Home-style recipes from around the world, written for real kitchens

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Tunisian brik: break the thin triangular pastry and a soft yolk runs out, with tuna and potato visible
Prep25 min
Cook20 min
Serves4 servings
CuisineTunisian
Africa

How to Make Brik: Tunisian Fried Pastry with an Egg Inside

Brik is a Tunisian dish of tuna, potato, capers, and an egg wrapped in thin malsouka pastry and fried. How to leave a soft yolk, substituting spring roll wrappers, the heat of harissa, storage, and safe eating, shaped so you do not get lost in a home kitchen. With the local table, regional differences, and what to buy.

Total: 45 minLevel: Intermediate

Cooking flow

Cooking steps

STEP 11 / 6

Boil the potatoes

12 min

Step 1 of brik: boiling 2 cm potato dice in a pot and checking doneness with a fork tip
The guide is a fork that goes through to the center and a surface that turns floury after draining

Peel the potatoes and cut them into 2 cm dice. Put them in a small pot with water to cover and a pinch of salt, and bring to a boil over medium heat. Once boiling, lower to medium-low and boil for 8–10 minutes. When a fork goes through to the center without resistance, drain and leave for 2 minutes. If moisture remains, the filling turns loose inside the pastry, so return the pot to low heat for just 20 seconds to drive off the water.

Mash coarsely with a fork while hot. A small mound should remain when you turn the fork, and it should break up easily when pressed with a finger. Do not mash it completely; leaving lumps of about 5 mm keeps the texture of the filling when the egg is broken.

STEP 22 / 6

Mix the filling and cool it

8 min

Step 2 of brik: mixing potato, tuna, capers, parsley, and harissa in a bowl
Bring the filling together as one mass while keeping lumps of potato

In a bowl, put the coarsely mashed potatoes, drained tuna, capers rinsed and drained, finely chopped parsley, ground coriander, salt, and black pepper. Add 20 g harissa too, and mix without mashing the potatoes too much.

Divide the filling into 4 and cool it to a temperature you can touch. The mixing is done when the filling holds in one mass and no liquid remains at the bottom of the bowl. If hot filling is put on the pastry, the pastry suddenly turns damp and tears easily. If you see liquid at the bottom of the bowl, do not add more tuna; press the surface of the filling lightly with paper towels.

STEP 33 / 6

Put the filling on the pastry

5 min

Step 3 of brik: placing a low mound of tuna and potato filling on one side of thin pastry and making a hollow in the center
Leaving at least 2 cm of pastry edge makes it easier to close once the egg is wrapped

Thaw frozen pastry as the package says. Do not take out all the sheets at once; when you put one on the counter, return the rest to the bag or cover them with a cloth that will not dry them. For round malsouka, put one quarter of the filling on the near third and make a slight hollow in the center. For a spring roll wrapper, shape the filling into a triangle about 2 cm in from one side of the square.

If the mound of filling is too high, the egg will run to the edge when you place it. A low mound about 2 cm thick, rather than thinly spread, is less likely to tear after folding.

STEP 44 / 6

Break in the egg and fold into a triangle

4 min

Step 4 of brik: cracking the egg into the hollow of the filling and folding the thin pastry into a triangle
Place the yolk in the center and fold before the egg white runs too far toward the edge

Crack the egg once into a separate small dish, check that no shell has got in, and then slide it into the hollow of the filling. With malsouka, fold the open side over the egg so it forms a triangle. Fold a spring roll wrapper the same way and press the edge closed with a dry finger.

When egg white touches the edge, it acts like glue that joins the pastry layers. There is no need to brush water on the fold. Only if the pastry is dry, trace a little egg white along the inside of the edge and press. Shaping is done when the edges of the triangle overlap flat, the egg white stays clear and does not run, and the fold does not spring back when pressed with a finger. Because you fry as soon as it is wrapped, do not fold all 4 first and stack them.

