Poached eggs when pressed for time

I love eggs. My favorite preparation is soft boiled but soft boiling is such a pain. The timing is annoying and if you should want to peel the egg like I usually do then you’re really in for a struggle. For a while all I wanted to do was figure out how the Japanese prepared the eggs I would order at ramen places in Tokyo (see video). I’ve since given up on this quest likening it to finding the loch ness monster. A more attainable goal has been discovering the easiest method of poaching eggs. A poached egg is not as good as a peeled soft boiled egg but makes up for it in ease of prep. The only thing that bothered me about poaching eggs was having to clean a pot just to get one poached egg. Thus began my experimentation with microwave poaching.

When you do searches for microwaved poaching you discover the basics – you add an egg to a container of water and then microwave it.  I didn’t however find any sites that talked about the details that make for a perfect poached eggs.

Some problems that I encountered, and weren’t discussed: overcooking/undercooking, egg breaking apart, egg yolk settling to the bottom.

After experimenting for some time, I believe I’ve uncovered the perfect method for microwave poaching an egg.

1. add a teaspoon of vinegar to a coffee mug
2. crack a raw egg into the mug
3. add boiling water to the mug (this step is really easy for me b/c i have a dedicated water boiler.)
4. immediately microwave mug for 30 seconds

step 1 helps combat the breaking apart of eggs. The order of steps 2 and 3 help combat the problem of the egg sinking to the bottom of the cup and the egg yolk settling.

Perfect poached eggs in the microwave and all you have to clean is a coffee mug! [note: even w/o a water boiler i don't think you'd have to clean a pot where all you did was boil water...]

A meal I cooked using the poached egg technique. sweet.