How to poach an egg
I am an egg lover. That’s right - I love these little bundles of protein that are flavourful yet versatile enough to be used for so many different dishes! My favourite way to have them is poached, but till this weekend I didn’t know how to poach them myself, and had to stick to soft-boiled eggs when having them at home.
After having that shocking poached eggs on toast at a local cafe awhile ago, I wondered just how difficult it actually was to poach an egg. I mean, it’s just boiling an egg without the shell, right? How hard could that be!
A lot more difficult than I originally thought, but still fairly easy!
Now, a properly poached egg should be soft - the whites just set and the yolk still runny, with no flavour permeating through than the egg itself. One of my favourite books, “The Cook’s Book” (a book that I recommend that every novice kitchenhand keep as close as a bible!) happened to have a step-by-step picture guide that I used to create these little marvels - and I’d like to think that my finished product comes pretty close to the ones in the book 
How to poach an egg
Ingredients
4x fairly fresh eggs
1.5 L water
2 tbsp white vinegar
500 mL water
1 tbsp salt
1. Heat the 1.5 L of water and vinegar in a deep frying pan till it is barely at simmering point. Heat the remaining water and salt in a seperate saucepan and leave at a slow simmer.
2. Crack an egg onto a saucer then slide it into the water.
3. Using a slotted spoon, use a ‘basting’ motion to pick up the floating egg white and envelop the yolk, till the white is just set. Repeat with remaining 3 eggs.
4. Adjust the water temperature till it is at a very gentle boil, then poach for approx 3 minutes or till egg whites are completely set.
5. Using a slotted spoon, carefully remove the eggs from the vinegar water and dip them in the simmering salted water for 30 seconds each to remove any trace of vinegar, drain briefly on a clean tea towel and serve 
Poached is a great healthy way to enjoy eggs as it means there’s no fussing about with shells and has none of the oil from fried or scrambled eggs
Technorati Tags: recipe, poaching, eggs, poached eggs, cooking
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Comments
Oh this is so funny Ellie as I have been obsessed about poached eggs too and was about to post about it (pictures taken today!) I am like you, I love eggs and the runnier the yellow, the better! Your pics make me drool!
Oh yeah, I’m drooling over here too.. there is nothing that gets me hungrier quicker than seeing a good runny egg over toast. Yum! Hmm.. maybe for lunch today?
I have to admit it: I don’t like eggs. Wel, I don’t like egg yolks, when I order an egg white omelette the waiter gives me the “Oh! Another health freak” look, but I truly can’t stand the taste (unlee it is in a cake). Yet, I love cooking omelettes, frittatas and poched eggs. Great post!
Expertly done Ellie. Made we think of poached eggs I’ve had recently: you could smell the vinegar as the plate was put down - yuk! Dipping into non-vinegar water is a great tip. More cafes should pay attention!
This is great, Ellie - I actually had no idea how to poach an egg either. I’m not an egg lover, but I’m working on it.
Once you can poach a beautiful egg like that there is no going back. It seems a little magical but it really is pretty easy. Good job.
Kat - Oh my god, it’s such a worthwhile investment! I’d recommend this book as a great addition for your bookshelf!
Brilynn - You’re on Of course, I might have to ask you to make those fantastic crepes for brunch 
Bea - Your poached egg picture on Flickr is gorgeous! I can’t wait to see the full post on your blog!
Lis - Mmm, runny egg yolk on toast! Best brekkie food for a lazy Saturday morning!
Helen - Hehehe, that sounds like my kid brother, he hates yolks and my sister hates whites, so they always exchange when they have eggs in a non-mixed form (e.g. sunny side up as opposed to scrambled!)
Dr.Reb - Oh gawd, why do cafes insist on using so much vinegar to poach their eggs? I think it’s just a sign of laziness and that they should get off their hineys and do the job properly!
Emily - I think lots of people don’t know how to poach a free-form egg (thanks to those ladle-like egg poaches, who needs the bother?) but I think it’s a worthwhile skill to have As for the egg thing, not everyone likes them but they can certainly make a dish a meal
Jules - aww shucks, cheers hon I dunno about champion, but I was pretty chuffed about how my first attempt turned out!
Gattina - Bah, who needs healthy when there’s this much awesome tasting food out there? Mmmm, eggs benedict….
Tanna - You’re right, there’s no going back for me, free form poaching is definetely the way to go!
Oh Ellie, I can’t resist these - look incredibly good! you just reminded me how much I love poached egg…
From someone who poaches on a regular basis, those look superb.
I can’t say I’ve tried to actually twirl the egg white around the yolk manually, I normally just get the water spinning first and then drop the egg into middle… but that sounds like a cunning plan.
Great work
Keiko - I’m glad you liked them Aren’t poached eggs wonderful?
Matt - Aww shucks, thanks for that I haven’t heard of this spinning water method - I just went with the directions in my book, but I’ll have to look into your method and see how it goes
Oh my gosh, your pictures are just too delicious for words! I’ve never poached any eggs myself and have been meaning to try it so I could make my own eggs benedict. Thank you so much for the tips!
Now they have silicone Egg Pods. Spray the inside of the pod with cooking spray, crack egg into it, set pod in boiling water and it just floats. Put lid on pot. 4 minutes. Perfect poached egg. I use a skimmer spoon, which looks sort of like a flat ladle full of holes to set it into the water, and lift it out. If it sticks, just take a fork or spoon and run it around the egg and it’ll slip right out.
very nice poached egg and “the cooks book” is another one on my wish list