STEP 55 / 6

Fry one at a time in 170 to 175 degrees C oil

5 min

Step 5 of brik: sliding a single triangle of pastry into 170 to 175 degrees C oil and frying the edge
Frying one at a time keeps the oil temperature from dropping, and if the egg runs it does not spread to the next piece

Pour oil into a deep pot about 20 cm across and heat it to 170 to 175 degrees C. If you have no thermometer, a scrap of pastry that immediately forms fine bubbles is the guide. Slide the brik into the oil from the edge, one at a time.

Fry the first side for 60 to 90 seconds, and when the edge is a pale golden, turn it with a wide spatula. The other side takes about 45 to 60 seconds. When the bubbles on the pastry go from large and rough to fine and the color reaches the corners of the triangle, lift it onto a rack. To keep a soft yolk, do not fry past a total of 2 to 3 minutes; put color before time.

To set the white and yolk, lower the heat a little and fry about 4 minutes in total. It varies with thickness and oil temperature, so break open a corner of the first piece and check that the white is not clear.

STEP 66 / 6

Drain and serve with lemon

2 min

Step 6 of brik: draining fried triangles on a rack and adding lemon and harissa
Leaving them for 1 minute without stacking helps keep the crispness of the pastry

Move the brik from the 170 to 175 degrees C oil to a rack and drain for just 1 minute, while the heat of frying remains, until most of the surface oil has fallen off and the bubbles on the pastry have disappeared. If you place them on paper, lay them out without stacking. Freshly fried, the pastry has not fully set, so move it to a plate right away and serve with lemon.

Breaking the corner with chopsticks lets you check the layers of the pastry and the state of the yolk. If the yolk runs, tilt the plate, squeeze on a little lemon, and coat the tuna and potato with the yolk. If you fried it firm, hold the triangle in your hand and eat it while listening for the sound of the pastry.

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Ingredients

Ingredients

1 / 1

Ingredients

Ingredient Amount Role and substitutes
Malsouka or frozen spring roll wrappers 4 sheets (about 20 cm across) If you have no malsouka, spring roll wrappers. Phyllo as two sheets together
Canned tuna (in oil) 140 g net Drain the oil well. If packed in water, pat dry thoroughly
Potato 200 g Peel and cut into 2 cm dice. Boil and mash coarsely
Egg 4 1 per sheet. To avoid a soft yolk, cook through to the center
Capers 20 g Rinse quickly and drain. The axis of acidity and saltiness
Flat-leaf parsley 30 g Finely chopped. Regular parsley also works
Harissa 20 g About 5 g per piece. Adjust the heat starting from half
Ground coriander 2 g The base of aroma. If you have none, leave it out and do not increase the harissa
Salt 1 g Reduce according to the saltiness of the tuna and capers
Black pepper 0.5 g Mix into the whole filling
Frying oil about 600 ml In a deep pot about 20 cm across, aim for oil 2 cm deep
Lemon 1/2 Cut into wedges and squeeze over the freshly fried brik
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The Story of Brik

In the oil, a paper-thin triangle of pastry puffs up. When the edge turns golden, lift it onto a rack and break the corner a little, and from deep in the white the yolk slowly runs. The pastry crackles at a touch of the finger, and the potato inside is fluffy. A squeeze of lemon at the end lightens, for a moment, the edge of the heat and the oil.

Brik (Brik, بريك) is a fried pastry loved in Tunisia. The egg brik in particular is a classic combination that brings thin pastry, egg, tuna, potato, capers, and parsley into one. At the Tunisian table it appears in meals that break the Ramadan fast, and at lunch too. Brik brushed with harissa, eaten at a street stall or at home, is described as a way of eating that adds not only heat but brings out the toasty flavor of the thin pastry.

The pastry used locally is a round thin sheet called malsouka. It is a wheat dough partly baked, so it is not completely raw even before frying. The thickness is about 1 mm. If you cannot find it, frozen spring roll wrappers can substitute, and you can also make it with two sheets of phyllo. However, spring roll wrappers are easy to fold, while phyllo is lighter and shatters more easily. Change the pastry, and the sound and mouthfeel change even with the same filling.

