Making sunny side-up eggs may seem easy, but many of us struggle to get them just right. The whites are either unset or overcooked, and the yolks are either runny or hard. But it is possible to make perfect sunny side-up eggs at home, every time.
So, get cracking and enjoy your breakfast!
In addition to the essentials: an egg, oil or butter, and a pan with a lid, you need a little bit of patience to get the perfect fried egg.
“Eggs should be treated with love and gentleness so that they’re glistening, velvety and bright,” said New York-based chef Mariam Shah.
This patience needs to be directed towards the heat you’re cooking your egg over too. It’s better to go a little lower than you think you should, rather than use a pan that’s too hot.
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High heat increases the risk of burning the butter or ruining the texture of the eggs. “My least favourite method of frying an egg [is] in piping-hot oil where the edges get burnt and crispy. I have no idea why people like crunchy, chewy eggs!” Ms Shah said.
If you can source them, fresh eggs are the best option. Ms Shah even went as far as to say using fresh eggs makes the cooking process easier.
“When you cook with fresh eggs, the whites stay close to the yolk. They don’t spread all over the frying pan like limp skin off fish! They have a healthy, plump consistency.” Ms Shah said. Of course, you can use store-bought eggs but if you’ve got access to fresh eggs, take advantage of it.
How to make the perfect sunny side-up egg
First, gather your ingredients and equipment. You’ll need a small pan with a tight-fitting lid, some butter (or other fat), salt and pepper, a couple of teaspoons of water and the egg. You probably won’t need a spatula but it’s useful to have one handy, and a knife.
Using a small pan will keep the egg from spreading too much (especially if it’s store-bought) and the lid makes the magic happen. You can fry one or two eggs at a time using a small pan.
Butter is a great fat for making eggs but feel free to improvise. “I fry my eggs in some wonderfully robust olive oil. Sometimes I’ll use olive oils that have been infused with herbs or garlic,” Ms Shah said.
Now it’s time to get cooking. Heat the small pan over medium-high heat and add the butter while it’s warming. Swirl the butter around the pan as it’s melting and then turn the heat down to medium.
If you’re feeling lucky, crack the egg directly into the pan. If you’re not confident doing this though, crack it into a ramekin so you have the option to fish out any rogue shell pieces.
“To make sure there are no runny whites, take a knife and poke some holes in the whites,” Ms Shah said. “That breaks the membrane and cooks it fully with the rest of the whites.”
Add a couple of teaspoons of water to the pan, and then quickly cover it with the lid to steam the egg.
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Leave it completely alone for around two minutes. Avoid the temptation to lift the lid for a peek but don’t let it cook for much longer than those two minutes.
Remove the lid, slide the egg onto a plate and season. “I season with salt and pepper, focusing mostly on the yolk. That way, when I slice into the yolk it will carry that salt and pepper over the rest of the egg,” Ms Shah said.
An extra tip
If you’re someone who likes to flip your eggs to ensure the whites are cooked, try basting them instead. This method is great if you’re using an infused oil.
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Rather than adding water and steaming, “if you want to cook the top of your yolk so that it has a pink film and isn’t bright yellow, all you need to do is use a spoon to take some of that hot oil from the pan and [gently spread] it over the yolk/egg”, Ms Shah said. “This method of basting with hot oil from the pan will also ensure that any runny whites will get fully cooked.”
There you have it, the perfect sunny side-up egg.
How do you cook your eggs? Do you pierce the whites to get that perfect texture? Let us know in the comments section below.
Separate the yolk and white. Put the white in the pan first and as it starts to cook add the yolk. This way you get your white cooked perfectly and the yolk in the middle.