Eggs are such a versatile ingredient – enjoy them fried, scrambled, boiled or poached.
Poaching an egg involves gently cooking eggs in water until the whites are set and the yolk is runny.
Poached eggs frequently appear on eggs Benedict, avocado toast, and rice bowls, among other dishes.
They’ve gained a reputation for being tough to perfect at home, but with a little patience and a little practice, you too can enjoy that perfectly runny yolk cascading over an English muffin.
Unsure where to start? Chef Kelly Scott, otherwise known as @kellyscleankitchen on TikTok has shared a video demonstrating her recipe on how to best poach an egg.
In the caption of the video, Kelly wrote: “This is the best way to poach an egg.”
The chef shared with viewers that she found this method when working a brunch service as a trained chef and had to make “thousands” of poached eggs.
She said: “When I used to have to work a Sunday brunch service as a chef I used to have to make literally thousands of eggs working on the egg station and I quickly learned the best and worst ways to poach eggs – and this way is hands down the best foolproof way to poach an egg.”
Kelly instructed that the first step is to crack an egg into a fine mesh strainer as this separates the loose whites from the firm whites, making it more uniform. Then put the egg into a tiny bowl.
Next, bring a pan of water to a gentle simmer and add a splash of vinegar, the chef noted that she likes to use apple cider vinegar, but white vinegar is great too.
The vinegar is important as it helps the egg to “stay uniform and form together”.
Kelly advised: “Do a very gentle stir. I see a lot of people do basically a tornado – don’t do that. Be gentle and then slowly lower your egg into the middle.”
Let the egg sit there until the whites form and then lift it off the bottom so the egg doesn’t stick.
Keep checking on the egg if it is done. If the whites are firm, but the yolk jiggles then it is ready. If the whites are still jiggling, put it back in the water.
Kelly said that she doesn’t time it when poaching eggs as each egg and pot of water are different. Instead, she tests to see if the whites and yolk are how they should be.
The chef then served it with some seasoning and it’s “the perfect poached egg”.
TikTok users in the comments were big fans of this egg-poaching tip. @the_medium_place said: “I’ve never made a poached egg before. I tried this for my mom and it came out perfect.”
@beachvet wrote: “Finally, someone taught me how to do this correctly and easily! Went ahead and made it with Avocado toast and it was perfect! Thank you!”
@summerspinkbits commented: “This is the best! And room temperature eggs make a difference too.”