The origin of the name cannot be fixed to one source. In North Africa and the Middle East there are dishes that combine thin pastry and fillings, such as brik, burek, borek, and warka. Tunisian brik is thought to be related to Turkish borek, but its origin is not clear. That is exactly why differences of region and household remain in the shape of the pastry and the combination of fillings.

If you are making it for the first time in Japan, rather than stopping the kitchen to hunt for authentic malsouka, it is realistic to learn the cooking with frozen spring roll wrappers. The axis of the decision is whether to leave the egg soft or set it through to the center. For the former, shorten the frying time and watch the color of the pastry. For the latter, set only the white first, then give it a little longer. Whichever you choose, the pleasure of brik includes eating it freshly fried with lemon.

A Tunisian table around brik: thin triangular fried pastries, harissa, lemon, and herbs laid out
With a dish of thin pastry, you want to break it by hand to feel the texture rather than cut it
About the pastry for brik

Malsouka is the round thin pastry for brik. In Japan it can be replaced with 4 frozen spring roll wrappers. If using phyllo, use two sheets together and keep the package closed until just before use so they do not dry out.

Ingredients (serves 4)

Brik ingredients: thin pastry, tuna, potato, egg, capers, parsley, harissa, and lemon laid out in a kitchen
Drain the filling's moisture first, and gather all the ingredients before opening the pastry

Choosing the pastry

If you can find malsouka, its thinness and round shape come closest to the local texture. Frozen spring roll wrappers tear less and are easy to find, but the folded part is a little thicker. Phyllo is light, but it cracks as soon as it dries, so handle it under a cloth that is not too damp.

Choose wrappers that you can also use in your next dish. Skip buying a large pack of wrappers if you do not want leftovers for just this once. Check the wrapper size, the number of sheets, and whether it is frozen or chilled.

Heat when you cannot find harissa

If you have Tunisian harissa, use that; it is the shortest route. If you cannot find it, mix 30 g sambal oelek with 1/2 tsp ground cumin, 1/4 tsp ground caraway, 1/4 tsp grated garlic, 1 tsp lemon juice, and 1 tsp olive oil. It is not harissa itself, but it adds aroma and acidity to the heat of the chili.

The sambal oelek introduced here is a chili base used as a substitute for harissa. It makes sense if you can use it up in other stir-fries and noodles and do not mind the extra step of adding spices. Skip it if you already have harissa or do not want an extra spicy jar. Check the product name, content weight, and ingredients.

Is a small jar of cumin enough?

Cumin is used to add aroma to the substitute harissa paste. It makes sense if you want to use a small amount of the ground spice right away and can use it in curries and bean dishes. Skip it if you can get harissa and will not make the substitute paste. Check whether it is ground or whole, and the ingredients.

Soft egg and allergies

The pastry contains wheat, and the filling contains egg and fish. Labels differ by product, so check the ingredient list. A soft yolk is the traditional texture of brik, but if you prioritize safety standards for raw eggs and egg dishes, fry until the yolk and white are set. When serving small children, older adults, pregnant people, or people with weakened immune systems, avoid a soft yolk.

What to Decide Before Frying

Checking the doneness of brik with a spatula: watching the color of the edge and the oil bubbles settle
Decide when to lift it not only by time but by the color of the edge and the fineness of the bubbles

Brik changes state in the few minutes from opening the pastry to finishing the frying, more than at the stage of making the filling. If you set these 4 things in the kitchen first, you will not hesitate after cracking the egg.

  1. Divide the filling into 4, and put the dish for cracking eggs and the spatula near the pot.
  2. Decide the order of opening the pastry and the rack where you put the fried brik.
  3. Decide before the first piece whether to go for a soft yolk or a set yolk.
  4. Put the harissa and lemon where you can reach them right after frying.

When the pastry is crisp but the filling is watery, the steam from the potato has not gone out. Not rushing the step of cooling the filling reduces both tearing and oil spatter. Conversely, if the pastry is hard, cracks, and the egg runs out, the pastry was left out of the bag too long. Dry pastry cannot be restored, so cover the rest and move on to the next sheet.

