Poached Eggs with Lemongrass Cream

The humble egg is the perfect complete, nutritious food encased in a convenient, individual package. It’s also very cheap!

Poaching eggs can be tricky, but if you follow the instructions below you should get good results. This recipe makes a fresh tasting weekday meal when serve with toast, or an elegant weekend meal when served with Asian-Style Mash (see recipe below) and foraged samphire.
 

Poached Eggs with Lemongrass Cream

8 eggs
1 tsp white wine vinegar
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

To Serve

1 recipe quantity Asian-Style Mash (recipe below)
2 tbsp snipped chives
1 red chilli, deseeded and chopped
samphire or green beans

Lemongrass Cream Sauce

2 long lemongrass stalks, bruised 250ml/ 9fl oz/1 cup Vegetable Stock
100ml/ 3 ½ fl oz/scant ½ cup creamy top from a tin of coconut milk
2 tsp cornflour, mixed with a little water
finely grated zest of 1 large lime and juice of ½ lime
 
1. For the sauce, put the lemongrass and stock in a small pan and bring to the boil; boil for 10 minutes until reduced by a third. Remove from the heat and infuse for 30 minutes. Return the pan to the heat, stir in the coconut milk and the cornflour mixture and return to the boil, stirring continuously. Turn the heat down and simmer for 8–10 minutes until reduced and thickened to a creamy consistency. Add the lime zest and juice, season and gently heat through, stirring. Leave to one side.

2. To poach the eggs, fill a large, deep frying pan with just-boiled water from the kettle, at least 5cm/2in deep. When the water starts to simmer, turn the heat down to medium-low, add the vinegar and swirl the water with a spoon. Crack the eggs one at a time into a cup and lower them into the water (you may need to cook them in two batches – if so, reheat very briefly in hot water just before you serve them). Poach the eggs for 2–3 minutes until the whites are set but the yolks remain runny.

3. Remove the lemongrass from the sauce and reheat, if necessary. Divide the Asian-Style Mash onto four plates. Lift the eggs out of the water with a slotted spoon and put on top of the mash, spoon the sauce over and around the edge and sprinkle with chives and chilli. Season with salt and pepper and serve with samphire.