Packed with protein, inexpensive, and suited for breakfast, lunch and dinner, eggs are one of the world's most-versatile foods. Here are just a few of the many ways cooks the globe over have transformed this simple ingredient into something magnificent.

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By Bob Hoebee for Food Network Kitchen

It's only fitting that such a universally loved dish should have competing origin stories. Some say it was invented in the 1890s at the Waldorf Hotel as a hangover cure for a certain Mr. Benedict. Others claim it was first made at Delmonico's restaurant, also in New York City, for a different Mr. Benedict. We do know the original dish was made with toast, bacon, poached eggs and hollandaise sauce. Later, the toast and bacon were replaced by English muffins and Canadian bacon or ham.

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This one-pot dish, said to originate in Northern Africa, is now very popular all over the Middle East, especially in Israel and Egypt. To make shakshuka, eggs are skillet-poached in a bubbling bath of chile peppers, sweet onion and tomato sauce, often scented with cumin and paprika, then served with toasted pita. The meal is very similar to Italian-style eggs in purgatory, which also has a tomato sauce base, though then it is flavored with olives and cheese.

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The name literally means "hibiscus egg" in Chinese because this wok-fried egg pancake takes on a flowery shape when fried until brown and bubbly. Made with ham or shrimp, onion, bean sprouts, and sometimes peas, the dish is often served with a glossy broth and cornstarch slurry sauce. In St. Louis and other parts of the Midwest, you'll find a regional variation called a "Saint Paul Sandwich," where the egg patty is served on white bread with mayonnaise, dill pickles, lettuce and tomato.

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