If the color deepens only after the oil bubbles have become fine, the heat is too high. Lower the temperature to allow time to bake and set the pastry. If the oil is quiet and no color forms, it is too cool. Bring it back to about 170 degrees C before putting in the next piece.

Treat the first piece as a test

Even if you go for a soft yolk, fry the first piece a little longer and check the color of the pastry and how the white has set. From the second piece, decide whether to shorten the frying time at the same oil temperature or extend toward firm, and the finish of all 4 will match.

Where to Draw the Line When Changing the Filling

Variations of brik: classic tuna and potato, a mild herb filling, and a chicken and cheese filling laid out
Keeping the pastry and egg the same and changing only the moisture of the filling makes variations easy

The classic is tuna, potato, egg, and capers. When you change the filling from here, what does not change is not wetting the pastry and leaving a hollow in which to place the egg.

Reduce the heat

Halve the harissa and serve it in a small dish at the table. Even without heat, the acidity of capers, the green aroma of parsley, and the outline of lemon remain, so aroma stays without increasing the moisture of the filling. If you leave out the heat entirely, increase the coriander a little to make up the aroma.

Switch to sweet potato and herbs

Replace the potato with the same weight of sweet potato, leave out the tuna, and add parsley and a little leek. Sweetness comes out, so do not reduce the capers and use more lemon. This is not one widely established form in Tunisia; think of it as a vegetable version that is easy to make at home.

Switch to chicken and cheese

Replace the tuna with finely shredded cooked chicken and add a little cheese. Always cool the filling before putting it on the pastry. Too much cheese runs in the oil and leaks from the seam of the pastry. For the first piece, it is safer to leave out the cheese and check how well the fold closes.

Its Place at the Tunisian Table

A Tunisian Ramadan table with brik, harissa, lemon, herbs, and drinks modestly laid out
Bringing fried pastry, heat, and acidity into one plate lets each person adjust at the table

Brik is not only a dish of "filling wrapped in thin pastry" among Tunisian dishes. It is introduced as a dish eaten to break the Ramadan fast, and it also appears at lunch and as a light meal. Because the egg is wrapped and fried, some people enjoy the moment the yolk runs when broken, while others cook it through to suit the family. Not just the browning of the pastry but the state of the egg becomes a judgment at each table.

The name of the pastry also has layers of place. In Tunisia it is called malsouka and brik, while elsewhere other names such as warka and borek are used. SBS Food introduces how the names and uses of dishes made with thin pastry change by region, and that it is hard to fix the origin of brik to a single point. When you use spring roll wrappers in Japan, rather than hiding them as a mere substitute, think of it as moving the same filling into a different thin pastry, and the difference in pastry is easier to enjoy.

The ingredients also have roles. Tuna gives saltiness and savoriness, potato is the base that receives the yolk, capers are the acid that cuts the oil, and parsley is the escape route for aroma. Harissa does not only add heat; it brings chili, garlic, spices, and acidity at once. In the harissa food culture of Nabeul reported by the AP, harissa is used in home and restaurant cooking, and brushing it on brik is introduced as a way to eat it.

In a home kitchen, deciding first which elements to keep keeps you from getting lost in substitutions, rather than gathering every ingredient. If you have no malsouka, use spring roll wrappers. If you have no harissa, layer cumin and acidity on a chili base. If you want to avoid a soft yolk, take the color of the pastry a little darker and set the egg. If you set that much, brik becomes not a dish of rare ingredients but a dish built in the order of pastry, egg, heat, and acidity.

If you want to cook one more Tunisian egg dish, chakchouka (in Japanese), which simmers tomato and egg, shows a way of using heat different from fried food. Add msoki (in Japanese), a stew of beans and vegetables, and you have a large plate to receive the crispness of the brik. On a day with several light dishes, fricasse (in Japanese), a filled fried bread, can also go on the same table.

