Recipe: Poach an Egg with a Microwave!

There are so many ways to cook an egg, and some of my faves are scrambled, sunny side up, and soft-boiled. Now the standard method of cooking an egg to perfection would be via a stove and some other ingredients (based on your cooking style and method) right? 

Well guess what? Recently, I have been hankering for some poached eggs (eggs Benedict anyone?) but I was too scared to try to make one for myself. Not only am I such a klutz, the intimidation of cooking these eggs at a certain temperature for a certain amount of time scares the living daylight out of me! I'm pretty sure I'd somehow botch things up and the eggs would be super well cooked and looking splendidly ugly!

So one day, as I cooked my lunch in office (yes I do this often), I began wondering; what if there is an easy way to poach eggs in the microwave? And with that, i began researching for microwave recipes. Easily enough, I came across this wonderful technique: How to poach an egg in the microwave (Thanks Pinterest, you’re a real lifesaver!)

Without further ado, here's my simple trick to making poached eggs using an egg, some water and vinegar, and a microwave.

What you need:

Directions: 

• Crack an egg into a cup.
• Next, fill the cup with approximately 1/3 cup of water 

Note: Use warm water (room temperature) for this. I’ve tested it out with both cold water and hot water. Needless to say the results were pretty dismal. Cold water increases cooking time so your timing gauge may be a bit off, and hot water 'cooks' the egg progressively before you place the cup into the microwave

• Add in half teaspoon of vinegar into the concoction. Alternatively, you can also add the vinegar into the water before pouring the mixture into the cup.

• Now it's cooking time! This is a wee bit tricky, and you may need to experiment several times before coming up with the perfect cooking time for your eggs (different microwave settings and so on). I have had read a few tutorials, and each tutorial had indicated different time settings and heat settings based on the microwave used. 
• After some experimentation, I discovered that 45 seconds on HIGH mode was enough (for me) to poach an egg nicely. Any longer and it’ll be hard boiled (yolk), and if you take it our early it’ll be soft boiled.

ProTip: If you don't have a timer handy, and your microwave is not the electronic timer type, try counting "One-Mississippi, Two- Mississippi...."or switch on your timer app on your phone :D

• Once the microwave dings, take the cup out and gently scoop out the egg with a perforated ladle, a spoon, or a fine sieve (if you have any).
• And there you have it, a nice poached egg! Perfect for your heavy meals or sandwiches J

 Here's how I decided to gleefully celebrate my first attempt on poaching an egg in a microwave:

Buttery open toast sandwich with peppercorn beef salami and a perfectly poached 'microwaved' egg ^.^

Have you attempted poaching an egg using a microwave before? =]

P/S: If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below. I'll try my best to answer them (I'm no chef expert so sometimes, my answer may not be completely accurate!) x_X

PPS: Hey everyone! My poached egg article is also released at Jewelpie's website ^.^ *shameless plug*