How to Cook the Perfect Poached Egg (MasterChef)

I love having poached eggs for breakfast. If I see Eggs Benedict on the menu in a restaurant/cafe, I would order it without fail. Same goes to when we're on holiday and the hotel breakfast offers poached eggs or Eggs Benedict, I would have that everyday during our stay (for example, when we were staying at Cameron Highlands Resort I had it for breakfast both days).

For me, poached eggs has this magical allure - I love poking the egg yolk and watching it run down the sides. Mmmmm, foodporn indeed!

Last year, when I was in the Malaysia Blogger MasterChef competition, I learnt how to cook my first poached egg using the whirlpool method. After the competition, I got back in my kitchen and started making poached eggs more and more often, but using the Delia Smith method. This worked for us - but what you get is one that looks like a soft "fried egg".

The theme for September 2012's "Cook Like a Star" which I am co-hosting is MasterChef. So, for my first Cook Like a MasterChef post, I will be sharing with you the methods of making the perfect poached egg! This method is used by former MasterChef Australia contestant, Alana Lowes (post here).

The perfect poached egg! 

Alana uses the whirlpool method - using a whirlpool helps the egg hold its shape when it first enters the water. The resulting poached eggs looks just like the ones you get in the restaurants and hotels. I practiced everyday, until I got the perfect poached egg. And boy, was I delighted!

Practice does make perfect.. ;)

The key here is to use really fresh eggs. It is hard to tell how long the eggs have been sitting in the carton on the supermarket shelves. Just to demonstrate how important it is to use fresh eggs, look at Day 3's photo - I used eggs which I have just purchased and these were the ones that turned out really perfect! The eggs also need to be at room temperature - believe me, cos I tried it with eggs that came out straight from the fridge and it didn't hold its shape properly when it hit the whirlpool.

So for my dear readers who have been asking me how to cook the perfect poached eggs, do try this method and remember, the more you practice the better you get at it. (I ate poached eggs for a whole week for breakfast just because I wanted to get it right!) If you do try this at home, do let me know how it goes for you.

My most loyal guinea pig customer can't wait to eat his poached eggs

The perfect poached egg
Adapted from MasterChef Australia

You need:
A fresh egg
White vinegar
Water
Slotted spoon
Saucepan

1. Crack the egg into a small ramekin or small bowl. It is easier to slip the egg into the simmering water later.

2. Fill a small saucepan with approximately 4 inches of water and bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons of vinegar to the water, it will help the eggs whites set.

3. Using a tablespoon, swirl the water making a whirlpool (as if you are drawing circles in the water). Gently tip the egg into the centre of the whirlpool and watch the magic of the swirl work. As the egg hits the whirlpool, the egg white will enclose around the yolk and form a neat tight round. (If your eggs are not fresh or not at room temperature, then this is when it will fail and won't enclose properly)

4. Allow the egg to cook for 2-3 minutes or until the yolk is cooked to your liking. Gently lift out the egg using a slotted spoon and give it a little wobble. The egg white should be just cooked (no more translucent white). Remove with a slotted spoon and rest the spoon on kitchen paper for few seconds to absorb any excess water.

5. Serve immediately. I like serving it with toast and asparagus for breakfast or topping it on my pasta for lunch. Once you can do the perfect poached eggs, you can put it on almost anything and everything!

Poke..

And watch it flow, watch it flow, watch it flow..

Perfection!

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The theme for September 2012's "Cook Like a Star" is MasterChef. To join, simply cook or bake any recipe (from the contestants, judges or even sponsors) from any MasterChef websites or cookbooks (any countries) and blog hop with us for the whole month of September 2012.

Your post must be a current post i.e. posted in September 2012 - please do not link older posts.

Please mention Cook like a Star in your post and link back to Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids, Anuja of Simple Baking and Baby Sumo of Eat your heart out.

You can get the HTML code here: get the InLinkz code (Click on the link, copy and paste the HTML code into your blog post where you want the blog hop list to appear. Make sure you are in HTML mode when you paste in the code)

Happy cooking! Do check out the other bloggers recipe below:

*This post was retweeted by Alana Lowes on Twitter ;)

Full set of photos can be viewed on my Facebook page here.