Storage and Reheating

Preparing brik for storage: cooled filling, unused pastry, and fried pastry kept in separate containers
Keeping the pastry and filling apart makes it easier to bring back a freshly fried texture just before eating

The way to keep the lightest texture is to eat it right after frying. If you make ahead, keep the filling and pastry apart and do the work of wrapping the egg just before eating.

What to store How Guide
Mixed filling Cool, seal, and refrigerate Until the next day
Unused pastry Close the bag and refrigerate or freeze as the product label says Follow the product label
Fried brik Cool on a rack, seal, and refrigerate Ideally the same day
Fried pastry before filling Prevent drying and refrigerate Until the next day

Refrigerated with the filling in, moisture from the potato and egg moves into the pastry and the crispness is lost. To reheat, place the refrigerated brik on the rack of a toaster oven and heat at 180 degrees C for 5 to 7 minutes. Check that the center is thoroughly hot, and do not shorten the heating in an attempt to bring back a soft state.

If you make the filling the day before, mix the boiled potato and tuna, cool them, add the capers, parsley, and harissa, and seal. Prepare the egg just before wrapping it in the pastry. Do not reuse filling that has stood a long time at room temperature, and avoid making ahead when you cannot keep it chilled while carrying it.

Frequently Asked Questions

A cross-section of brik: crisp pastry, tuna and potato, yolk, and capers seen up close
Check the color of the pastry, how the white has set, and how the yolk runs from the cross-section

Is malsouka the same as spring roll wrappers?

No. Malsouka is a round thin pastry for brik, while spring roll wrappers are square and the folded part is a little thicker. For the first time at home, spring roll wrappers are easier to handle, and when you want to prioritize the local texture, look for malsouka. Phyllo needs to be used as two sheets together, without letting it dry.

Is a soft yolk okay?

A soft yolk is one of the traditional textures, but if you prioritize safety, cook until the white and yolk are set. FoodSafety.gov gives the guideline of cooking raw eggs until the yolk and white are firm, and egg dishes to 71 degrees C. When serving small children, older adults, pregnant people, or people with weakened immune systems, it is right to avoid a soft yolk.

The egg runs out while frying

The edge of the pastry may not be closed, or you may have put on too much filling. Crack the egg into a small dish first and slide it into the hollow, leaving at least 2 cm of edge. Once folded, fry right away without stacking. If a little runs, do not press the pastry down with the spatula; gently return a corner of the pastry into the oil.

Can I make it without frying?

You can, but it is a different result from fried brik. Brush the surface of a spring roll wrapper thinly with oil and bake in a 220 degrees C oven for 10 to 12 minutes, and the pastry turns crisp. The egg sets more readily than when fried, so do not aim for a soft yolk; take it out after checking the state of the white and yolk.

What if I do not like capers?

Even if you halve the amount, you keep the acidity that tightens the oil and egg. If you leave them out entirely, squeeze a little more lemon at the table. You can also finely chop cucumber pickles instead, but wipe off the moisture well before mixing them into the filling.

How much harissa should I use?

Start with 1/2 tsp per piece and add more at the table; that is the safe way. Products with strong heat taste different even at the same 20 g, so increase it while checking the jar's label and tasting. If you have no harissa, use the substitute paste made with sambal oelek from the ingredient section.

Soft or Set for Today's Piece?

Brik served with lemon and harissa: the yolk running from the triangular pastry, with tuna and potato visible
Whether you choose soft or set, serve it freshly fried with lemon

If you are making brik for the first time, frozen spring roll wrappers are enough for the pastry. Drive off the moisture of the filling, have a dish ready for cracking the egg, and fry one at a time. Keep these three and you can grasp the skeleton of the dish before hunting for a rare pastry.

If you choose a soft yolk, fry the first piece a little longer and check the pastry and the white. If you set the egg, lower the oil temperature and extend the total time. If you have no harissa, decide whether to buy sambal oelek and cumin as a substitute, or leave out the heat and increase the lemon.

If you make it again on a day you find malsouka, you will see the difference from spring roll wrappers. Your first plate is a plate for deciding which of these you want to keep: the sound of the pastry, the state of the egg, or the heat of the harissa.

Sources

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