Fried eggs on bacon: set whites, runny yolks, crisp bacon
The simplest breakfast in the world, and still easy to spoil: bacon rendered slowly from a cold pan, eggs cracked onto it into its own fat, covered for the last minute so the white sets from the top while the yolk stays runny. Chives, pepper, bread for dipping. Twelve minutes.
Your own work in that: 12 min.
- Bacon 6 min
- Eggs 4 min
- Serving 2 min
Step by step
0 / 5 done
Render the bacon from a cold pan
Lay the bacon slices in a cold pan, ideally cast iron or another heavy one, and only then turn on medium heat. Cook 5–6 minutes, turning once, until the fat has rendered and the edges are golden and crisp.
Ingredients: 150 g smoked bacon · 4 pcs eggs · ½ bunch chives · ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper · 1 pinch salt
TipThe cold pan is the whole secret: the fat renders slowly and evenly, and the bacon turns crisp rather than burnt outside and rubbery inside. Dropped into a hot pan it shrinks and toughens.
Into a cold pan, then medium heat
Keep the fat, lower the heat
Push the bacon to one side of the pan or spread it evenly as a bed for the eggs. Don't pour off all the fat: 2 tablespoons are enough for 4 eggs, and any excess can be skimmed off with a spoon. Turn the heat down to low.
Golden, crisp, two spoons of fat stay
Crack in the eggs
Crack each egg into a small bowl first, then slide it onto the bacon from low over the pan so the yolk doesn't break. Add them one at a time, spaced apart. Salt only the white, not the yolk: salt leaves pale spots on a yolk.
TipEggs straight from the fridge set unevenly: the white is done at the edge and still translucent by the yolk. Take them out 15 minutes ahead.
From a bowl, low down, one at a time
Fry, then cover for the last minute
Cook over low heat 2 minutes, until the white sets underneath and at the edges. Then cover with a lid for 1 minute: the steam sets a thin film of white over the yolk while the yolk stays runny. The white should be fully opaque, the yolk glossy and wobbling.
TipPrefer a slightly set yolk? Two minutes under the lid instead of one. Fully hard: three. A clock, not guesswork.
A minute under the lid: white set, yolk runny
Serve at once
Slide the eggs and bacon onto plates, scatter with chives and pepper. Buttered bread beside, for dipping into the yolk. Fried eggs don't wait: the hot bacon and plate keep giving off heat, so the yolk thickens quickly.
Ingredients: 4 pcs rye bread · 20 g butter
Chives, pepper, bread into the yolk
Before you start
In butter
Without bacon: a spoon of butter melted over low heat until it foams but doesn't brown, eggs cracked into the foam. Gentler, the classic fried egg.
On sausage
Instead of bacon, 150 g sliced smoked sausage fried 3 minutes a side, eggs on top. The more filling version for a winter morning.
The white runs all over the pan
A stale egg, or a pan that's too cold. A fresh egg has a firm white that hugs the yolk; on properly heated fat it sets at once at the edges and doesn't run.
Nutrition
per 100 gStep photos are computer-generated from the recipe.
