Poached eggs


Poached eggs
Poached eggs are cooked, without the shell, in barely simmering (nearly boiling) water. White should be firm and yolk soft, that's the difficulty. This recipe teaches you how to succeed with three important points.
328 K 3.7/5 (38 reviews)
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Last modified on: January 8th 2013
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For 4 Poacheds eggs, you will need:
  • 1 egg 4 eggs
  • 2 white (spirit) vinegar 2 tablespoons white (spirit) vinegar
  • Total weight: 230 grams

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Times for this recipe
Preparation: 40 min.
Resting: 2 hours
Cooking: 3 min.
All in all: 2 hours 40 min.
When should you start or finish this recipe?
If you start now, at , you will finish around : ?.Change start time
To finish around 7pm, you'll need to have started before: .Change end time

Step by step recipe


Stage 1 - ⌛ 2 hours
Poached eggs : Stage 1
1st important point: Remove 4 eggs from the fridge at least 2 hours in advance, you should use eggs at room temperature for the cooking time indicated below to work.

Stage 2 - ⌛ 10 min.
Poached eggs : Stage 2
Bring a pan of unsalted water to boil. When boiling, pour in 2 tablespoons white (spirit) vinegar, and reduce heat to a simmering water.

That is the 2nd important point: your water should not be salted (salt disturbs the cooking of egg white), and simmering, not boiling, because big bubbles boiling produce irregular and ugly poached eggs.

Prepare a bowl of cold water.

Stage 3 - ⌛ 1 min.
Poached eggs : Stage 3
Break the first egg into a cup.

Stage 4 - ⌛ 1 min.
Poached eggs : Stage 4
Slip egg smartly into simmering water...

Stage 5 - ⌛ 1 min.
Poached eggs : Stage 5
...and immediately gather the white around egg yolk to prevent egg spreading out too much.

If you have difficulty doing that, try this tip: with a tablespoon give one or two turn to the pan to make a small vortex in the water, then add egg and the vortex will do the gathering job for you.

Stage 6 - ⌛ 3 min.
Poached eggs : Stage 6
Leave cook for 2 minutes and 30 seconds (3 minutes maximum). This cooking time is the 3rd important point for a perfect result.

Stage 7 - ⌛ 1 min.
Poached eggs : Stage 7
After this time, remove egg from hot water and put it immediately into the bowl of cold water to stop the cooking.

Leave it in, and continue with all eggs.

Stage 8 - ⌛ 2 min.
Poached eggs : Stage 8
With scissors, trim off any irregular lumps and trails of egg white to get as round and even an egg as possible.

Stage 9 - ⌛ 1 min.
Poached eggs : Stage 9
Then put on a cloth to dry.

Stage 10 - ⌛ 20 min.
Poached eggs : Stage 10
Do this with all eggs, your soft-boiled eggs are ready.
Remarks
Poached eggs are use in many recipes, cold or hot, but are always delicious.

If you want to reheat them, put in the microwave for 15 seconds, or leave 3 minutes in a bowl of hot tap water (not boiling).

If you make poached eggs in advance, the day before for example, leave to stand in a bowl of salted cold water in the fridge.

White vinegar is used because wine vinegar would stain the egg red.
Keeping: Several days in the fridge, in a closed jar.
Source: Home made.
Nutritional information
Proteins (gr)Carbohydrates (gr)Fats (gr)Energy value (in k-calories)Energy value (in k-joules)
Whole recipe30 RDI=10 %020 RDI=3 %290 RDI=20 %1,230 RDI: 20 %
Per 100 g10 RDI=4 %09 RDI=1 %130 RDI=6 %530 RDI: 6 %
Per piece6 RDI=2 %05 RDI=1 %70 RDI=4 %310 RDI: 4 %
The % figures are calculated in relation to the Recommended Dietary Intake , or RDI of 2,000 k-calories (or 8,400 k-joules) per day for a woman
Possible allergens in this recipe: egg, Sulfites
How much will it cost?
  • For 4 Poacheds eggs : 0.60 €
  • Per Poached eggs : 0.15 €

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Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.
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