Monday 20 June 2011

Poached Egg

The poached egg. Probably the king of the eggs. Apparently a difficult egg to cook and drives fear into many B&B owners. It is not difficult to cook. All you need is a good non-stick frying pan, which every able bodied cook should own, and you're away. 

A few years ago my girlfriend bought me an amazing Le Creuset frying pan, it was expensive, but when you use equipment frequently, there is logic investing in a good quality, functioning tool, which does the job very well. Highly recommended.



My method for poaching eggs is simple. Boil the water in a kettle or in the frying pan, you need the water deep enough to cover the eggs, add a splash of vinegar, this will help the egg white hold it's shape (Do not add salt to the water as it will do the opposite, season when the egg is cooked). Make sure the water isn't boiling when the egg is added, so turn off the heat or have it very low. Crack the eggs cleanly and hold just above the water so the bottom of the shell is actually touching the surface and break open the egg so it smoothly drops into the hot water without a splash or too much movement. Leave for about 5 minutes and the eggs are cooked. You can either scoop the eggs (and I says eggs plural, because one isn't enough) with a slotted spoon or you can drain the water off, although draining can be a tad risky if the egg is still soft, so the spoon/fish slice method is best.

If you do sample my method, I'm confident you will never return to the vortex of convention, and all that bollocks. Also, a poached egg does taste better than a boiled egg. I find boiled eggs always have a sulfurous smell and taste, similar to it's shabby devourer. As the poached egg is clean, regal and has glossy white shine to match it's deep golden crown of a yolk. Eggs Royale.

When serving, a tiny pinch of smoked paprika and sea salt goes very well on the yolk, especially if you're planning on dipping shit in it. Definitely a scoffy egg!

3 comments:

  1. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Eggs-Royale-The-Brunch-of-Kings/149443118435902

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  2. poached egg on an English muffin - can't beat it!

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  3. You've really got to watch out for the draining stage. In my book there's little worse than a wet, watery wanker of a poached egg making my toast all sad and soggy like a dog that got stuck on the Titanic. That's all I wanted to say, other than that I totally agree with everything you ever said about eggs.

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