We love eggs around here. Probably enough to actually warrant backyard chickens, though I’m always going to say no to that.
And fall means that we’re back into soups and stews, which means that ramen is a regular feature. I’ve shared my basic ramen recipe already, but, really, you should master the jammy egg first. Why? Because while there are endless variations of ramen, all if it should be topped with a jammy egg. Because you’d be sad to make ramen without having mastered this egg first, practice it once or twice, serving the soft boiled egg with toast for breakfast.
Above, a jammy egg in a porcelain egg cup. I first saw a soft boiled egg cup in Bread and Jam with Francis as a child and always hoped to grow up to be fancy enough to eat my own breakfast this way.
Ingredients and equipment
- As many eggs as you want to eat right away, cold from the refridgerator
- A pot large enough for all the eggs to fit, but not much larger
- Ladle or spaghetti server or spider skimmer
- Water to cover the eggs by about 1 inch
- Bowl to hold cooked eggs
- Ice or cold water
Directions
- Bring water to a boil.
- Using a ladle or spaghetti stirrer or spider slimmer, lower the eggs quickly but gently into the water.
- Set timer for 6 minutes and seconds. (If, after this attempt, you think the yolk is too jammy, add 15 seconds to the cook time. But don’t go past 6 minutes and 45 seconds or you’ve missed the point.)
- The cold eggs will immediately lower the temperature of the water, but it will increase back to boiling quickly. Don’t let it come to a full boil. Instead, maintain a gentle boil.
- As end of time nears, place ice into a bowl.
- When eggs are finished cooking, use the ladle or spaghetti server or spider slimmer to remove them quickly but gently from the pot and place them into the bed of ice. Add a little water to cover them. Chill for 2 minutes.
- If serving in an egg cup, crack from wide end, where the air bubble in an egg is.
- If serving sliced in half length-wise for ramen, peel gently.
Family Foxhole 