The simplest dishes are often the hardest to cook truly well. To fry an egg, you just need to crack a few into a pan. But to make it perfect, you'll have to put in some effort! We're revealing the main secrets that chefs use!
How to Cook Perfect Sunny-Side Up Eggs
1. Choose only fresh eggs. The white should be firm and not runny, and the yolk – a delicate yellow and convex;
2. Before cooking, take the eggs out of the refrigerator to let them warm up to room temperature;
3. Heat the oil well in advance so it spreads evenly over the surface;
4. Make sure your oil is suitable for high-temperature cooking. For example, some types of olive oil can spoil in a pan and ruin the dish;
5. Try a mixture of vegetable and butter – approximately 1:1. The vegetable oil will provide the necessary temperature, and the butter – a pleasant flavor;
6. Jamie Oliver recommends not skimping on the amount of oil, and simply removing the excess with a paper towel afterwards;
7. To keep the yolk intact, crack the shell against a flat countertop, not with a knife;
8. Lucinda Scala Quinn, cookbook author, believes you should add a spoonful of water to the egg. This will make the white more tender;
9. Fry the eggs over medium heat and don't cover immediately if you don't want a hard yolk;
10. For classic sunny-side up eggs, you can place the lid on after about a minute;
11. Cook the dish covered for 1-2 minutes, depending on your preferred doneness;
12. To cook fried eggs with a tender and impeccably smooth texture, crack the eggs into slightly warmed oil, keep the heat minimal, and fry longer. This is how world-renowned French chef Fernand Point advises cooking them;
13. If the fried egg has started to burn on one side, but the top is still almost raw – flip it for about 30 seconds. The yolk inside will still be slightly runny;
14. Another option is to baste the undercooked white with the hot oil the egg is cooking in;
15. To carefully remove the fried egg, choose soft but thin spatulas. For example, silicone ones;
16. Salt and pepper the fried egg directly on the plate. According to Gordon Ramsay, this helps preserve the texture and color;
17. Experiment with recipes. Add tomatoes, spinach, all sorts of vegetables, herbs, and spices.
