It is one of the most delicious ways to enjoy eggs yet so many people struggle to get the poached egg perfect every time. I was very fortunate to have a great friend who was a chef, and Javier Burillo was able to show me some years ago how to get the poached egg just right, and how to get it right every single time. A friend of mine was asking me for some help the other day which is what inspired me to put this post together for any of you out there who also struggle to nail the perfect poached egg. Here is the foolproof recipe.
Big Pan
The first step here is to make sure that you have a big pan of water prepared for the poached eggs, even if you are only cooking one. The larger the pan the more space that your egg is going to have to breathe, and that is a very good thing. Next up you need to brings some water to the boil, and make sure that the pan that you are using has a lid.
Vinegar and Eggs
Now there are a number of things that you need to avoid here, the first is a cracked yolk and the second is an egg which disperses when you add it to the water. With regards to avoiding a cracked yolk the best thing that you could do here is to crack the egg first into a cup, and then place it in the pan from the cup. In order to avoid the egg breaking up in the water, we are going to add a tablespoon of white vinegar to the boiling water.
Adding The Egg
Once the water has reached boiling and you have added the vinegar, we need to bring the heat right down so that the violent bubbles stop. Once you have done this, swirl the water with a spoon so that the water is slowly spinning around the outside, forming a small hole in the middle of the pan. Add your egg to the hole and then switch the heat off, and put the lid on. This swirling motion along with the vinegar will help to ensure that the egg stays together and that you don’t end up with separate pieces.
Cooking and Cooling
Whilst you are waiting for the egg to cook, this will take around 6 minutes as long as you ensure that you keep that lid on, we are going to prepare an ice bath. An ice bath is very simple, all you need is to add some water and some ice, ensuring that there is a touch more water than ice otherwise the egg could break on the sharp edges. Once the egg is done, take it out with a slotted spoon and place straight into the ice bath, and then plate it. The reason for the ice bath is that you need the egg to stop cooking, which won’t happen if you serve it right onto the plate.
And there you have it, the perfect poached egg, every single time.
