Kaitlin, a cook and founder of Modern Vintage Cooking, has shared her secret to making the perfect fried egg every time – and you don’t need any butter or oil
Frying eggs might seem like a doddle, but there’s nothing worse than your egg disintegrating in the pan and turning rubbery due to an excess of oil and butter.
Kaitlin, a culinary whizz and founder of Modern Vintage Cooking, has revealed she shuns the use of butter or oil when frying eggs as it often results in a “big mess”, opting instead for a mere splash of water.
She explained: “I’ve discovered that there is another way. It’s called ‘steam-frying.’ You can do it with all kinds of foods, but I love using the method for fried eggs. It’s kind of a cross between poaching (which I also love, but is a bit of a hassle as well) and frying.”
It may sound odd, but it’s incredibly easy to overcook an egg when you use butter or oil as most people tend to use too much, leading to a greasy, burnt fried egg.
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Many folks also ruin their fried egg by attempting to flip it over to cook the top, which can be a hassle when you’re trying to whip up a simple brekkie.
However, adding water to a frying pan generates steam, which gently cooks the egg from above, preventing it from burning as the frying pan isn’t on for an extended period, reports the Express.
The steam cooks the entire egg simultaneously so it will cook swiftly and will also cook the top, resulting in a perfect golden and wobbly yolk without the need to flip it.
Steam frying is a truly straightforward cooking technique and once you’ve got the hang of it, you’ll consistently produce a perfectly cooked egg in less than five minutes with minimal effort.
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How to whip up the perfect fried egg
You will need:
- A teaspoon of water
- One egg
- A frying pan with a lid
- Cooking spray
Step-by-step instructions:
Kick off by warming your frying pan over a medium-high heat on the hob. Give the pan a quick spritz with some cooking spray, then crack the egg into a small bowl.
Once the pan’s hot enough, swiftly tip the egg from the bowl into the pan. Cracking the egg into a bowl first makes it a doddle to fish out any rogue shell fragments.
Turn down the heat to medium and let the egg sizzle for a minute until it starts to turn white but isn’t fully set yet. Next, drizzle a teaspoon of water around the rim of the pan, reduce the heat and pop the lid on the frying pan.
Let the egg cook for another minute, then simply lift off the lid and voila – your flawlessly cooked fried egg is ready to tuck into.