soft boiled eggs and toast

[Melissa in Australia]

So when we have have a boiled egg in a egg cup I always cut up the bread into thin strips  for dipping  into the egg and serve it that way. I thought that was the way it was done and it was called soldier bread.

 

DH tells me that it must be a practice limited to my family because he has never heard of it before, never ever in his whole life before meeting me. he says that the egg is meant to be eaten with a spoon

 

My next door neighbour tells me that she has heard of people eating eggs with soldier bread, but has never tried it and scoops the whole soft boiled egg out of its shell and serves it on toast.

 

so I thought I would do a poll to see what others do.

 

 

 

  :bigear:  :bigear:  :bigear:  :bigear:

Edited September 22, 2016 by Melissa in Australia

[katilac]

Other - egg and carelessly torn toast get dumped into a bowl, and sort of mashed about and eaten with a spoon if you are me, and a fork if you are dh.  

[Jean in Newcastle]

I've heard of soldier toast and know what it is from British novels but have never eaten it that way. 

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

Toast soldiers are definitely a thing, but we don't usually eat them that way here. 1) I don't own egg cups, and 2) we scoop the whole egg out into a bowl and eat it sans toast, fold or break the toast up and dunk it that way, or put the egg on top of the toast. (That last sentence is terrible but I'm too tired to sort it out, sorry!) Mmm...soft boiled eggs.

[Arcadia]

We have two half boiled eggs cracked into a shallow bowl, paired with a cup of black coffee and some kaya toast.

 

Pic link to show what it looks like

https://images.trvl-media.com/media/content/expaus/images/last-minute/blog/uploads/2015/01/9-Killiney-Kopitiam.jpg

AU article that the pic is from describes the kaya toast at the near bottom of the link

http://www.lastminute.com.au/vc/blog/top-5-favourite-foods-in-singapore/

[nd293]

I see Jamie Oliver calls it 'dippy egg and soldiers' and I'm pretty sure we called it dippy egg as kids. And obviously we had it with soldiers! As a child I only ate the yolk, and wouldn't eat any other form of egg. Now I tend to prefer fried eggs or hard boiled eggs.

[Sherry in OH]

Growing up, we called sunny side up fried egg "dippy egg' and dipped our toast in it.   Soft boiled eggs meant mom misjudged the cooking time for hard boiled eggs.  

 

My children prefer hard boiled egg.

 

 

[Laura Corin]

Soldiers are common in the UK.  I don't like the texture of soft eggs, so my children have been deprived of the experience, as it didn't occur to me to make eggs that way.

[marbel]

I don't make soft-boiled eggs, but none of the ways you've listed surprise me; I guess I've seen people do them all, or read about them, or something.  And I've heard the term "soldiers" referring to the bread. 

 

When I eat a sunny-side-up (which is fried) or poached egg, I rip pieces off my toast and dunk them. My sister's kids call them "dunking eggs." 

Edited September 22, 2016 by marbel

[kiana]

I learned about toast soldiers from Terry Pratchett books. 

[SparklyUnicorn]

Never heard of doing that.  My only experience with eating eggs in egg cups though is in Germany.  However, my husband does not like runny eggs so his mother cooks them long enough to not make them runny. 

 

I don't prefer them in egg cups.  I always get egg shell somehow in my mouth.  I do like over easy eggs with a runny yolk and do dip my toast into it (which is delicious).  So in a way I eat what you are describing. 

 

 

[Ausmumof3]

So when we have have a boiled egg in a egg cup I always cut up the bread into thin strips for dipping into the egg and serve it that way. I thought that was the way it was done and it was called soldier bread.

 

DH tells me that it must be a practice limited to my family because he has never heard of it before, never ever in his whole life before meeting me. he says that the egg is meant to be eaten with a spoon

 

My next door neighbour tells me that she has heard of people eating eggs with soldier bread, but has never tried it and scoops the whole soft boiled egg out of its shell and serves it on toast.

 

so I thought I would do a poll to see what others do.

