Turkish eggs (çılbır)

Name: Turkish eggs (çılbır)
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 2
Cuisine: Turkish
Ingredients: 40 g Butter; 4 u Egg; 1 clove Garlic; Salt; 1 teaspoon Pul Biber; 300 g Greek Yogurt; 2 sprigs Dill; Crusty Bread; 1 tablespoon White Vinegar; 1 l Water

Huevos turcos (çılbır)

Easy

Contains allergens

LecheHuevosCereales con gluten

Author: Equipo Cocinoa
Preparation time: 25 min
Servings: 2

Summary

Poached eggs on a bed of garlicky yoghurt, drizzled with browned butter and Aleppo pepper: çılbır, a Turkish breakfast with Ottoman roots, made for mopping up with bread. Cool and hot, creamy and spicy, in twenty minutes.

Ingredients

2 servings

40 g Butter
4 u Egg (very fresh)
1 clove Garlic (grated or crushed)
Salt (to taste)
1 teaspoon Pul Biber (Aleppo pepper flakes, or paprika with a pinch of chilli)
300 g Greek Yogurt (or thick plain yoghurt, at room temperature)
2 sprigs Dill (fresh, chopped, or dried mint)
Crusty Bread (for dipping)
1 tablespoon White Vinegar (for the poaching water)
1 l Water (for poaching)

Instructions

Take the eggs and yoghurt out of the fridge a while beforehand. Mix the yoghurt with the garlic and a pinch of salt and divide it between two shallow bowls, spreading it with the back of a spoon to make a hollow in the middle.
3 min
Pour the water into a wide pan at least 7 to 8 cm deep and bring it to the boil. Add the vinegar and lower the heat until only small bubbles rise from the bottom, with no rolling boil.
8 min
Crack an egg into a fine sieve set over a bowl and let the thinnest part of the white, the part that would form wisps, drain away for a few seconds. Tip the egg into a small cup. Repeat with a second egg in another cup.
2 min
Stir the water in a circle with a spoon to make a gentle whirlpool and, holding the cup close to the surface, slide one egg into the centre: the swirl wraps the white around the yolk. Slide the second egg in to one side. Cook for 3 minutes without touching them, until the white is opaque and firm and the yolk gives like a water balloon when you nudge it with a slotted spoon.
4 min
Lift them out with the slotted spoon, drain on kitchen paper and place them on the yoghurt. Poach the other two eggs the same way.
5 min
Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small pan over medium heat until it stops foaming and starts to smell nutty. Turn off the heat, add the pul biber and stir: the butter will turn red without the pepper burning.
3 min
Spoon the hot butter over the eggs and yoghurt, season lightly with salt, scatter over the dill and serve at once with bread for dipping.

Notes

Çılbır is pronounced roughly 'chil-bir' and is an old dish of Ottoman cooking, eaten in Turkey today for breakfast or as a light meal. Pul biber is red pepper flakes, mildly hot and slightly fruity (Aleppo and Maraş are the best known); if you can't find it, mix half a teaspoon of sweet paprika with a pinch of chilli. For good poached eggs, freshness matters most: the white of a fresh egg is firm and holds together, while that of an older egg spreads into wisps. Straining the egg first removes that thinner white, and the vinegar helps it set faster. The water must never boil hard, as that breaks up the egg. You can poach the eggs ahead: transfer them to a bowl of iced water, keep them in the fridge for up to a day and reheat for a minute in hot water that is not boiling. If the dish is for pregnant women, young children or elderly people, cook the eggs for 5 to 6 minutes so the yolks set. Serve the yoghurt at room temperature or barely warmed over a pan of hot water; if it gets too hot, it splits. The dill can be swapped for dried mint or parsley. Eat it straight away.