You are, of course, referring to the spherical poached eggs seen at fashionable cafes. They're made by lining a small bowl with a sheet of plastic film, brushing it with oil, adding a knob of butter, cracking in an egg, seasoning with salt and pepper, then gathering up the edges and tying in a tight knot.
The most common way to poach an egg is by creating a vortex in the water. You achieve this by stirring the water with a spoon in a vigorous circle once it is lightly simmering. All you do at this point is drop in the egg and wait for it to cook.
Half-fill a wide pan with boiling salted water, and bring it to a light simmer over a medium heat. Crack one of the eggs into a cup and gently pour it into the water in one fluid movement. Repeat with the rest of the eggs. You'll see them begin to cook immediately – don't worry if the edges look a little scruffy.
"Vinegar is an inherently acidic material, so if we add a few drops of vinegar into that boiling water that is going to increase the rate of denaturing and it's going to make that happen faster and help the poached egg hold its shape better."
The swirling water will help prevent the white from "feathering," or spreading out in the pan. Let it poach: Turn off the heat, cover the pan and set your timer for 5 minutes. Don't peek, poke, stir or accost the egg in any way. Lift it out: Remove the egg with a slotted spoon and serve immediately.
Vinegar in the water: Never. Vinegar firms up the whites, but the viscous portion of the whites are going to firm up anyway (and the runny portion is still going to be stringy). The whites always cook faster than the yolks. Firming the whites faster with vinegar simply overcooks them before the yolks are ready.
3Beer & Butter. Beer poached eggs work best with dark and malty beers like a porter or stout. You can also try using a very strong ale.
You can poach an egg without vinegar by substituting with lemon Juice! It might give your egg a slight lemony flavor, but lemon juice serves the same purpose as vinegar when poaching eggs.
To make the best possible poached eggs, bring the eggs to room temperature before poaching. This is because cold eggs will lower the temperature of the water and slow the cooking process.
Eggs taste better in restaurants than they do at home because most peopled not know how to cook them. Restaurants use clarified butter ( milk solids are removed) also they don't overlook them.
If the water is hot enough (near boiling), salt increases the density of the cooking liquid just enough to make the egg bob to the surface when it's about perfectly done. While you can certainly poach eggs without the salt and vinegar, they'll want to sit on the bottom of the pan and thus cook unevenly.
Add one tablespoon of light-colored vinegar to the pot and stir to create a vortex. Pour the ramekin with the egg into the middle of the vortex and set a timer for 3 minutes. Once the egg is done, use a slotted spoon to remove the poached egg.
The poaching water should just barely simmer; rapid boiling will cause the eggs to break up as they cook. Poached eggs can be made ahead of time and held for up to two days. Undercook them slightly so the yolks remain runny when reheated. Refrigerate in enough water to cover the eggs.
A really soft poached egg should take around 2 minutes and a soft-to-firm one will need 4 minutes (it depends on the size of the egg and whether you're using it straight from the fridge). To check if it's done, carefully remove your egg from the pan with a slotted spoon and give it a gentle prod with a teaspoon.
There are two types of poaching: shallow and deep. No mystery here: in shallow poaching, a bed of aromatics (onions, carrots, celery, herbs etc) is used to keep the food off the bottom of the pot, and then liquid is added to partially cover. In deep poaching, the food is completely submerged.
Why It Works. Straining eggs in a fine-mesh strainer removes excess wispy, loose whites, creating tight, perfectly-shaped eggs. Poaching at a 180°F (82°C) sub-simmer means fewer disturbances in the water, and cleaner, more tender cooking.
Use a deep, large pan to poach an egg. Fill it with plenty of water and add a pinch of salt and a dash of white wine vinegar. This will help set the egg.
Olive oil-poached eggs are extra-rich
When poached in olive oil, according to Lifehacker, eggs turn out extra rich — like a fried egg, but with a soft, creamy yolk. Plenty of chefs are fans of poaching eggs in olive oil.