Another inevitable post!
How To Poach an Egg
Indeed, just as it is important to know how to chop an onion and how to slice and avocado, it is important to know how to poach an egg. A poached egg is a thing of culinary beauty and deliciousness! The delicate egg white wrapped around what is essentially a ready made sauce into which lots can be dipped. And an oozy egg yolk is perfect on so many foods. Yes, buttered toast and egg yolk could win a culinary nobel prize, but so too could a puddle of yolk on creamed spinach or mixed with a spicy tomato sauce as found in a Shakshuka.
Poached Eggs – More than Just Eggs Benedict
Our brunch adventures lead us to believe Eggs Benedict is the height of poached egg goodness, but there are many more poached egg opportunities to explore. Some are simple like gently basting poached eggs in butter, herbs and lemon or floating a poached egg in a rich beef noodle soup. A poached egg on avocado toast is simply divine. Poached egg juevos rancheros far out does a fried egg juevos rancheros any day.
We should also consider expanding the poaching liquids we use. Water seems to be the poaching liquid of choice, but milk or cream is delicious and wine even more so. Poaching in tomato sauce is fantastic.
So lets get down to the business of how to poach an egg
How To Poach an Egg – A Ramekin, The Salt and Vinegar
In every example on the web, we see people cracking the egg into a ramekin or some type of vessel before putting the egg into the poaching liquid. I am not sure why one would want to do this except, perhaps, to check the quality of the egg or make sure the yolk is not broken. In this day and age,I think it is safe to say that we probably do not need to do this. Simply crack the egg (make sure you don’t break the yolk!), place it close to the poaching liquid and open the shell. If you do not think the eggs are perfectly fresh, you can crack them into a fine sieve so that the loose egg white drains away. This will help keep the poaching liquid from filling up with egg white fluff (not really the end of the world, though).
There is much written about the use of salt and vinegar in the poaching liquid when poaching eggs. I don’t do vinegar. White vinegar does not taste good and I do not want the extra step of having to rinse the poached eggs after cooking.
Salt is a different matter. If I am poaching the eggs, storing the eggs in ice water and using the eggs later, I won’t. The eggs can be reheated in salted water. Salting the water or other poaching liquid is just fine to do. Simply salt the liquid to taste. You can also season the egg when it comes out of the liquid. As with considering variations on the poaching liquid, variations on seasoning the poaching liquid beyond salt are always welcome.
How To Poach an Egg – The Swirl
Fill a medium pot 2/3rds full of poaching liquid. Bring the poaching liquid to a full simmer (between 170 and 190 degrees F). Crack a fresh egg (into a ramekin or small measuring cup if concerned). With a whisk, swirl the poaching liquid vigorously creating a little vortex. Gently release the egg into the center of the swirling liquid. The egg will swirl together. Poach for 3-4 minutes (or more) until the white is set and the yolk is set to your liking.
How To Poach an Egg – Multiples
The swirl is good for 1 egg at a time, but one poached egg never seems to be enough. To make multiples, fill a large sauté pan with poaching liquid. Bring the poaching liquid to a full simmer (between 170 and 190 degrees F). Crack fresh eggs (into ramekins or small measuring cups if concerned) around the pan. Poach the eggs for 3-4 minutes until the white is set and the yolk is to your liking. Poaching multiple eggs this way is the way to go. It is simple and straight forward. All the other tricks are nothing but foodie hooey made up to make poaching seem harder than it is. Nothing is simpler then just cracking some eggs into barely simmering water. Don’t let anyone tell you any different.
How To Poach an Egg – The Cheats.
There are many ways to “cheat” at poaching eggs, even though poaching eggs is not that difficult. Some use a ladle, some place rings on the bottom of the pan, some use egg poachers, some even tie up the egg in a pouch of heat proof plastic wrap (please stop wasting plastic wrap!). All of these tricks aim to help make the shape of the poached egg more perfect and reduce the risk of breaking the yolk. This is noble, but a not so good looking poached egg is equally delicious and the risk of breaking is reduced considerably just by being gentle. As with all things, practice makes perfect. After a few eggs, you will be able to poach like a pro never having needed any of the above cheats.
Now get out there and start poaching! Poached eggs are so delicious and the technique is easy and worth having in your repertoire!
Keep Eating! Keep Innovating!
How do you poach your eggs? Let us know all about it in the comments or on Facebook.
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