Sign in indigo. Think it rings true!
Visiting Lillienne!
These photos are long overdue since I actually went to visit Lillienne in March. But one of the things she convinced me to see was the Chinese garden, which was created in the authentic way (no glue!) and with authentic materials. I definitely recommend going–it’s beautiful.
Cold drinks
Smoothies (green tea and milk tea) at hiroko’s place.
The Perfect Soft-Boiled Egg
After a long absence, it’s only appropriate that I break my silence with great news:
I’m moving to London! In September. For a course in book publishing. Beaming faces all around.
It also means I need to learn how to cook many more dishes than I do now in order to feed myself reasonably well. I don’t think there’ll be much time for experimenting when I get there.
Thus, the Quest for the Perfect Soft-Boiled Egg.
a perfectly peeled soft-boiled egg
I never had soft-boiled eggs as a child. They were one of those magical dishes that appeared only in my very English storybooks, complete with dainty egg cups. A quick Google search told me that you slice the top of the egg off with a knife, then eat the insides with an egg spoon — or with buttered toast cut into strips, called ‘soldiers’.
‘How perfectly charming!’ one might say. My thoughts exactly.
As a complete novice to soft-boiling eggs, I had to Google what to do… and came up with several methods and even more variations upon each method. Begin with cold or boiling water? Should the egg be at room temperatuer or from the fridge? Keep it in the pot while boiling or take it off the heat? How does altitude affect timing? And how does any of this apply to my remarkably slow electric stove? The questions were overwhelming.
Days of experimentation followed. To cut a long story short, I finally hit upon this method of steaming an egg to achieve the desired soft-boiled effect, as tested by Cook’s Illustrated and outlined by Savory Simple. I highly encourage you to go over to Savory Simple and see what your eggs can look like.
just look at that runny yolk
The Perfect Soft-Boiled Egg
1. Add 1/2 inch of water to saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil over medium-high heat.
2. Take egg directly from refrigerator. Use tongs or slotted spoon to gently lay egg on the bottom of the pan. Cover.
3. Turn heat down to medium (optional). Allow egg to steam for 6 1/2 minutes.
4. Remove egg from pan with slotted spoon and run under cold water for 30 seconds or until cool. Peel and serve.
Serve in egg cup with end cut off, or in a bowl mixed up. Add salt and pepper to taste.
I turned the heat to medium after adding the egg — for some reason, I thought that was in the instructions. I don’t know if this really changes anything if the water’s already boiling and steaming away. My egg ended up with set whites and runny yolk and peeled beautifully anyway!
before I mashed them up — I have no egg cups, sadly
The next time I eat a soft-boiled egg may not be until I’m in London — eating them everyday has put me off for some time. Perhaps buying an English egg cup will help stimulate my appetite again!
Incidentally, London is also five hours away from New York. Our blog name remains as truthful as ever.
French restaurant week
Hangar steak, salad, and potato gratin at AOC. Steak was perfectly cooked (I’ve very rarely found steak cooked actually medium rare, as I request it, although to be fair I haven’t gone to many steak places in New York) and potato was phenomenal.
Five Hours Away 