Writer's Note: There is no culinary subject more discussed on theinter-web than poaching eggs. It's overwhelming, really, especially for a novice like me. The are gadgets galore, and videos, and heated arguments, even name-calling. For shame, culinary community, such disagreements should be held behind closed doors.
A few nights ago I couldn't sleep -- I woke up at 2:30 for no good reason and thought, well, if I'm up I might as well poach some eggs. I padded downstairs and boiled some water with vinegar and salt and started poaching eggs. One after another. My spinning vortex did nothing to keep those white jellyfish strings from forming around the yolk. Neither did using a small coffee cup. I tried everything I had read about the traditional method for poaching eggs to no avail. Oh fair reader, it was disheartening. After four I gave up and laid in bed listening to the New Yorker Fiction podcast. Junot Diaz read a fabulous short story by Edwidge Danticat. That cheered me up a bit.
Yesterday, having recovered from the earlier debacle, I decided to try one of the gimmicky methods I read about on another blog. Tie the egg in a piece of cling wrap and poach the egg in the plastic. It seemed too easy -- and it was. The white came off the yolk with the plastic, and it looked wrinkled and old, nothing like a poached egg should. Back to square one. Today, armed with a new carton of eggs I tried again. Vinegar, salt, boiling water, lower temperature to a simmer, create a vortex, and slowly, spinning spinning toward freedom . . . uh, no, that's a Simpsons episode. I slowly lowered the dish into the vortex and Yes! Success! One poached egg. Always mindful to quit while I am ahead, I stopped and called it a day. For hours I have been reveling in my perfectly poached egg. Ah, revelry.
Ingredients:
4 fresh eggs
1/2 cup thick traditional full-fat yogurt
1/2 garlic clove
1 tbsp. white vinegar of any variety
1 tsp. and 1/4 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. dried mint
1 tsp. cayenne pepper or Aleppo pepper (optional)
Directions:
Beat the garlic with the salt in a mortar and pestle until it is a creamy paste. Mix the garlic into the yogurt. Divide the yogurt into two bowls.
Boil water, vinegar, and 1 tsp. salt in a small saucepan at least 2-3 inches deep. Crack egg into a small dish or saucer. After it boils turn the heat down so the water is simmering. Create a vortex by stirring a spoon in the same direction for 20-30 seconds. Gently pour the egg into the water from a close distance. Use the spoon to stir the egg white closer to the yolk. Cook for at least 3 minutes, longer for a slightly more solid yolk.
Fish the eggs out of the water using a flat strainer and lay the eggs in the bowls over the yogurt (for some the hot of the egg and cold of the yogurt may be odd -- you can always put a piece of buttered toast between the two to "American-ize" the dish. Although, let's be honest, salty yogurt and eggs for breakfast is about as un-American as cassoulet and universal health care.
Heat the butter with the dried mint and cayenne pepper or Aleppo pepper in a small skillet until it foams and sizzles (this can be done concurrently with the egg poaching). Pour the butter over the eggs and revel in your own competence.
