Trying Eggs in the Circulator

America's Test Kitchen showed a different way of "poaching" eggs recently. They refer to it as Sous Vide (but that is technically incorrect because there is no vacuum involved). The link here (at around 20 minutes in) shows how it is done. I won't go into the details here, but encourage you to look at the video. I had no expectation that the method would work. But I  was wrong. Not only did it work, it was spectacuar.

This dish was intended to show off the technique, and to make the eggs an integral part of a light supper.

Ingredients (For 2 people)

4 Large eggs at refrigerator temperature.

3 oz Soba noodles.

1 lb Asparagus cut into 1 inch pieces.

1T vegetable oil

2 oz dried exotic mushrooms (reconstittued, reserve the liquid), chopped finely

1T sesame oil

4T soy sauce

1t hot sauce (Habanero vodka in our case).

Salt to taste

Method

Start the eggs in the circulator at 167F for 11 minutes. Meanwhile bring a pot of water bring to the boil and cook the soba noodles according to the directions. Drain the noodles  and leave to stay warm in the pot. 

While the noodles are cooking, heat the vegetable oil in a skillet over high heat until smoking. Cook the asparagus stalks over high heat for 1 minute. Add the asparagus tips and cook for a minute longer. 

Add the mushrooms. Mix the sesame oil, soy sauce, and hot sauce together with 2 or 3T of the reserved mushroom liquid. Add the mixed liquids to the skillet and cover to steam for 2 minutes. Toss in the soba noodles and mix thoroughly.

Divide the noodle mixture into 2 bowls. Break the eggs over the dish and serve immediately.

Spicy BBQ Sauce

The only reason that this recipe is interesting is because the standard recipe (from seriouseats.com) that I intended to follow required Worcestershire sauce, and I didn't have any. So I had to improvise. And it came out surprisingly well! Of course, what normal person would have mango chutney, but no Worcestershire sauce?

Ingredients

2T Mango chutney - use mostly the liquid - the fruit is too pulpy

4T Fish sauce (I use Red Boat)

4T Dark soy sauce

1/2 t Toasted Sesame Oil

1/2 t Ghost pepper vodka (can substitute Tabasco or other pepper sauce, US srirarcha, etc. in appropriate quantities)

2 Cups Tomato Ketchup

2T Prepared yellow mustard

1/4 Cup firmly packed brown sugar

2T Molasses

1/4 Cup Cider vinegar

1T Smoked Paprika

1/2 T Garlic Powder

1/2 T Onion Powder

1/2 T Black pepper - ground finely

1t Cumin - ground finely

Method

Make up the fake Worcestershire sauce by combing the chutney, fish sauce, soy sauce, toasted sesame oil and hot sauce. 

Combine the made up Worcestershire sauce with all the other ingredients in a non reactive pan. Bring to a gentle boil over medium heat, stirring often. Simmer/low boil for 15 minutes to allow to reduce and thicken. Stir almost continuously to prevent the sugars from sticking and burning.

Fish out any pulp from the mango chutney (if some had accidentally found their way into the sauce.

Allow to cool, and refrigerate. According the the Serious Eats web site, this should keep for a long time.

This sauce is very intensely flavored, so if using it on delicate meat (aka a pork loin), be sparing.