Poaching Eggs and Puto Breakfast Stack

The egg is one oft-abused poultry product when it comes to dirty Pinoy jokes and in the Pinoy kitchen, it is commonly cooked in the fried form- boiled, scrambled, sunny side up omelette- or as part of the all-time favorite dessert- the Leche flan.

The poached egg  is a rarity and served only to sick or old family members. But if you mix it with ingredients you usually have with sunny side up eggs- it is the healthier dish. The Puto Breakfast Stack though leans more toward the tasty than the healthy.

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PUTO BREAKFAST STACK
Ingredients:
- 1 White puto (steamed rice cake)
- 1 slice cheddar cheese
- 1 poached egg
- 1/2  tsp. salted butter

To make, simply stack the cheese, poached egg and salted butter on the puto. Slice into the egg as you serve.

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Now that was relatively easy. Let's get on to the hard part- poaching an egg.

I did a bit of research and found several ways to do it- by using a saran wrap, by using a ladle and the the traditional way of simply dropping an egg into a boiling pot of water and mixing furiously. I tried all of these. I ended up poaching several dozens of eggs and found myself an easy way.

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MIKE'S EASY POACHING METHOD

Crack an egg on a ladle

In a 6-inch frying pan, let water boil to a roll. once it boils, gently place the egg in the pan.

Swirl the water, as done traditionally. once the egg white hardens, lift the egg with a slotted spoon

Here's how the poached egg should look like

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SARAN WRAP POACHING

In a bowl, place a square piece of saran wrap.  Crack an egg into the wrap.

Tie the wrap up. In a pan, let water boil to a roll and place the saran-wrapped egg.

Once the egg white hardens, take it out of the water.

Cut the plastic off

And this is what the poached egg will look like.

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LADLE POACHING

Crack an egg into a ladle

In a pan, let water boil. Before it comes to a rolling boil, put the ladled into the pan.

Once the egg white hardens, lift it out of the water and scrape it off the ladle.

This is how it should look like

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Reminders:

1. If the eggs are not very fresh, you  may mix 1 teaspoon salt and 1 tablespoon vinegar for every quart of water used. This is not to enahce the taste of the egg but rather to help the the egg whites coagulate better.

2. Simmering time- 3-5 minutes, Make sure the water is hot and bubbling slightly.

3. Always drain the water, before serving the egg.

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Off Days and Pinoy Pizza

There are some days when things just don't seem to work for you. That day used to always be Monday for me. But now that I've gone freelance, it surprises me that Tuesdays, Wednesday, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and heck, even Sundays can be off-days.

It is  on such days that our tiny kitchen is filled with dirty dishes and leftovers are called lunch. One recent easy to cook snack on my off days is my recently discovered Pinoy Pizza. You can vary the ingredients, depending on what's available. I have put in my recommended alternatives below the recipe.

Pardon me if this intro is short. it is an off day, after all.

Pinoy Pizza

Ingredients:
2 small Frozen Pizza crust
250 gms or 4 packs of Kesong Puti (Cheese from Carabao's Milk), sliced
2 Itlog na Pula (Red Eggs), sliced
1 medium-sized boneless Tinapang Bangus (Smoked Milkfish), crumbled
4-6 pieces of medium-sized native tomatoes, sliced
150 gms Queso de Bola (Edam Cheese), grated

Procedure:

Thaw the frozen pizza crust.
Slice the Kesong Puti into 1/4 inch thick slices. Wipe away any liquid.
Place on top of the crust covering as much crust as possible.
Place the sliced tomatoes on top pf the kesong Puti.
Crumble the Tinapang Bangus and layer on top of the tomatoes.
Add another layer of sliced tomatoes
Sprinkle the grated Queso de Bola generously.

Pre-heat your oven toaster for 10 minutes at 250degrees. Bake the Pizza for 10-15 minutes or until the crust edges get that toasted look or turn dark brown.
Slice and serve.

Alternatives:
For Kesong Puti- Cream Cheese (but if you use this, use the Queso de Bola sparingly)

For Tinapang Bangus- Bottled Spanish Sardines or Tawilis (take out the bones and feel free to sprinkle a little of the oil on top of the Pizza

For Queso de Bola- Cheddar

For Itlog na Pula: Sorry I haven't found a suitable rd egg altenative. What you can do though, is to take out the pizza  5 minutes before it's fully cooked, crack a raw egg on top (you can use quail eggs, too)  and put back the pizza in the oven.

For the frozen Pizza crust- you can use white bread or pan de sal cut in half.

You can also add:
- onion rings (best if marinated in pineapple juice or honeyed calamansi juice for at least 30 minutes
- Pineapple tidbits
- Chili flakes (sprinkle after taking the Pizza out of the oven)