Cooking a soft boiled egg really is easy. The main problem you’ll find is the yolk tends to cook quicker than the white so you just need to get timings right.
You’ll find advice on the internet advocating different timings for how runny you want your yolk. Having tried a few different ways in my opinion if you want a soft boiled egg it needs to have a runny yolk with a nicely set white. If you don’t like a runny yolk then go with a hard boiled egg! Anything in between just tastes odd texture wise. If you really do want something in between though try adding an extra minute on to the timing below until you get the yolk consistency you want.
For a hard boiled egg bring a pan of water to the boil. Add your eggs and cook for 10 minutes. Either eat straight away or pop them in a bowl of water to cool down.
For a soft boiled egg there are two clear camps for how to cook. The first favoured by Heston and Delia is to put the eggs into a pan of cold water, bring to the boil then turn off the heat and let the eggs cook in the residual heat. The second is to add eggs to a pan of boiling water and cook. I’ve tried both ways and found better results with the second method with 5 minutes being the perfect time for a runny yolk.
Some people like to keep their eggs in the fridge. Before you start cooking your eggs make sure you have brought them up to room temperature. If they are too cold when you put them into the water it will throw the timings out as they will spend the first bit of cooking time coming up to temperature rather than cooking.
When you put your eggs into the water lower in with a spoon. This negates the risk of you dropping the eggs into the pan and cracking the shells.
You’ll need to make sure you have the rest of your breakfast/dinner ready to go when the eggs have finished cooking as they will continue to cook in the shell. If you leave them too long before serving then they will be over cooked. When your serve crack the top off both eggs so the heat is released from both. The best way to do this is use a knife to tap the shell below the top then stick the knife in and slice the top off.
My perfect way to soft boil an egg
- Use 2 large eggs per person
- Bring a pan of water to the boil. Use a pan big enough to accommodate all the eggs so they have room to move
- Lower your eggs carefully into the water using a slotted spoon
- Cook for 5 minutes exactly
- Remove from the water and serve in egg cups straight away
- Use a knife to chop the tops of the eggs off and reveal the yolk
Buttery toast soldiers are the obvious choice to serve with but if you fancy something different try asparagus wrapped in ham or Parma ham if you like something a bit more salty.
