Spain and Thailand each have an everyday omelette. In Spain it is the tortilla de patatas. In Thailand it is khai jiao. Both use eggs and a generous amount of oil, but they are cooked in very different ways.
Tortilla de patatas: slow and thick
A Spanish tortilla is eggs, potatoes, olive oil and salt, with onion if the cook believes in it. That argument has its own post: tortilla with or without onion.
The potatoes are sliced thin and cooked gently in plenty of olive oil until soft, not browned. They are drained, mixed into beaten egg, and returned to the pan. Halfway through, the cook covers the pan with a plate, turns it over, and slides the tortilla back in to finish the other side.
The result is thick, cut into wedges, and usually eaten warm or at room temperature. In a bar it comes as a pincho de tortilla on a small plate, or inside a bread roll as a bocadillo.
Khai jiao: fast and crisp
Khai jiao goes the other way. Eggs are beaten, often seasoned with fish sauce, and poured into a wok of very hot oil. The egg puffs up straight away and the edges turn brown and lacy. It takes a minute or two.
It is eaten hot, usually on a plate of jasmine rice, often with a chilli sauce on the side. A common version is khai jiao moo sap, with minced pork beaten into the egg.
There is also khai yat sai, a stuffed omelette. A thin sheet of egg is wrapped around a filling of stir-fried minced pork and vegetables and folded into a neat parcel.
Same oil, opposite jobs
The oil is the clearest difference. In a tortilla, the olive oil cooks the potatoes gently, and most of it is drained off before the egg goes in. In khai jiao, the oil has to be hot enough to fry the egg on contact, which is what makes it puff.
- Heat: low and slow for the tortilla's potatoes; high heat for khai jiao.
- Role: a tortilla is a dish on its own; khai jiao is usually served over rice.
- Temperature: tortilla is fine at room temperature; khai jiao is best straight from the wok.
Spain does have a plain thin omelette too. It is called a tortilla francesa, a French omelette.
Where to order a tortilla
These restaurants mention tortilla in their own directory records:
- Mesón Sabika, Naperville: names the classic Tortilla Española alongside its paella.
- Barceloneta, Warsaw: lists tortilla de patatas with patatas bravas and gambas al ajillo.
- José by Pizarro, Abu Dhabi: potato tortilla among its tapas, alongside spicy chicken croquetas and prawn fritters.
- Tomatito, Shanghai: tortillas among its Spanish classics, with croquetas, patatas bravas and albóndigas.