 

 

 

:bigear: :bigear: :bigear: :bigear:

Apparently the French so what you do but instead of dipping toast they do blanched asparagus spears

[Storygirl]

I've read about soft boiled eggs in egg cups and toast soldiers in British books, but I've never eaten it or seen anyone eating it. Usually in books the egg is eaten with a spoon after the top is lopped off.

 

I've never seen it on a breakfast menu here, either. I live in the US. I tend to think of egg cups as something found in old-fashioned books, rather than in real life. It's interesting to know that it's still a common food in some areas.

[ScoutTN]

Definitely a thing. I have made toast soldiers with sb eggs. My kids prefer their eggs a bit more cooked. I usually serve this dish in a mug with the eggs mixed into lots of small pieces of buttered toast. Lots of butter and S&P.

[ktgrok]

I see Jamie Oliver calls it 'dippy egg and soldiers' and I'm pretty sure we called it dippy egg as kids. And obviously we had it with soldiers! As a child I only ate the yolk, and wouldn't eat any other form of egg. Now I tend to prefer fried eggs or hard boiled eggs.

 

We called it dippy egg, and at it with the toast strips, but called them toast fingers. 

[DawnM]

So when we have have a boiled egg in a egg cup I always cut up the bread into thin strips  for dipping  into the egg and serve it that way. I thought that was the way it was done and it was called soldier bread.

 

DH tells me that it must be a practice limited to my family because he has never heard of it before, never ever in his whole life before meeting me. he says that the egg is meant to be eaten with a spoon

 

My next door neighbour tells me that she has heard of people eating eggs with soldier bread, but has never tried it and scoops the whole soft boiled egg out of its shell and serves it on toast.

 

so I thought I would do a poll to see what others do.

 

 

 

  :bigear:  :bigear:  :bigear:  :bigear:

I just put it on top of the toast and make sure the goo gets everywhere, and then cut it up, but your way sounds great!

[Rosie_0801]

My mum used to feed me eggs and toastie soldiers when I was a tot. :)

[Rebel Yell]

I have never eaten a soft boiled egg. It sounds like the level of doneness I'd have for a poached egg, so if I were going to boil water anyway I'd rather not have to deal with egg shells.

 

And whether I have a sunny side up, over easy, or poached egg, I serve it on buttered toast on a plate, and cut both together into 9 squares and eat with a fork.

 

p.s. I really prefer scrambled eggs, but getting out and washing the bowl and fork to scramble the egg usually isn't important enough to me to go to the extra trouble.

Edited September 22, 2016 by Rebel Yell

[umsami]

Definitely know about toast soldiers (too much British TV, maybe), but I usually plop the whole egg out and either put it on top of the toast or in a bowl.

 

Yummm.....now I know what I'm having for breakfast. :)

[TheBugs]

That was a standard breakfast for us growing up, soft boiled eggs with soldiers, even better if it were marmite soldiers. My parents are British and brought egg cups with us to America

[Alessandra]

My mum used to feed me eggs and toastie soldiers when I was a tot. :)

Same here.

 

Now I have plain soft boiled eggs (peeled) in an egg cup almost every morning, but save the toasr for spreading nut butter on.

 

Sometimes I eat the eggs out of the shell. I have a German egg top cutter shaped like a rooster, horn spoons, and a small collection of kitschy chicken shaped egg cups.

 

When my mother was young, in winter, her father used to give the top of his teatime egg to whichever child had behaved the best during the day. It was in Scotland, and the eggs, preserved in isinglass, were few and far between.

 

I adore soft boiled eggs!

[Miss Tick]

We call them coddled eggs. I like the no-mess cooking. We eat them with a spoon and have toast on the side, but next time we will be having toast soldiers!

 

Wonder if anyone sells a tessellated toy soldier toast cutter?

[Arcadia]

Wonder if anyone sells a tessellated toy soldier toast cutter?

Something like this? My kids like them. We press out the shape then toast.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0076LAGQ4

[LMD]

Runny egg (in an egg cup) with soldiers was a favourite of ours growing up. My kids love it too.

I still prefer runny yolks however the egg is cooked, in fact I made dh a soft boiled poached egg for breakfast this morning.

