Çilbir (Turkish Poached Eggs)
This dish features thick Greek yogurt, topped with a poached egg and a butter sauce spiced with aleppo pepper. Use pita or any flatbread as a utensil for scooping the yogurt and egg. Increase ingredients if serving more than two people.
Recipe
1/2 c. Greek yogurt (or strained whole milk yogurt)
1/4 tsp. grated garlic
pinch of Kosher salt
2 eggs (watery part of white strained out, see below)
1 T. distilled white vinegar
1 tsp. Kosher salt
1 T. unsalted butter
1/2 tsp. Aleppo pepper
pinch dried mint
2 pita or flatbread for serving
Place the yogurt in a small bowl and stir in the grated garlic and a pinch of salt. Place the yogurt on two plates, spreading out evenly with the back of a spoon so you have a nice thick bed for the egg. Let sit out at room temperature while you prepare the eggs and sauce. You don’t want the yogurt too cold when you set the warm egg on top.
Fill a Dutch oven with 1-1/2 quarts of water and bring to a low boil. Add 1 T. white vinegar and 1 tsp. salt, take off the heat.
Crack the eggs into a fine mesh strainer, so the thin watery liquid from the whites drains out, 20-30 seconds. Carefully pour the eggs into a measuring cup without breaking the yolks. Add the eggs to the Dutch oven, one at a time, giving them some space apart in the pan. Cover and let sit for 3 minutes, so you have just set whites and runny yolks. If after 3 minutes the whites are not set, let stand in water checking every 30 seconds until eggs reach desired doneness.
For the butter sauce, while the eggs are poaching, in a small saucepan heat the butter over medium heat. What you’re looking for is a little between melted butter and brown butter, where the butter sputters, meaning all the water is gone, taking on a hint of nuttiness. Just when it starts to sputter, go a second longer and add the aleppo pepper and swirl to combine. Remove from the heat.
Remove the eggs from the poaching water with a slotted spoon, blotting bottom of spoon with a paper towel to wick away moisture, and transfer to the serving dish with the yogurt, placing the egg in the middle.
Drizzle the butter mixture over the egg and yogurt and top with a pinch of dried mint, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with a spoon and pieces of flatbread or pita to dip into the egg and yogurt.
