A fried egg, three minutes, and the two details that decide how it comes out: how hot the oil is when the egg goes in, and when you take it off.
Two things decide how it comes out
A fried egg has three ingredients and about ninety seconds of cooking, so almost everything about the result comes down to two decisions.
The first is how hot the oil is when the egg goes in. Medium heat, ready when the surface shimmers and a flick of water spits off it. Cooler than that and the white spreads out thin, pale and greasy; hotter and the edges brown and crisp while the middle is still liquid.
The second is when you take it off. That is a matter of taste and the recipe's own note says so.
Crack the shell, not the egg
The old instruction said to crack the egg in half over the pan, which reads like an instruction to split the egg itself.
What it means: tap the shell on the edge of the pan or a flat surface, open it with your thumbs and let the egg slide into the oil. Close to the surface, so the yolk does not break on the way down.
Salt afterwards
Not in the oil and not on the raw egg.
Salt on an uncooked yolk pulls moisture out of it and leaves small pale marks on the surface where the crystals sat. Salt scattered into hot oil spits.
It goes on once the egg is on the plate, which is what the third step says.
Two tablespoons of oil
That is generous for one egg and it opens up the other method. Instead of flipping the egg, tilt the pan slightly and spoon the hot oil over the top of the white repeatedly.
It sets the white above the yolk while leaving the yolk untouched, which is how you get a fried egg with a completely liquid centre and no risk of breaking it on the turn.
More eggs
- Huevos pericos — the Colombian breakfast scramble.
- Boiled eggs — timings for every stage of yolk.
- Chicken and cheese omelette — folded and filled.
- Arepa de huevo — an egg fried inside an arepa.
Fried Eggs FAQ
Medium heat, and ready when it shimmers and a flick of water spits. Too cool and the white spreads out thin and soaks up oil; too hot and the edges brown before the white has set.
After it comes out. Salt on a raw yolk draws water out and leaves pale speckles, and salt in hot oil spits.
The recipe does, after a minute. The alternative is to spoon the hot oil over the top instead, which sets the white above the yolk without turning the egg. Two tablespoons of oil is enough for that.
Take it off sooner. A minute a side gives a yolk set at the edges and soft in the middle; thirty seconds less leaves it runny.
The oil was not hot enough, or the egg is old. A fresh egg holds a tighter white; an older one spreads however hot the pan is.
It helps a great deal, which is what the recipe's own note says. In a regular pan use more oil and do not try to move the egg until the white has set.
📖 Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons oil
- Salt (to taste)
Notas
Instructions
- Put the oil in the pan over medium heat. When it shimmers and a drop of water spits, crack the egg shell on the edge of the pan and open it straight into the oil.
- After a minute, flip it to fry the other side and leave it for one more minute. Less if you want the yolk soft, more if you want it firm.
- Lift it out, salt it, and serve.
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