 

Aaaaand now I have to make some. Mmmmm.

[FriedClams]

I think any egg cooked other than scrambled dry is repulsive. Like, vomit inducing. I'd eat the toast.

[tm919]

I've never had this, but now I want it. We do eggs in a basket often though.

[cjzimmer1]

I voted other because while I've heard/seen of soft cooked eggs on toast you couldn't pay me to eat one.  I can't stand even the tiniest bit of runny yoke.  My actual preference is to just eat the white and throw away the yoke but I'm too frugal to be wasteful that way so we suffer through having them scrambled into the white.  I've never heard of the term soldier's bread.

[cjzimmer1]

I think any egg cooked other than scrambled dry is repulsive. Like, vomit inducing. I'd eat the toast.

 

:iagree:  unless there is yoke on the toast and then it would have to be thrown away too.

[FriedClams]

:iagree: unless there is yoke on the toast and then it would have to be thrown away too.

I 10000% agree with this! :-)

[Mama Geek]

I voted other, I know what they are and would just about rather starve than eat an egg that wasn't cooked hard.  Ewwwww....and I know lots of people eat them that way.

[zoobie]

I've never made it myself, but I've read about it in novels and cookbooks/websites and had similar in restaurants. I would guess the term "toast soldiers" is British in origin. 

[Lady Florida.]

Other - I haven't had a soft boiled egg since I was a kid (and I'm rather old now so that was a long time ago). I don't own egg cups. My mother used to make them and it seemed awfully tricky getting them done just right. If I want an egg I can dip my toast into I'll make either a sunny side up fried egg or a poached egg.

 

However - As a kid I just ate the soft boiled egg with a spoon. My mother served it in an egg cup with the top half of the egg peeled. You got a piece of toast and if you wanted to dip it, you just tore off the size piece you wanted. I never heard the term soldier bread. 

[Liz CA]

I have not done it the soldier bread way but I regularly either eat my egg from the cup or crack a soft boiled egg in half and spread it over bread / toast.  :)

Edited September 22, 2016 by Liz CA

[barnwife]

I know people eat soft boiled eggs. But, the concept weirds me out. If you are going to cook an egg in a shell, it should no longer be runny when it comes out!  :tongue_smilie: 

I never had them as a kid, and certainly wouldn't make them now. 

However, we do eat eggs in lots of other ways (including over easy fried eggs). But runny still in the shell? No, thanks.

[Epicurean]

Is it an American thing to hate runny yolk? I used to work at a breakfast diner in the South and less than 20% of people ate runny yolks (maybe 15% sunny, 4% over easy, 1% poached).

 

I hate runny eggs. They just seem gross to me. But my husband loves sunny side up eggs, saving the yolks for the toast. I didn't know it had a name, so I'll be sure to tell him.

Edited September 22, 2016 by Epicurean

[Lady Marmalade]

Soft boiled eggs with toast soldiers here.  My absolute favorite breakfast.  Drippy egg yolks are heaven. 

 

I have also had it the French way, using asparagus spears instead of toast.  That is pretty tasty as well, but can only be made with freshly harvested asparagus in the spring.  Store bought asparagus out of season is not so good. 

[73349]

Our household (East Coast US) only eats eggs with firm yolks. In fact, in restaurants, DH specifically asks for his scrambled eggs well done.

[Butter]

Other: Soft boiled eggs are gross.

 

But toast soldiers are definitely a thing.  It's not unique to your family at all.

[Butter]

Other: Soft boiled eggs are gross.

 

But toast soldiers are definitely a thing.  It's not unique to your family at all.

[Paige]

We don't eat them runny. Doesn't it have a salmonella risk? I'm kind of gagging just thinking about it. I think I had eggs "over easy" as a kid but never in a cup and never with bread, but I quit eating them like that when they started putting warnings on menus. Is soft boiled the same texture as over easy?  I think I must have been under 7 yrs old the last time I ate it like that. 

[Laura Corin]

We don't eat them runny. Doesn't it have a salmonella risk? I'm kind of gagging just thinking about it. I think I had eggs "over easy" as a kid but never in a cup and never with bread, but I quit eating them like that when they started putting warnings on menus. Is soft boiled the same texture as over easy?  I think I must have been under 7 yrs old the last time I ate it like that. 

