Poached eggs!

Hello everyone,

So to begin my mastery of all things eggy, I decided to learn how to make poached eggs. Poached eggs are a little bit similar to fried eggs except they're cooked in very hot water without any fat, salt or other things. Pure eggy-ness. Egg-tastic. Tired of the egg jokes yet? Too bad I'm afraid, more to come!

So I got this idea after my mum mentioned she read in a cook book that you can poach an egg in a very stylish way by creating a sort of vortex/whirlpool in the pan with a whisk, and then pouring the egg quickly into it.

Now this next bit is speggtacular. The whirlpool allows the egg white to wrap around the yolk and cook in a sort of ball-like fashion. After 2 - 4 minutes you can take it out, wipe the ugly froth from it, place it on a bit of kitchen roll to absorb the excess water, and enjoy a magnifeggcent, runny yet well cooked egg!

It's important that before putting the egg in the water, you add a dash or so of white wine vinegar to the pan. Trust me it does not effect the taste at all but something in the vinegar allows this process to work properly. Think of it as a splash in the ocean; you won't notice it at all.  

Equally, don't add any salt to the water! It breaks down the egg protein and stops it from poaching properly. If you want salt, add it once it's out the pan. 

Just because I think it's easier with some sort of visual reference, here's a video of chef Gordon Ramsay demonstrating this same technique.

Thanks for reading!