The Quest for the Perfect Half Boiled Egg

Been eating a lot of soft boiled eggs recently sometimes up to 6 a day. Don’t worry i only eat the whites, never the yolks. Protein quota, you know.

Most of the time i eat it at the coffeeshop behind my office, the Nepalese waiters know very well the texture that i want from the whites. And they get it right everytime, without fail. (Unlike the other coffeeshop down the road).

So i tried making it myself a few weeks back. I googled “how to make half boiled eggs” and tried the various methods. First i tried simmering the eggs for 4 minutes, turned out pretty well, except the eggs were beginninng to harden (making it a pain to peel). I then tried 6 minutes off the fire, it was a little worse. The was more hardening, and the centres weren’t white yet. I then realized the second time i did it was with eggs from the refridgerator, the first batch weren’t.

Anyway by then my wife took over the eggs-perimentation. She’s got it down pat after a few tries.

And she still doesn’t know what to do with the egg yolks i leave behind.

10 Comments

Ann

August 11, 2009 at 4:16 am Reply

i think they use those egg containers where you put hot water at a certain level depending on how you like your eggs. And when all the hot water has drained off, you get your perfect hard boil egg. Maybe that is why the Nepalese ppl can get it right ALL the time!

simon

August 11, 2009 at 7:19 am Reply

actually i suspect the guys at the coffeeshop pre-make the eggs and warm it up when i order. Else how can they do it in less than 2 minutes?

btw we’ve found a much nearer place to have good fried spaghetti…

JW

August 11, 2009 at 8:53 am Reply

Infact, there is a easier way of cooking it. The only thing you need is … rice cooker.

The base rules are, lay down 1-2 pieces of dry tissue in the clean cooker pot.
Sprinkle some water on top of tissue that you’ve laid. Put on top the eggs on tissue.
Turn on the power & press on.

The moment the cooker done with the cooking (turn to “warm” in my case), you’ll have the half boil egg.
Results may varies based on the water you’ve spinkled & the size of cooker that you have. So, do experiment to find your favourite setting ;).

simon

August 11, 2009 at 11:29 am Reply

hmmm i must try this. thanks for the tip!

Shan

August 11, 2009 at 12:49 pm Reply

Hi Simon

Ahh I have fond childhood memories of my mother terrorizing me by forcing me to eat half boiled eggs. And hers weren’t the perfect kind, they were super runny!

I don’t mind them so much now but the taste still reminds me of how much I didn’t like them many years ago.