Runny is still cooked.  But supposedly UK eggs are now very low risk for salmonella anyway

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/12131435/Runny-eggs-are-safe-experts-say-28-years-after-salmonella-crisis.html

[Bluegoat]

I've always seen toast soldiers as mainly a British thing, people don't commonly call them that here in NS though we have a fair bit of British heritage.  I wouldn't be surprised to see it in other places with a lot of British background though.

 

My mom used to do soft boiled eggs in cups with toast, though she always cut it into triangles.  I have no idea why.  I was never a toast in egg dipper though, eggs don't agree with me that well so when I do eat them it tends to be hard boiled.  I used to mix butter in with the yolk and eat them like that.

[Bluegoat]

We call them coddled eggs. I like the no-mess cooking. We eat them with a spoon and have toast on the side, but next time we will be having toast soldiers!

 

Wonder if anyone sells a tessellated toy soldier toast cutter?

 

Are they cooked in the shell?  I was under the impression that coddled eggs were cooked in ramekins or something similar.

[Bluegoat]

Is it an American thing to hate runny yolk? I used to work at a breakfast diner in the South and less than 20% of people ate runny yolks (maybe 15% sunny, 4% over easy, 1% poached).

 

I hate runny eggs. They just seem gross to me. But my husband loves sunny side up eggs, saving the yolks for the toast. I didn't know it had a name, so I'll be sure to tell him.

 

No, I think it's probably less common in NA than in some other places.  In recent years a lot of places in North America have made it illegal to sell eggs with soft yolks or use raw eggs in food.

 

But we tend to be really anal about food regs compared to Europe.

[Miss Tick]

Are they cooked in the shell? I was under the impression that coddled eggs were cooked in ramekins or something similar.

Yes, in the shell. The ones in ramekins are poached, although some people can poach right in swirling, boiling water.

[Bluegoat]

Yes, in the shell. The ones in ramekins are poached, although some people can poach right in swirling, boiling water.

 

Now, I always thought that poaching had to be done directly in boiling water, so using a ramekin or a poaching gadget was technically cheating.

 

Clearly I need to research my egg prep terms.

 

I did recently learn an easier way to poach in the water - rather than swirling it, it just needs to be fairly shallow, just about the depth of the egg, and you gently slip the egg into the water so it almost sits on the bottom.  I usually fail the other way but this seems to work 100%.

[Tammi K]

My very, very, Pennsylvania Dutch grandmother made them this way for me when I was little.

 

However, I never ate the whites because I didn't like them soft. I thought they were 'icky'.   Soft yokes don't bother me in the least. But, soft whites - :ack2:

[zoobie]

Now, I always thought that poaching had to be done directly in boiling water, so using a ramekin or a poaching gadget was technically cheating.

 

Clearly I need to research my egg prep terms.

 

I did recently learn an easier way to poach in the water - rather than swirling it, it just needs to be fairly shallow, just about the depth of the egg, and you gently slip the egg into the water so it almost sits on the bottom. I usually fail the other way but this seems to work 100%.

I'm tempted to order silicone poaching cups and use them in the Instant Pot.

[Pegasus]

Oh no. Dry scrambled eggs?? Inedible.

 

Love runny but slightly thickened yolks cooked by any method.

[Alessandra]

Now, I always thought that poaching had to be done directly in boiling water, so using a ramekin or a poaching gadget was technically cheating.

 

Clearly I need to research my egg prep terms.

 

I did recently learn an easier way to poach in the water - rather than swirling it, it just needs to be fairly shallow, just about the depth of the egg, and you gently slip the egg into the water so it almost sits on the bottom. I usually fail the other way but this seems to work 100%.

I do this too. Good tips here:

 

http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-poach-an-egg-easily-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-205661

 

I used to try making a mini whirlpool in the water and slipping the egg in -- maybe others can do this, but I was not successful. The Kitchn method works for me. I do turn the eggs over for the last minute and put on a paper towel to dry off.