Fresh, high-grade eggs give the most compact
shape, and straining off the thin white also
helps. The ideal pan temperature for a pale,
tender fried egg is around 250ºF/ 120ºC, when
butter has finished sizzling but hasn’t yet
browned, or oil to which a drop of water has
been added has stopped sputtering. At higher
temperatures, you lose tenderness but gain a
more flavorsome, browned and crisp surface.
The top of the egg can be cooked by turning
the egg over after a minute or so, or by adding
a teaspoon of water to the pan and covering it
to trap the resulting steam, or — as in the
browned Chinese “coin-purse” egg — the egg
can be folded over onto itself when barely set,
so that top and bottom are crisped but the yolk
remains protected and creamy.
Poached Threads
A kind of poached egg that was enjoyed in
17th century France and England, and still
is in modern China and Portugal, is egg