Crack the eggs into a bowl.

(In our video, we compare two batches of eggs. One is unseasoned, and the other has our 5 key ingredients.)

Add the oil (1 tbsp), salt (0.50 tsp), sugar (0.50 tsp), chicken bouillon (0.50 tsp), and white pepper (0.25 tsp) (if you're using it).

Why these ingredients?

• Salt: In addition to tastier eggs, salt also makes them more juicy and fluffy, for the same reasons that you'd brine a chicken or salt a steak overnight. In all three cases, salt gets into the proteins early and reorganizes them so heat can't tighten them into a rubbery, dry mass. This process takes a lot longer with thick slabs of meat, but it's almost instantaneous with beaten eggs.
• Oil: Whisking oil into the egg batter coats the proteins before cooking begins, making it harder for them to grip each other too tightly when the heat hits. It's the same reason fat makes a pie crust crumbly rather than chewy, because fat physically interrupts protein bonding.
• White pepper is extremely common in Cantonese cuisine. While it doesn't change the texture like oil does, it's a like a silent assassin, a spice with a subtle but sharp heat and aroma. When it's placed side-by-side with meaty, gamey aromas, it competes for the taste buds' attention. The gamey aromas are still there, but they get drowned out.
• Chicken bouillon adds a layer of umami through its glutamates (the G in MSG), which activate dedicated receptors on your tongue that register savory depth. This makes the eggs, and really any dish, taste more full and complete.
• Sugar: Whereas salt changes the actual proteins, a pinch of sugar does something surprising. It physically gets between the proteins and stops them from gripping onto each other too tightly. Just like how sugar works in crème brûlée or custards, the result is a more fluffy, airy, open protein network.

Using a fork held at a flat angle, beat the eggs fast and forcefully in a wave-like motion to break up the egg whites and yolks. Continue until the mixture is bubbly, uniform, and no clumps of yolk cling to the fork. My dad spends at least 1-2 minutes on this step.

On the technique

Don't mix as if you were mixing a drink with a straw. The problem is that the eggs start to move with the fork rather than being disrupted by it.

Using a horizontal wave motion works against that momentum instead. The prongs drag across the full width of the bowl on every stroke, fully breaking up the yolk and incorporating finer air bubbles. Importantly, this allows the oil and seasoning to work their chemical magic on more strands of protein.

Heat the pan on high until very hot. For a carbon steel wok, the pan must be extremely hot before adding oil; a nonstick pan requires less preheating. Add 1 tablespoon of oil to the hot pan and swirl to coat the surface.

As you wait for it to heat up, here's what's about to happen in the next 60 seconds.

Cooking scrambled eggs happens in two phases: liquid, then solid.

For the liquid phase (30 to 40 seconds), you can think it as controlled flooding, where you're directing different portions of the liquid egg onto hot metal. The moment the egg touches a hot surface, millions of floating proteins start to cling to each other. The underside, the part touching the pan, starts to turn solid. Your job in this phase is to lift that cooked-layer to send in fresh liquid before the proteins tighten into a rubbery, dry mess. My dad likes to form a pile of semi-cooked eggs to make space for fresh liquid.

For the solid phase (20 to 30 seconds), the goal is to stop cooking soon after this transition. Think of it like a towel drenched in water, where the harder you squeeze and twist it, the more water comes out. From here, scan for any uncooked bits of egg, flipping them onto the hot surface while scooting cooked egg bits to edges of the pan.

Always stir the eggs right before cooking, since the mixture will have started to settle. Give the egg mixture a quick stir, then pour it into the pan and reduce the heat to medium-low.

Gently push the eggs around, directing different portions of the liquid egg onto the hot pan's surface. After a few seconds, those portions will set. Lift the cooked portions into a small pile, allowing more liquid to flow onto the surface of the pan.

After most of the eggs are solid, scan for any uncooked bits of egg, flipping them onto the hot surface while scooting cooked egg bits to edges of the pan. You can also physically lift the pan up away from the stove for better control of the heat.