When we dicussed poached eggs last week in the Eggs thread, I had completely forgotten the way I first started making them.
So for any of you who don't attempt poached eggs out of fear of fucking it up, or have just never been bothered to try, here is the absolute foolproof way to make a perfect poached egg:
- Bring a pot of water to a rapid boil - for this method, all that matters is that the water is deep enough to be able to fully submerse the egg.
- Push a piece of microwavable (most are these days, but check the packaging to be certain) clingfilm into a small bowl. The piece should be at least 6" x 6" and should hang over all sides of the bowl.
- Crack an egg into the bowl, being careful not to break the yolk. Pull up the corners of the clingfilm and twist together so you have a little bag of egg. You can tie a knot at the top, but it isn't necessary.
- Turn down the heat a bit so your water is simmering. Lower in the egg bag and leave for 4 minutes.
- Remove and simply peel of the clingfilm.
There you have it. Piss-easy, perfect poached egg.
The beauty of this method is that you can poach as many eggs as you like at the same time without worrying about them coming together or being difficult to remove without breaking. The other great advandtage is that cleaning the pot afterwards is dead easy - no bits of albumen stuck to the sides!
I actually remembered this earlier today but hadn't done it in more than 10 years. I had my sister and her kids over for dinner so I explained the method to my 5 year old neice and had her poach 5 eggs at once for the kids' dinner (Baked beans on toast, topped with cheese and a poached egg. Yum!).
She produced 5 perfect poached eggs in less than 10 minutes.
So go on. Give it a go.
So for any of you who don't attempt poached eggs out of fear of fucking it up, or have just never been bothered to try, here is the absolute foolproof way to make a perfect poached egg:
- Bring a pot of water to a rapid boil - for this method, all that matters is that the water is deep enough to be able to fully submerse the egg.
- Push a piece of microwavable (most are these days, but check the packaging to be certain) clingfilm into a small bowl. The piece should be at least 6" x 6" and should hang over all sides of the bowl.
- Crack an egg into the bowl, being careful not to break the yolk. Pull up the corners of the clingfilm and twist together so you have a little bag of egg. You can tie a knot at the top, but it isn't necessary.
- Turn down the heat a bit so your water is simmering. Lower in the egg bag and leave for 4 minutes.
- Remove and simply peel of the clingfilm.
There you have it. Piss-easy, perfect poached egg.
The beauty of this method is that you can poach as many eggs as you like at the same time without worrying about them coming together or being difficult to remove without breaking. The other great advandtage is that cleaning the pot afterwards is dead easy - no bits of albumen stuck to the sides!
I actually remembered this earlier today but hadn't done it in more than 10 years. I had my sister and her kids over for dinner so I explained the method to my 5 year old neice and had her poach 5 eggs at once for the kids' dinner (Baked beans on toast, topped with cheese and a poached egg. Yum!).
She produced 5 perfect poached eggs in less than 10 minutes.
So go on. Give it a go.
