Perfect Sunny-Side Up Eggs

Important: You need a nonstick skillet. I’ve tried this method with regular skillets and it just never works for me. Add a small amount of canola oil to the skillet—not enough to have much depth to it at all. (Note: you can also use butter OR bacon grease if you’re into those sorts of things. But those bring along some particles and some color, and you won’t wind up with as pristine an egg. Not that that really matters in the grand scheme of human history, but I thought I’d mention it.)

Heat the canola oil over medium heat. You don’t want it too, too hot, as you’re going to cook the eggs pretty slowly. You don’t want the oil so hot that the egg sizzles and turns white the second you crack it in! The whites should remain clear for several seconds before they start to turn white.

Sorry to be bossy. I’ve had lots of trial and error with this one and I want to save you the emotional pain.

So here’s what you do:

1. Once the oil is mildly hot, crack in an egg. (Note: three is about as many as I can tend to at a time.) The oil should not cover the whites; if anything, it should just come over the edges a tiny bit.

2. Once the eggs begin to turn white, use a small spoon to carefully spoon the hot oil over the whites only. Go from egg to egg, spooning the oil over the whites. This will help the whites cook slowly so that they won’t be slimy. *Important: Don’t spoon any oil over the yolks yet!

3. After a minute or two, touch the whites of one of the eggs and make sure they’re set/not jiggly and loose. At that time, you can spoon oil over the yolks to help them set on the surface.

*Note: The reason you need to wait before spooning hot oil over the yolks is that immediately after cracking the eggs into the pan, there is still egg white covering the yolk. If you were to spoon the hot oil over the yolk immediately, it would cause the white on the yolk to turn white, which will result in the yolk having a cloudy covering. And that’s a tragic thing! On the other hand, if you wait, the egg will settle into the skillet and the whites will sheet over the sides of the yolk and eventually leave mostly yolk there. So a minute or two into the process, if you spoon the hot oil over the yolk, you won’t get that cloudy appearance.

4. Continue spooning the oil over the egg until it appears to be as done as you’d like. (You can gauge it by lightly jiggling it or poking it with the spoon.)

5. Remove the eggs from the pan with a slotted spatula, then–this is important–drain them briefly on a paper towel before serving. (I fold a paper towel and hold it in my left hand, then place the egg on the towel with my right hand, then I just slide it onto the plate! You can also just keep the egg on the spatula and pat the bottom of the spatula on the paper towel to try to get most of the oil off the egg.)

#sunnysideup #eggs #egg