Bacon and eggs, what a perfect pairing. I’m partial to a fried egg, over easy so there’s no risk of gooey egg white messing up proceedings. This morning however it’s poached eggs. There’s nothing tricky about poaching an egg – there’s far too much technique talk in recipes about how to get it right. You don’t need vinegar in the water, you don’t need any special equipment and you don’t need to cook one egg at a time!

This morning I had five eggs in the pan together and they were perfect….this how I do it…

You need a wide shallow pan, a frying pan is ideal. You only need water to a depth which will just cover the eggs. In the photo above I have about 2 inches of water, the tops of the eggs are just peeking out.

You don’t need to swirl the water (which is only practical if you are cooking one at a time). Just get the water up to a boil, turn it down to a simmer and crack each egg in – in quick succession. The water may appear to stop simmering, it’s just because the temperature of the eggs (especially if they have come out of the fridge) is bringing the overall temperature down. Don’t be tempted to crank up the heat, they’ll quickly turn into boiled eggs if you do. I splash the water across the tops of the eggs to close the yolk.

Get your toast on, butter it and on the plate ready for the eggs.

After no more than 3 – 4 minutes they will be ready. Turn the heat off and take them out with a slotted spoon, this ensures you don’t end up with water transferring on to your toast. I trim off the straggly bits of egg white – just for presentation. Salt & pepper to taste and away you go.

Lovely on top of a rosti, nasi goreng and salads…

My preference is for free range or organic eggs but when I’m home they come straight from my Dads chook house!