perfectly cooked whole egg

[zboni]

Had a salad lyonnaise in a restaurant in Chicago last week and on top was this perfectly cooked whole egg. It looked like a hard boiled egg, but when you cut into it, the yolk just oozed out over the salad and was unbelievably good. The white was fully cooked, no yucky stuff. It was just amazing. I emailed the restaurant to ask how they did it, but they're not answering. Any hints out there?

[jvanderh]

I couldn't be without a drop-in egg timer like this: http://www.amazon.com/Norpro-Egg-Rite...

And I agree that soft boiled (or soft simmered/coddled) is what you're looking for. Just make sure you note what size egg you're using. It seems to be configured for large eggs. Even with a large egg, I go one notch less than soft boiled unless I am going to cool it in ice water rather than tap water. For an extra large egg, add a notch to whatever you'd do for large, and subtract a notch for a medium egg.

[Cynsa]

perfectly cooked whole egg with Ramen
http://chubbyhubby.net/recipes/the-coolest-egg/

there's the slow poached egg
http://iamafoodblog.com/the-easiest-poached-egg-recipe/

or onsen tamago
http://hungerhunger.blogspot.com/2012...

[zboni]

Thanks! I will try it.

[zboni]

Thank you all for your suggestions. I will try a number of them and see which works.

[janniecooks]

Salad Lyonniase typically is topped with a poached egg. It's not complicated, no special equipment required, just a fresh egg, poached. Google can provide lots of links for the salad and for poaching eggs properly.

[wattacetti]

That was my original thought but the OP wrote that it looked like a hard-boiled egg. Poached eggs have a different shape.

[zboni]

It wasn't poached. It looked like a hard boiled egg, but with a soft center. YUM!

[janniecooks]

You know what, you are both right that I did overlook the phrase "looked like a hard boiled egg" in the original post, and instead focused on the thread title. I'd retract my post now if I could! Thanks for pointing it out to me.

[ipsedixit]

You're describing a "soft-boiled egg"

There are all sorts of scientific ways to make sure you get the precise temp and time to do this, which you can read about here: http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/10/th...

But to make life simple and to cook like a true "cave man" just bring a pot of water to boil, drop in your egg, immediately reduce your heat to low, cover your pot and let it simmer for about 4 minutes. Remove egg, then shock it in cold water (for easier peeling). And, voila, soft boiled eggs.

[Harters]

Isnt that exactly what I said?

[ipsedixit]

Yeah, but it sounds better in American. :-)

[Harters]

Oh, yeah, I see what you mean :-0

The OP will probably understand you better than me writing in my northwest England accent.

[KSlink]

SHUT YOU you two, you are both too damn funny!!!!

[Bkeats]

could have been a sous vide egg.

[Harters]

Isnt the OP just describing a plain old ordinary boiled egg?

Put in a pan of cold water, bring quickly to boil and then reduce to a simmer for 4 minutes. You should have a perfectly cooked white and a soft yolk. Obviously you need to exercise more care peeling than if it was hard boiled.

[trewq]

I have cooked eggs like that. What you need to do is bring a pot of water to boil. When it is boiling you take a cold egg out of the fridge and gentle lower it into the boiling water and let it cook for 7- 8 minutes. At first i thought that goes against everything I've been taught but it works.

[roxlet]

I think you'll have to experiment a bit, but this is what I think-- put your egg into a pot with water to cover, and when it comes to a boil, shut it off, and leave it for about 8 minutes, run under cool water and peel the egg. I would look at the degree of softness of the yolk at that point, and then add or subtract time in 30 second intervals until you find the degree of softness in the middle that you want.

[wattacetti]

Controlled time and temperature with a circulator would be my guess. Martin Lersch over at Khymos has two articles on making the perfect egg.

[Coogles]

A circulator would be the most fool-proof and consistent method. There is a good demonstration of the differences small changes in the bath temperature have on the finished product in the first of this year's Harvard Food and Science lecture series with Dave Arnold and Harold McGee as the speakers. Toward the end of the presentation they open a series of eggs cooked at increasing temperatures in 1 degree increments. The lectures can be viewed for free on YouTube and iTunes.

The lecture in question is here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ft0cw...