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1
Fill a wide, deep saucepan with 1 litre of water. Add 1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar. Do not add salt. Bring the water to 82–88°C. The correct temperature shows isolated, lazy bubbles rising at intervals from the base: the surface appears almost still except for these occasional single eruptions. If the surface shimmers actively throughout, reduce the heat immediately. If no bubbles appear at all, the water is too cool.
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2
Crack each egg into a small cup, ramekin, or ladle. Inspect the yolk — it must be intact and the white visibly thick and viscous before proceeding. A thin, watery white indicates an egg too old to poach cleanly; set it aside for another purpose.
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3
This is where the dish lives or dies. Create a gentle vortex in the water with a spoon. Lower the cup to water level — not above it — and slip the egg into the centre of the vortex in one calm movement. The rotating water must immediately begin to wrap the white around the yolk. If the egg was slipped in at the correct angle and the temperature was correct, the white will show visible setting at the edges within 30 seconds, turning from transparent to opaque white. If the white spreads in thin sheets without coagulating, the egg was too old or the water too cold; if the white seizes instantly into a tight, rigid mass, the water is too hot. The precision of this three-second window is why practiced cooks poach one egg at a time until the technique is automatic.
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4
Cook for 3 minutes for a firmly set white with a completely liquid yolk; 3.5 minutes for a barely trembling yolk; 4 minutes for a yolk thickened but not fully set. Do not exceed 4 minutes. Remove the egg with a slotted spoon and press the white gently with the tip of a finger: it should resist with moderate firmness, set but with a slight yield. The yolk beneath should feel completely liquid — no resistance, just the soft give of uncooked egg. Beyond 4 minutes, a small circle of set yolk appears at the top and the distinction is lost.
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5
Trim any ragged white edges with scissors. Rest the egg on a clean cloth for 10 seconds. The finished egg should hold a neat oval shape; the surface of the white should be smooth, opaque, and show a faint rounded dome where the yolk sits beneath. A flat, thin egg indicates the white was not contained.
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6
For advance preparation: poach to 3 minutes, refresh immediately in cold water, and hold refrigerated on a cloth-lined tray for up to 4 hours. At service, reheat in simmering salted water for 30–45 seconds — the minimum for a refrigerator-cold egg. The result is indistinguishable from a freshly poached egg when executed correctly.