-
Cook time
6 minutes
-
Serves
1
Author Notes
When it comes to breakfast, we all have our go-tos. It is, for me, the one meal of the day when I feel zero remorse whatsoever for repeating myself, rarely straying to other sources of protein, carbohydrate, or fructose. Because when something works, it works.
On the weekends, maybe, I'll cook bacon or have a brekkie quesadilla from leftovers. But even in those moments, I'll always have my egg first, boiled straight from the fridge in a tiny pot of water for six minutes, then propped up in its cup on a small plate dusted with Magic Spice™, my signature concoction of secrets and herbs: brown sugar, salt, paprika, garlic powder, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and celery seed. —Eric Kim
Test Kitchen Notes
Featured in: The 6-Minute Breakfast That Gets Me Through the Day, Every Day. —The Editors
Continue After Advertisement
Ingredients
-
1
large organic egg
-
1 pinch
Magic Spice Blend, recipe follows
-
1
slice sourdough bread, toasted
- Magic Spice Blend
-
1/3 cup
dark brown sugar
-
3 tablespoons
kosher salt
-
3 tablespoons
smoked paprika (you can use regular sweet paprika if you don't like the taste of smoked)
-
1 tablespoon
garlic powder
-
1 tablespoon
freshly cracked black pepper
-
2 teaspoons
cayenne pepper
-
1 teaspoon
celery seed, crushed in the palm of your hand
Directions
-
Bring a small pot of water to a rolling boil. Then, with a spoon, carefully lower in the egg.
-
Put the timer on for 6 minutes exactly, lowering the heat to about medium-low so the water simmers gently. (Mostly I do this so the egg won't crack.)
-
At the 6-minute mark, run the egg under cold tap water to halt the cooking process before placing it into an egg cup (a shot glass works, too).
-
The eating of this egg is mostly ritualistic (and up to you): I take a sharp knife and chop off its top, scooping up the bit of white that's there. I sprinkle the spice mixture over the beheaded egg and dive my spoon into the yolk, which, if I've cooked it correctly, gushes out. I use the toast to sop up this spillage, and dig my spoon into and around the shell to get the rest of the white.
- Magic Spice Blend
-
Spoon all of the ingredients into a Mason jar and shake. I like to keep this by my stove to sprinkle over everything: soft-boiled eggs, sliced cucumbers, chicken, pork chops, and especially ribs.
Eric Kim was the Table for One columnist at Food52. He is currently working on his first cookbook, KOREAN AMERICAN, to be published by Clarkson Potter in 2022. His favorite writers are William Faulkner, John Steinbeck, and Ernest Hemingway, but his hero is Nigella Lawson. You can find his bylines at The New York Times, where he works now as a writer. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram at @ericjoonho.
See what other Food52ers are saying.