Soft boiled egg (Αυγό μελάτο)

Soft boiled egg (Αυγό μελάτο)

The perfect way to prepare, and eat, a soft boiled egg

Our daughters were really fortunate because when they were little, and we each had to return to work after our long (but not long enough) maternity leaves, they were cared for by our parents during the day.  The love of grandparents is so special, and we are forever grateful that our girls had the opportunity to be coddled and cuddled by them, and chased around the house, the back yard, and the park by them, yielding spoons and bowls of food.  That’s love!

One of the things that our parents would always try to have our kids eat was eggs.  If they managed to have them eat an egg a day (cholesterol is apparently for adults to worry about), then they felt accomplished and good!  Although our parents have taught us that there are many ways to enjoy eggs, such as fried in olive oil (yum!), in an omelette, or mixed in with sausage and vegetables, they of course knew that little mouths were much more suited to soft boiled eggs.  Avgo melato (Αυγό μελάτο) was usually a mid-morning snack and was eagerly consumed, particularly by their oldest grand-daughter.  In fact, when she realized that she had eaten her entire egg, she cried. Real tears would roll down her rosy, chubby cheeks, her lips would quiver and she would sweetly blubber and protest the fact that her egg was done.  Can you guess what our parents did next?

Soft boiled egg (Αυγό μελάτο)

Helpful hints

Have you noticed how many varieties of eggs there are in the grocery stores and markets these days?  It can easily get confusing.  When purchasing eggs we tend to buy the ones identified as large; this is the size usually used for baking, and they are the perfect portion size.  As well, we try to purchase eggs from farms where we know that the chickens are well treated and healthy.  Incidentally, the colour of your shell makes no difference to the quality or taste of your egg.

Having eggs crack while they are cooking is so discouraging.  We have found that bringing the water to boil while the egg is in the pot is one way to reduce the amount of breakage; so is starting off with eggs that are at room temperature.  We have also heard that adding salt to the water or inserting a metal spoon into the bottom of the pot are good techniques as well.  We’re not sure that any of these has been proven without a doubt, but they are worth a try.

The directions below are for a soft-boiled, 3-minute egg.  If you’re in the mood for a hard-boiled egg, head on over to our previous blog post and read how delicious these are with some Greek toppings!  Check out the recipe for Greek-style hard-boiled eggs here!

You could definitely top your soft-boiled egg with some salt and pepper, but we actually prefer it without.  What we do love however, is to eat our soft-boiled eggs with toast, lightly buttered.  Delicious!

Looking for some more egg-y recipes? How about these?

Egg salad with feta and dill

Egg zucchini muffins

Spanakopita inspired deviled eggs

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Soft boiled egg (Αυγό μελάτο)

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Soft boiled egg (Αυγό μελάτο)

Soft boiled egg

The perfect way to prepare, and eat, a soft boiled egg!
5 from 2 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American, Greek
Total Time: 10 minutes
Servings: 1 serving
Author: Mia Kouppa

Equipment

  • Small sauce pot

Ingredients

  • 1 large egg
  • salt, and pepper to taste optional
  • toast, buttered optional, but highly recommended

Instructions

  • Place your egg in a small pot of water and bring to a boil.  When your water starts boiling, reduce the heat to medium and cook for 3 minutes.
  • Remove your egg from the hot water and submerge it in a bowl of cold water until it is easy to handle.
  • Using the back of a butter knife, carefully crack the shell about 1/3 of the way down from the pointy end of your egg.  Carefully remove the upper portion of the shell.
  • Enjoy your soft-boiled egg with a small spoon and some buttered toast cut into thin strips, thin enough to be dunked into your egg yolk.
  • Enjoy!

Thanks for sharing!

3 Comments

  1. indianeskitchen says:

    My favorite kind of egg!

  2. mad & delicacy - Italian recipes says:

    Thanks for your useful hints! It’s always difficult to prepare a perfect soft boiled egg.

    1. miakouppa says:

      We’re so glad that this post was helpful! Thanks for stopping by 🙂 Have a great day!

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