FOOLPROOF POACHED EGGS
FOOLPROOF POACHED EGGS
Wouldn't it be great if there was a poached egg method that worked every time and one that would allow you to poach your eggs in advance?
Ingredients
- Eggs
Instructions
- Egg-poaching is a technique that looms over all great cooks' heads. But if you’ve ever had a perfect poached egg on toast, oozing with goodness, or a frisee salad with lardons and a softly poached egg, then you might just be committed to mastering the method.
- Julia Child called poached eggs "the purest and loveliest of ways to cook eggs." And while the poaching process can be a little tricky, overcoming the learning curve is empowering. If you ask Thomas Keller his secrets, he’ll tell you that the most important factor is to start with a fresh egg. As an egg ages, the white deteriorates, which is why some poached eggs go floppy, surrounded by jellyfish-like tendrils of whites. My best tip is all about a whirlpool or the vortex of the water. When you add the egg to swirling water, you get the compact shape that you see at restaurants. And the magic number to yield a cooked-through yet tender white and a thickened but runny yolk is 2 minutes.
- A perfectly poached egg has a firm (but not rubbery) white and a smooth yet gooey, bright yellow yolk. Here are our best POACHING TIPS:
- Start with the freshest eggs possible. As an egg ages, water from the white slowly migrates into the yolk, weakening the yolk membrane and increasing the likelihood that the yolk will break.
- Gently simmer the water -- be careful not to boil it.
- Use vinegar. Vinegar, about half a teaspoon per egg, helps the egg white to form. White vinegar or white wine vinegar is best.
- To store poached eggs, carefully spoon them into a bowl of ice water to cool, then store them in the fridge for one to two days. To reheat, simmer another batch of water and gently add the egg to it when you're ready to serve.
- We like poached eggs for breakfast on buttered toast, oozing on a green salad, atop a bowl of Asian noodles or like Lana does, served on a potato salad (it's the ultimate!).
- TO POACH EGGS, you’ll need: Distilled white vinegar, 4 large eggs, Coarse sea salt, and freshly ground black pepper.
- Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add 1/2 teaspoon of vinegar per egg to the pot. Using a wooden spoon, swirl the water until a vortex forms in the center. Break each egg into individual ramekins. Carefully slip 1 egg at a time into the water. The egg white should wrap tightly around the yolk, forming an oval shape. As soon as the water returns to a boil, reduce the heat to medium and gently simmer, frequently swirling the water, for 2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, lift the eggs from the water and clean any stray pieces of egg white from the poached eggs. Season with salt and pepper and serve.