Perfect Fried Eggs

Butter seasoned before the eggs go in, then a splash of water under a lid, so the whites set through and the edges never brown

· 12 minutes start to finish · refined eggs breakfast

Fried eggs go wrong in one of two ways: the pan is hot enough to crisp the edges brown before the white sets, or it is cool enough to leave the white raw and sliding. Water and a lid solve both. The pan stays on medium, the steam sets the top of the white without touching the yolk, and how long the lid stays on decides exactly how fluid the yolk ends up

Butter first, on medium

Nonstick pan, medium heat, a knob of butter. Nothing here needs to be hot. The butter should melt and foam, not brown

start A knob of butter in a nonstick pan on the hob, eggs in the carton alongside

Season the butter, not just the eggs

Salt and pepper go into the melting butter. It spreads through the fat and seasons the underside of the white, which is otherwise the one part that never gets any

start Salt ground onto the butter melting in the pan +1 min Black pepper ground onto the butter

Wait for it to go smooth

The butter is ready when the foam has settled and it covers the base in an even film. Chives get chopped while that happens

+2 min Butter melted and foaming across the base of the pan +3 min A bunch of chives on a wooden board next to a chef's knife
+4 min Seasoned butter melted smooth across the pan

Eggs in, seasoned again on top

Three eggs straight into the seasoned butter, then salt and pepper over the top. One yolk broke on the way in, which changes nothing except how that egg looks on the plate

+5 min Three eggs cracked into the pan, salt and pepper being ground over them

Water in, lid on

A splash of water poured into the gap at the edge of the pan, then the lid. This is the whole trick. The water turns to steam, the steam sets the top of the white from above, and the base never gets hot enough to brown

+7 min Water poured into the pan from a jug alongside the frying eggs +7 min Glass lid on the pan, steam clouding the underside

Watch through the lid

The whites turn opaque from the outside in and a thin film sets over the yolks. Two to three minutes gives a fully fluid yolk. Longer moves it toward jammy, and nothing about the edges changes while you wait

+8 min Whites set and opaque seen through the misted glass lid

Off the heat

Whites set through, no colour anywhere on them. They lift out in one piece

+10 min One egg lifted onto a blue plate, the other two still in the pan

Chives on top

Chopped chives over each plate. Bread and Wiener sausages on the side

+12 min Two blue plates of fried eggs topped with chopped chives

A fried egg cut open, the yolk running across the plate next to bread and sausages

Recipe

Good UnitsBad UnitsItemDirections
a knobButterMelt in a nonstick pan on medium
SaltGrind over the butter
Black pepperGrind over the butter
3largeEggsCrack in once the butter runs smooth
SaltGrind over the eggs
Black pepperGrind over the eggs
a splashWaterPour in at the edge, lid on, 2 to 3 min
Chives, choppedScatter over off the heat

Commentary, extra notes

  • Pour the water at the edge of the pan rather than over the eggs, so it runs under them instead of washing the seasoning off