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
Food52 Review: Featured in: The 6-Minute Breakfast That Gets Me Through the Day, Every Day. —The Editors
Serves: 1
Cook time: 6 min
Ingredients
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1
large organic egg
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1
pinch Magic Spice Blend, recipe follows
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1
slice sourdough bread, toasted
Magic Spice Blend
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1/3
cup dark brown sugar
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3
tablespoons kosher salt
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3
tablespoons smoked paprika (you can use regular sweet paprika if you don’t like the taste of smoked)
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1
tablespoon garlic powder
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1
tablespoon freshly cracked black pepper
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2
teaspoons cayenne pepper
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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.
Photo by James Ransom