eaten at breakfast in Colombia rather than plain, and the order matters more than anything else. Thirteen minutes, three servings.

Total: 13

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Onion and tomato cooked down first, then the beaten eggs stirred into them. That order is the entire difference between huevos pericos and scrambled eggs with vegetables in them, and it is how Colombia eats eggs at breakfast.

Huevos pericos, Colombian scrambled eggs with tomato and onion

The order is the recipe

Onion and tomato go into the pan first, in a teaspoon of oil over medium heat, and cook for about five minutes. You are waiting for the tomato to break down and lose its shape and the onion to go soft. That is the signal, not the clock.

Only then do the beaten eggs go in. Everything gets stirred together and cooks until it sets.

This is the entire difference between huevos pericos and scrambled eggs with some vegetables thrown in. Put the eggs in with the raw tomato and the eggs are done before the tomato is, so the tomato releases its water into eggs that have already set, and you get something loose and pale instead.

Why pericos

Perico is a parakeet in Spanish, and the name is usually explained by the colours: red tomato and green scallion against yellow egg, which is roughly a parakeet's plumage.

This version uses onion and tomato. Many Colombian kitchens use cebolla larga, the long green scallion, which is where the green in the name comes from.

Stopping while they still look wrong

The single most common way to ruin these is to cook them until they look finished. Eggs carry heat, and a pan of pericos that looks right on the burner keeps cooking on the way to the table.

Pull them off while they still look a little underdone and stir once more off the heat. They will set in the seconds it takes to serve them.

Breakfast around them

In Colombia this is what breakfast looks like: pericos, an arepa or bread, and a cup of hot chocolate. Not coffee. Chocolate, often with a piece of fresh cheese dropped in it to melt.

Three servings out of six eggs, which is the portion this recipe is built for.

More Colombian breakfast

Traditional arepas — what you eat them with.
Colombian hot chocolate — the drink that goes alongside.
Plain scrambled eggs — the version without tomato and onion.
Egg stuffed arepa — arepa de huevo, the coastal breakfast.
Fried eggs — the other Colombian breakfast egg.

Huevos Pericos FAQ

What are huevos pericos?

Colombian scrambled eggs cooked into onion and tomato. The vegetables go into the pan first and cook down, and the beaten eggs are stirred into them at the end. It is the standard breakfast egg dish in Colombia, eaten with an arepa or bread and hot chocolate.

Why are they called pericos?

Perico is the Spanish word for a parakeet. The name is generally taken to come from the colours in the pan: the red of the tomato and the green of the scallion against the yellow of the egg.

Does the order really matter?

It is the whole recipe. Onion and tomato need about five minutes to soften and for the tomato to lose its shape. Put them in at the same time as the eggs and the eggs set long before the vegetables are cooked, so you end up with watery scrambled eggs with raw tomato in them.

Chopped or grated tomato?

Either. The recipe allows both. Grated melts into the onion faster and leaves the skin behind in your hand, which some people prefer. Chopped keeps more texture.

Is the ham required?

No. The list marks the three slices as optional and plenty of Colombian households make pericos without it. If you are using it, dice it and add it once the onion and tomato have softened.

How do I stop them going dry?

Take the pan off the heat while the eggs still look slightly underdone. There is enough heat left in the pan and in the eggs themselves to finish them, and pericos left on the burner until they look right in the pan are already overdone by the time they reach the plate.

What do Colombians eat them with?

An arepa or bread, and hot chocolate. That combination is the standard Colombian breakfast, and the eggs are built to be scooped up with the arepa.

📖 Recipe

Huevos Pericos (Colombian Scrambled Eggs with Tomato and Onion)

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Prep Time: 5

Cook Time: 8

Total Time: 13

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: Colombian

Keyword: parakeet eggs, scrambled eggs

Servings: 3

Calories: 235kcal

Author: Angela Giraldo

Ingredients

Notas

The whole difference between huevos pericos and plain scrambled eggs is the order. The onion and tomato go in first and cook down until the tomato has lost its shape, and only then do the eggs go in. Put them in together and you get watery eggs with raw tomato in them. Take the pan off the heat a little before the eggs look done: there is enough heat left in the pan and the eggs to finish them, and pericos left too long go dry. The tomato can be chopped or grated. Grated melts into the onion faster and leaves no skin behind.

Instructions

Heat the oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the finely chopped onion and the tomato, chopped or grated, and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring now and then, until the tomato has broken down and the onion is soft.
If you are using ham, dice it and add it now.
Meanwhile, beat the eggs in a bowl with salt and pepper.
Pour the eggs into the pan, stir everything together and cook over medium heat until they set to the consistency you like. Take them off the heat while they still look slightly underdone, because they carry on cooking in the pan.
Serve straight away.
Eat them with an arepa or bread and hot chocolate, which is what goes with them at a Colombian breakfast.

Nutrition