I remember watching in some old movies (I think the movie was Vertigo, or Anatomy of a murder, or any other old movies I forgot)
There was this stall / street food where they’re selling boiled eggs (if I am not mistaken)
And the main character bought one and then break open the egg, sprinkle some salt, and then eat it right away like some snacks
Do you guys know what’s is this food called? I’m interested to look for more info regarding this food
Is this street food used to be really popular in the US? Because I’ve seen at least 2 movies with this food
15 comments
I know people eat boiled eggs (usually with salt) but I’ve never heard of it as street food or any particular name for it. It’s more something you can pre-prep easily like a cheap version of grabbing a granola bar on your way out the door.
Sounds like just a hard boiled egg. I’ve never seen it sold as a street food though.
I’ve never seen boiled eggs sold on the street.
This isn’t like, a thing, at all. I’m both laughing and gagging at the idea of a guy eating boiled eggs on the street lol
It almost sounds like pickled eggs in the sense that I could see someone getting pickled eggs from a street vendor maybe. Like…if you’re the type to eat pickled eggs, why not from a street vendor? Unfortunately they don’t have a shell and you probably wouldn’t need to add salt so I do not think I have solved The Mystery of the Street Eggs.
You sure it was eggs?? Because I’ve lived all over the US and never heard of eggs as street food.
I saw a documentary about yaka mein being sold in New Orleans as street food. That appears to hard boiled egg slice in it.
It’s called a hardboiled egg. With salt. It’s usually made at home. But it’s also sold in grocery stores, and convenience stores, generally in a pack of 1 or 2, in the section that contains wrapped sandwiches and other ready-to-eat cold foods. It also tends to show up in hotel breakfasts and other types of catered breakfast, alongside the fruit, pastries, toast, cereal etc.
It could also be sold by the snack guy, who has a truck or a cart and sells chips, soda, hostess snacks, candy bars, and that kind of thing.(specifically it would be the snack guy; someone selling hot dogs or tacos or a specific food wouldn’t also have HB eggs, just the general snack/sandwich guy.)
It’s also a popular snack for day trips and hikes and lunches, cause you can boil eggs in advance, keep them in the fridge in the shells, and stick them in your backpack or lunch bag with a packet of salt and you’ve got a nutritious, protein-packed, relatively tasty snack that will stay good all day.
Edit: It may have been more common to buy hardboiled eggs from a street vendor in the past, when single folks (especially men)were more likely to live in boarding houses and not really have access to their own cooking facilities. Nowadays more people have their own kitchens, so mostly people make hard-boiled eggs at home
Another edit: this would have been in the late 1800s and early 1900s. It’s true that most Americans in reddit have never seen a street vendor selling HB eggs. We still eat them though!
There’s also egg salad sandwiches, still popular, basically hardboiled eggs with mayonnaise, mustard, salt and pepper, mashed together, between 2 slices of bread, may or may not have lettuce.
(Last edit: if you want to eat this food, simply take an egg that isn’t too fresh(not going bad, just not freshly laid, maybe a few days to a week old) and put it in boiling water and boil for 8 minutes or 9 if it’s a very cold or very large egg, or if you’re doing a few of them. Put it in ice water or cold running water as soon as your 8 minutes are up. When it’s cool enough to handle(or any time after that), peel it. Easier to peel if it’s in a bowl of water or under running water. Then rinse or dip to get the last bits of shell off, sprinkle with salt(and black pepper if you like), and enjoy. If you’re at a high altitude you may need to boil for longer.)
Hard boiled eggs used to be bar food (like bowls of peanuts), but never street food.
You’re thinking of the movie Cool Hand Luke, I think.
But hardboiled eggs are not a street food. Pickled eggs are an older bar food. They’re probably around in some places these days, but not commonly.
hard boiled eggs, they aren’t a street food now and hasn’t been for probably 100 years or better.
It’s called a boiled egg with salt. Some convenience stores still sell boiled eggs singly in a plastic wrapper. Dive bars often have pickled eggs (I’ve never had one as they sound gross but originated as a way to preserve them as chickens lay heavily inspiring and summer then taper off a good bit. Slaking is another egg preserving method you can Google and is ingenious and pretty amazing.
Its just called a hard boiled egg.
Never seen it sold from a street cart, but have seen it sold in many small deli’s. A popular hard boiled egg sold is a pickled egg. Its just hard boiled egg soaked in pickled beet juice.
> Do you guys know what’s is this food called?
It’s just a hard boiled egg. That is how we eat a hard boiled egg here. Unshell it (all at once or a little at a time) and salt and eat each bite.
I wonder if OP saw an old movie and got an ‘automat’ confused with a street vendor.
A street vendor is on a sidewalk with a food cart.
An [automat](https://www.eater.com/2015/9/16/9334659/automat-eatsa-history-future) existed mid 20th century in larger cities. It was basically a lot of vending machines, with tables and chairs in the place.