(C) Alec Muffett's DropSafe blog.
Author Name: Alec Muffett
This story was originally published on allecmuffett.com. [1]
License: CC-BY-SA 3.0.[2]


how to cook the perfect soft-boiled duck egg

2010-04-08 12:04:08+00:00

I have three kinds of neighbour: neighbours who are lovely, neighbours who are strange and insular and who don’t interact with the world, and neighbours who have screaming matches with teenage children in the middle of the night, feel their gardens are best planted with beercans and broken glass, and who set fire to their houses for amusement – or possibly as an artistic statement, I’m not sure.

Amongst the lovely neighbours are Gem and Charlie, and amongst their lovely traits are of occasionally gifting me with duck and hen eggs that are laid by their flock; the duck eggs especially are huge, a soft blue-white (well, duh) and with yolks so yellow as to be almost tangerine. Yellow is simply not the word, unless prefixed by “deep cadmium”.

Having experienced the birds at first hand I’d call the eggs “aggressively free range” given the fowls’ single-minded pursuit of exploring my garden (memo to self: maybe it’s about time you rebuilt the fence?) – but I forgive everything, everything, for the near erotic pleasure of these soft-boiled eggs on toast.

For me the perfect egg has a fully set white, and the heat is just starting to impinge on the yolk, thickening it to a syrup but without really setting it yet. Method:

Saucepan, three-quarters filled with water hot from the kettle. Pinch of salt. Serious heat on the hob. Boiling vigourously, tumults of hell-style.

Take up to two eggs (update: at room temperature) and for each work out which is the blunt, more rounded end. Using a substantial needle, pin or similar sharp point, drill a tiny hole in the blunt end. This allows the air-pocket to vent gas quickly without cracking the shell, when you drop the eggs into boiling water.

Set a timer; these timings are an estimate and subject to tweaking depending on egg-freshness, but they’re approximately what I use:

XL hen eggs: 4m20

M duck eggs: 5m10

L duck eggs: 5m40

Using a slotted spoon drop the eggs into the vigourously boiling water, and start the timer.

Make toast – Ideally fresh bread, butter at room temperature so it’s spreadable. Don’t faff about.

When the timer expires, use the spoon to remove the eggs.

DO NOT QUENCH THE EGGS IN COLD WATER – drop them straight into eggcups and serve immediately. Hack the top off and dip soldiers, or spoon the rich, unctuous goo over buttered toast, sprinkle salt and/or freshly grated pepper.

This works any time of day – with tea for breakfast, or a crisp white for a light, late dinner.

UPDATE: something different: poached goose egg, picture; if folk are interested in the method, let me know. [June 2012]
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[2] URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

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