Basic Kitchen Tips: How to make Singapore coffee shop-style soft-boiled eggs

SPH Brightcove Video
Episode 10: How to make the perfect Singapore coffeeshop-style soft-boiled eggs with runny yolks and whites.

SINGAPORE - A typical Singapore-style breakfast at a coffee shop often consists of soft-boiled eggs, along with kaya toast and a cup of kopi or teh.

The Singapore-style soft-boiled eggs differ from soft-boiled eggs in the West. In Singapore, our soft-boiled eggs are runny and wobbly, and you crack them open like you would a raw egg, whereas in the West, the white is almost fully cooked - the egg can be topped or peeled like a hard-boiled egg - and the yolk, goey and runny.

In this final episode, beginner cooks can learn to make the Singapore coffee shop-style eggs at home, and you don't even need a stove for this.

Fresh room temperature eggs work best because they are less likely to crack when placed in boiling water.

Place two eggs in a small pot - I prefer to use stainless steel pot - or a vessel that conducts heat well, and pour in about a litre or so of boiling water, enough for the eggs to be fully submerged. Leave the eggs in the pot for 6 to 7 minutes, depending how runny you like the whites and yolks. You can also pour boiling water into the pot or vessel, then lower the eggs in, as I demonstrate in the video.

Use this method as a rough guide. The final cooking time depends on how large your eggs are, how big the pot is, how many eggs there are in the pot, and so forth. For instance, adjust the timing downwards if you have smaller kampung eggs. It may take a little bit of trial and error to get it right.

Crack the eggs into a bowl and serve with a dash of dark soya sauce and ground white pepper.

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