Turkish · Breakfast · From the menu Media Mañana
Turkish eggs, warm harissa oil, artisan bread
Huevos turcos, aceite de harissa, pan artesano
Poached eggs on garlic yoghurt at room temperature, with harissa butter poured over hot so it runs red into the white. Twelve minutes from a standing start.
Two temperatures make this dish: the yoghurt has to be room temperature, not fridge cold, and the butter has to be poured genuinely hot. Cold yoghurt under a hot egg is unpleasant and it is the single most common way people get this wrong at home.
Ingredients
- 500 g thick Greek yoghurt, out of the fridge an hour beforehand
- 2 cloves garlic, grated to a paste with salt
- Juice of half a lemon
- 12 very fresh eggs
- 2 tbsp white wine vinegar for the water
- 120 g butter
- 2 tbsp harissa
- 1 tsp Aleppo pepper or mild chilli flakes
- Dill and mint, chopped
- Good bread, thickly sliced and toasted
Method
- Beat the yoghurt with the garlic, lemon and a good pinch of salt until smooth and loose. Leave it out; it must not be cold when it goes on the plate.
- Bring a wide pan of water to a bare simmer, so bubbles rise occasionally rather than constantly, and add the vinegar.
- Crack each egg into a small sieve first and let the loose white drain away. This is what gives you a neat egg instead of a cloud.
- Slide them in and poach three minutes for a set white and a completely liquid yolk. Lift them onto kitchen paper.
- Melt the butter and let it foam and just begin to brown, then take it off the heat and stir in the harissa and Aleppo pepper. It should be loose and vividly red.
- Spread the yoghurt across warm, not hot, plates. Sit two eggs on each, pour the harissa butter over so it bleeds into the yoghurt, then herbs and salt.
- Serve with the toast immediately, while the butter is still moving.
Serve it with. Strong coffee and nothing sweet until after.