Brik
Brik is Tunisia's signature street food and celebratory snack — a thin, crisp pastry shell encasing a whole egg, typically filled with tuna, capers, and parsley. The pastry itself, called malsouqa, is made by pressing wet dough onto a hot metal plate, producing a nearly translucent sheet. The technique is shared across North Africa and the Maghreb, where brik appears in variations from Morocco to Libya. The cooking window is narrow. Brik is fried to order, filled and folded just before it enters the oil. The goal is a shattering crisp shell with a fully liquid egg yolk inside — overcooked by thirty seconds and the yolk sets. The correct way to eat it is to bite from the sealed edge first, directing the running yolk inward rather than outward.
Rich in protein
Filling and nutritious
Rich in omega-3
Light and healthy
Traditional recipe
Authentic taste
Ingredients 4 servings
- 4 sheets of brik pastry (or malsouka/ouarka), about 30 cm in diameter (or spring roll wrappers as substitute)
- 4 large eggs (1 per brik)
- 160 g canned tuna in olive oil, well drained
- 1 small onion (about 80 g), finely diced
- 3 tbsp small capers, rinsed and roughly chopped
- 20 g flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper or harissa paste
- 500 ml vegetable oil for deep-frying
- 1 lemon, cut into 4 wedges, to serve
How to make it
- 1Combine the drained tuna, onion, capers, parsley, cumin, salt, and cayenne in a bowl and mix well to make the filling.
- 2Pour the vegetable oil into a deep, wide pan to a depth of 3-4 cm and heat to 175°C.
- 3Lay a brik pastry sheet flat on a clean surface and spoon a quarter of the tuna filling onto the lower half, creating a slight hollow in the centre.
- 4Crack 1 egg into the hollow.
- 5Working quickly, fold the pastry in half to form a half-moon, pressing the edges firmly together to seal and prevent the egg from escaping.
- 6Carefully slide the brik into the hot oil and fry for 1.5-2 minutes per side until deep golden and crisp all over, flipping once with a wide spatula.
- 7Lift out with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels for 30 seconds.
- 8Serve immediately — the yolk should be runny to lightly set and the pastry crackling crisp.
- 9Squeeze a lemon wedge over the top.
Nutritional info
per serving (~350 g)
Estimated nutritional values.
Pairs perfectly with
