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“How do you want your eggs sweet pea?” “POACHED!” I yell with complete and total conviction. I am five years old and my mom is making breakfast. I love poached eggs.
I stand by the stove and watch in awe as my mom brings a semi-boiling pot of water to just the right temperature. Then, she slowly adds an egg. She turns off the heat. She looks at me–this time, with my eyes wide and overtaking my face–and fixes my pigtails. I am a big girl who is “learning” how to cook, but can’t seem to make evenly spaced pigtails to save my life. Who cares? The boy behind me in class will pull them out by lunchtime.
All of this takes place within a matter of minutes and before I can whine that she’s pulling my hair too hard, a plate of toast appears in her right hand and a slotted spoon in the other. The perfectly poached egg has been delicately plated on my toast and she is skimming the water for any leftover egg whites.
I’m in awe. I sit and quickly poke the yolk with my fork, watching as it runs all over my toast. I don’t know exactly what it is about poaching eggs, but it seems like the most magical thing that happens before 8:00 a.m.
I never actually learned how to poach an egg. After my mom died, I never tried it again until today. But, remembering how my favorite breakfast was warm and creamy, egg-like and savory on buttery toast, I had to revisit one of my favorite breakfasts.
Pictured her: freshly poached eggs on homemade French Baguettes.
My mom always made cooking look so easy, so you can imagine my surprise when my first attempt at poaching an egg was a complete flop–the egg yolk was cooked all the way through. But good things come to those who wait and the second was like magic, tasting almost as good as my mother’s (see above picture).
The key to a perfect poached egg is most definitely the delicate touch and impeccable timing so commonly found in our mother’s, but if you find yourself making this egg for yourself, I have a couple of tips: turn off the heat when poaching your egg and use 2 teaspoons of vinegar in the water so that your egg whites stay together. I can’t help but wonder if my mom knew about this last trick….
How to Poach an Egg
Although this recipe is a pretty universal “how to” when it comes to poaching an egg, I’d like to credit Elise Bauer at Simply Recipes for teaching me how to add rice wine vinegar (this additional helps egg whites to stay together). For Elise’s how-to post, see here.
Ingredients:
* 1 pot water, almost boiling
* 2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
* 1-2 eggs
1.) Bring water to an almost boil. If water is boiling, turn down heat to where it’s not boiling.
2.) Add 2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar to pot.
3.) Crack an egg into a shallow cup and slowly drop egg from cup into the water.
4.) Turn off heat and allow egg to sit for 4 minutes submerged in water.
5.) Using a slotted spoon, push egg whites together and scoop out egg.
6.) Serve with French Baguettes, or other toasted bread, and cracked pepper and salt. Enjoy! Makes 1-2 servings.
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