Poached eggs are a hard craving to satisfy at home when you’re yet to master the art of cooking them from scratch.
They are arguably the most delicate form of cooked eggs, with a firm white and molten yolk encapsulated at the core. For this reason, many people avoid making them.
Chef James Martin, who presents the BBC weekend cooking show, James Martin’s Saturday Morning, reveals how to achieve perfect results every time.
James divulged the three essentials he always uses for poached eggs when sharing his recipe for poached haddock and poached egg with mustard sauce.
He suggested that the technique is as important as the ingredients for getting the texture spot-on.
Boiling water is essential for poaching eggs, so start with a small saucepan filled with it, or use tap water and bring it to a boil on the hob. James Martin advocates using white vinegar, too, as many popular cooking hacks suggest.
But he infuses the water with one extra ingredient: a pinch of salt. This completes the chef’s winning combination of ingredients for optimum egg-poaching conditions.
His instructions read: “Add the white wine vinegar and a pinch of salt to a small saucepan of water and bring it to a rapid boil.”
He continued: “Whisk the water to create a vortex, then crack an egg into the water and cook for three minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare a bowl of iced water large enough for your poached eggs to bathe in. “Remove [the eggs] and place straight into iced water, then repeat with a second egg”, said James.
If your eggs are ready before the other components of your dish, the chef suggests keeping the simmering water on the hob until you’re ready to serve.
He said: “Drop the poached egg back into the pan of simmering water for 20-30 seconds to heat through.”
There’s an endless list of ingredients that pair perfectly with poached eggs. Keep it simple with a slice of buttered toast, or add a layer of avocado for healthy fats.
Alternatively, pair it with crispy bacon, smoked salmon, poached haddock, or a few slices of ham on a toasted English muffin. Drizzle over some hollandaise sauce to finish.
