Poached Eggs in Burrata and Sambal Butter

I don’t have an exact recipe for this but it is maybe my favorite breakfast that I have ever made for myself so I had to document it here, if anything so that I could remember what I did. This is another poached egg bowl born out of my obsession for çilbir, which is known in English as Turkish eggs. Çilbir is a dish of garlicky yogurt topped with poached eggs and then drizzled with a chili butter made with a Turkish chili. This one has those general components (creamy base, eggs, spicy melted butter) but done a little differently in favor of some of my other obsessions.

This post is not sponsored but it uses some of my favorite storebought products to bring together a most epic of flavor combos:

  • Toom garlic dip: I love this when I am too lazy to make Lebanese toum from scratch

  • BelGioioso black truffle burrata: My absolute favorite burrata, I’m obsessed! Great stracciatella action inside with a thin casing and the perfect amount of truffle flavor.

  • Azalina’s sambal: A Malaysian company local to me in SF! I feel grateful to have them around to stay connected to the flavors of my heritage.

  • Mizkan Sushi Seasoning: This is my cheat for when I want a simple salad vinaigrette and I am too lazy to make one.

This dish also includes a beautiful little salad that I made out of mostly things I “foraged” from my backyard garden. Now that my edible garden is well underway and in full bloom, I love being able to go out there and snip little bits of leaves from here and there to make an herbaceous salad whenever I want to bring some freshness to a dish. This would also be great with a salad of any tender herbs you have remnants of in your fridge, or mild cresses, or baby arugula.

Oh yes, and a delicious bread is an absolute must to serve with this dish, to spoon on all the creamy goodness and mop up the bowl. Here, I had it with slices of a garlic loaf from my favorite Bay Area bakery, Wild Flower Bread!

Awkwardly Vague instructions for Poached Eggs in Burrata and Sambal Butter (with a little herby salad)

Ingredients

2 eggs
white vinegar, for poaching eggs (optional)
scoop of Lebanese toum (garlic dip)
4 oz ball of black truffle burrata
1 persian cucumber, sliced into ribbons with a veggie peeler
4 tbsp salted butter
Malaysian sambal
a small handful of fresh tender greens
seasoned sushi vinegar
chopped dill
chopped chives

Procedure

Make the poached eggs. (I keep wavering between doing the whirlpool method vs not. In this case I thought the shape would be better for the dish without the whirlpool so here’s what I did instead:) Bring about 4 inches of water to boil in a pot. Crack the eggs into small bowls. Turn the heat down to low, add a small splash of vinegar, and slowly tip in the eggs. Turn the heat up to medium-low and allow eggs to poach for 3 minutes. Transfer eggs to an ice bath.

Smear a scoop of toum into the bottom of your bowl. Break up the burrata and add it evenly on top of the toum to form a base for the eggs.

Arrange the cucumber ribbons and poached eggs on top.

In a small pan, melt the butter on medium-low heat. When it starts to foam, add in as much sambal as is to your taste. Break down the sambal paste with a spatula and mix it in with the butter until fully incorporated.

Toss your little collection of greens with a splash of the sushi seasoning.

Pour the sambal butter over everything in the bowl. Add the salad to one side and then sprinkle dill and chives over everything.

Serve with some amazing bread.