Poach An Egg Without A Single Drop of Vinegar

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"How can you poach an egg without vinegar?" you might wondered. The idea of poaching an egg might seem difficult to most of us, whether it is the fear of getting it wrong, fear of turning it into egg drop soup, fear of unpleasant vinegar taste, fear of solidifying the yolk or simply fear of wasting an egg. In my case, it would be the first three. Let me know what do you fear the most about poaching an egg.

Poached eggs are not that hard to make, provided that you forget the traditional techniques of pouring some vinegar in a large pot of boiling water. You won't even need to invest on a $20 egg poacher. This trick is neat and foolproof, I even got it perfect the first time considering that I never poached an egg before. You might have noticed that the shape of the egg white is not oval nor smooth like the classic poached eggs. The shape looks like a Chinese steamed bun. All you need basically is a plastic wrap, a teacup, and simmering water. After reading this tutorial, you will no longer fear of making poached eggs anymore. You will get addicted of making it every breakfast.

Update March 13, 2010: This technique is definitely foolproof, check out the poached egg made by Laura Jeanne, author of A Healthy Jalapeno.

Update March 16, 2010: This technique has also been used by fellow blogger, Lena from Frozen Wings.

Preparation Time: 2 mins

Cooking Time: 4-5 mins

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 egg

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Procedure

1. Bring a pot of water to boil, then turn heat down to a simmer.

2. Lay out a plastic wrap on top of a teacup or ramekin, about 5-6 inch square. Lightly rub olive oil on the plastic wrap.

3. Push gently onto the teacup and then crack the egg.

4. Pull wrap upward. Twist and tie a knot together tightly.

5. Drop egg in simmering water. Simmer for 4-5 mins or to your liking.

6. Take out poached egg with slotted spoon. Remove plastic wrap with scissors. Serve on toast. Season with salt and pepper.