The Best Custardy Scrambled Eggs

 

3 eggs, cold from the refrigerator

½ tsp. Diamond Crystal kosher salt

1 heaping T. cold crème fraîche

1 T. salted butter

Flaky salt

Freshly cracked black pepper

 

Crack the eggs into a small bowl. Add the kosher salt. Use a fork to break the yolks, then forcefully whisk the eggs together for 30 seconds, or until totally homogeneous. Add the creme fraiche to the eggs in 5 or so little pieces (so it’s not all in one clump), but don’t bother to try to whisk it in. Refrigerate the bowl for 10 minutes. After you’ve chilled the eggs, set a small to medium nonstick or well-seasoned carbon steel skillet over high heat. Set a timer for 1 minute. Drop in the butter. After the minute is up, the butter should be foaming. Turn the heat to low and add the cold eggs. Do not touch them for 90 seconds! Seriously, I’ll know. After 90 seconds, they should have begun to set up around the sides, like the very early stages of a French omelet. Rotate the pan 180 degrees, so its handle is facing the opposite way it was facing before. Use a silicone spatula to draw in the egg from the edges, almost to the middle, but off to one side by a few degrees, like the spatula is a pilot taking a plane just off course. As you scrape toward the middle, be sure to scrape under the set eggs you’ve just drawn inward before moving on to the next stroke. Don’t touch for another 90 seconds! I’ll definitely know. Then repeat the spatula motion. Turn the heat up to medium and finish cooking any runny egg around the edges that has stubbornly refused to start firming up, 20 to 40 seconds. Pull the eggs from the heat while still glossy. Slide the eggs onto a plate and serve topped with flaky salt and black pepper.