Recipe Roadtest: Perfect Poached Eggs Every Time

I love poached eggs. I love them particularly when they have a gooey, runny centre that can be mopped up with pieces of toast and rashers of bacon. However, whenever I contemplated making them for myself at home, I was always put off by what seemed an excessively complicated procedure involving whirlpools or swirling vortexes of water. That was until I came across Masterchef Australia: The Cookbook (Volume 1), which had a poached egg  recipe that seemed relatively simple and straightforward. My sister and I first tested out the technique out on Mother’s Day and were extremely impressed with the results and how easy it was.

Poached egg with spinach leaves and toast

What you’ll need:

• Eggs
• Cling film
• Oil
• Saucepan
• Water

What to do:

1. Tear a reasonably large square of cling film (about 20cm x 20cm) and lay it out flat. Drizzle with oil and spread with your fingers to evenly grease.

2. Drape the cling film, greased side up, over a small cup or bowl, with the edges hanging over the side. Break an egg into the cling film (don’t break the egg on the side of the cup/bowl in case the shell tears a hole in the cling film).

3. Gather up the edges of the cling film and expel all the air around the egg, before twisting the cling film to create a little egg parcel. Tie a knot in the plastic as close as you can to the egg to preserve the shape.

4. Place the egg into a pan of simmering water and poach for 4.5-5 minutes for eggs that are cold from the fridge, or 3.5-4 minutes for eggs that are at room temperature.

5. Lift the egg parcel from the water and, using scissors, carefully cut the cling film below the knot.

6. Serve and enjoy the golden runny yolk!

Poached egg on Spam and toast

Notes:

• We used a reasonably large square of cling film as it is easier to handle when you need to tie a knot in it
• Even though the recipe says to expel all the air from around the egg, as you may have noticed in my photo, we had some air bubbles and the egg still turned out fine
• The finished product looks a little like egg dumplings, with crinkles from the cling film, so they will not have a perfectly smooth exterior, if that is what you’re looking for
• 4.5 minutes of poaching for a egg fresh from the fridge was just right for my liking; you may need to experiment to find the time right for you