Solar Chef: We tried cooking an egg using the power of the sun and a magnifying glass

Stay with us as our Japanese-language reporter brings the sun into his sunny-side up.

“It’s hot!” exclaimed Seiji Nakazawa as he stepped out into the scorching streets of Tokyo. Our Japanese-language reporter had been living in Japan all his life, but that didn’t mean he was accustomed to the humidity and soaring temperatures that this summer has brought.

But he couldn’t let the heat get to him; Seiji had an important mission: to cook an egg using only oil, a frying pan, and a magnifying glass. If the weather was good enough (or bad, depending on your perspective), he could potentially let the sun do all the work.

Unfortunately Seiji has been disappointed by his previous attempt at cooking a Japanese pancake on a car hood. He surmised that the sun, powerful as it might be, required a bit of assistance to reach cooking temperatures.

▼ And that’s where the magnifying glass comes in.

▼ It’s time to get to work.

And so under a cloudless sky in a small Tokyo park, our reporter eagerly knelt down and poured oil into his Teflon-coated pan. A flick of the wrist, and the egg went in too.

▼ As expected, the sun alone wasn’t enough.

Wielding his magnifying glass, he focused solar rays into a single point on the yolk.

▼ Just a bit of adjustment to figure out the best angle for cooking.

▼ Fry, spawn of chicken!

▼ He began to observe some changes on the yolk,
a clear sign that progress was being made.

▼ Seiji was half-expecting a creature to burst out of the alien-looking yolk.

Tasting success, he devoted himself to frying more spots. Cooking each 1 millimeter-wide (0.04 inch) section took about 10 seconds, so there was much frying to be done.

▼ If there was such a thing as a Sun Chef, Seiji would definitely fit the bill.

Cooking individual spots on the egg white portion somehow took more time than the yolk. Add to the fact that Seiji had to constantly look away to avoid burning his retina while maintaining focus, and the whole affair became a grueling test of endurance.

▼ “Perhaps I should have gotten a bigger magnifying glass. Or a smaller egg.”

▼ “Why do clouds have to appear now?” laments Seiji.

After two hours of crouching under the scorching sun and focusing all his efforts on the yolk, our reporter concluded that it was time to take a bite.

▼ It did look somewhat cooked, if a little deflated.

Warm yellow goodness burst forth into Seiji’s mouth, similar to a perfectly cooked half-boiled egg. Although the yolk’s exterior was cooked, the interior remained runny and somehow reminded him of salmon roe’s texture.

▼ “Delicious!” he exclaimed.

It definitely tasted different from regular soft-boiled eggs, and he swore that it had the “scent of the sun”, much like how laundry smells different if you air it outside after a wash.

▼ Sweet, sunny notes with a smooth solar aroma perhaps?

▼ Watch the whole video process here.

Standing up and stretching his stiff muscles, a dazed Seiji muttered, “What in the world was I doing?” We can’t blame him. It’s not uncommon for craftsmen to be engrossed in their work and enter a trance-like state, and it appears that our reporter had just emerged from one.

Now that he has added a magnifying glass to his arsenal of solar cooking tools, Seiji had officially become SoraNews24’s first official Solar Chef. It’s a tough road for one such as him, but we’re sure his ingenuity and indomitable spirit will keep him going for the years to come.

Images: ©SoraNews24

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