What is the name of the dish in the last picture? Is that yogurt beneath the yolks?
It’s called Çilbir (pronounced something like “chill-beer/burr”). It’s a popular Turkish breakfast dish and there are many recipes online but here is the first link I saw:
Lawson has a vid, if you would rather see how she makes it:
Tell your son to visit a city called Van someday. Van is very well known for the kebab and massive breakfasts, the kind that fits for a king.
Hope I make it there before I croak. Van is unfortunately not that far from Iran and Syria and with all the shit that’s going on in the world right now I don’t think I want to go there any time soon.
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Thank you!! Nigella’s version warms the yougurt to room temp, and doesn’t call for dill, which I dont have.
Son and family just drove to Trabazon, and are staying at DIL’s “halas” house on yayla Yurt Yaylasi.
P.S. I will not be suggesting he get anywhere near the Syrian border.
this looks cool. thanks for the tip!
I am making cilber, which my DIL loves by the way, and it occurs to me that you are making it with just the yolks, and not a poached egg. Is there a reason you prefer doing the yolks this way, vs a whole egg poached in the shell? I’m reading it’s not easy to get both the white and the yolks the way I like it.
I should probably start a new thread about cooking eggs ( hint hint mods), but I’m going with sous vide poached eggs for this cilbir, at 167 f for 12 minutes.
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One question I have about this method. My husband loves over easy. It the egg yolks are so high and plump what will happen if I flip then? Gently I suppose? Doesn’t seem like the white will cook because it can’t touch the pan. Maybe cover and steam? I just put two in the freezer too in a ziplock bag. Now I just have to remember to take them out and thaw.
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Less than 24 hours later in the freezer both eggs have large cracks all the way around with the yolks showing through. I’m not the type to keep going and going until I get something right, so I’ll leave this up to others to experiment with this technique.
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Mine cracked a little also, but I don’t see this as much of a problem. They’re not going to go bad in the freezer, right? Anyway, they’re thawing the fridge now (still in the ziploc).
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From the article:
“One of them developed a fairly significant crack when it was in the freezer, so I did not use that egg. “
Fairly significant crack just about sums it up when I looked at them again. Good luck with yours though.
I’m almost afraid to let mine thaw out.
I live dangerously.
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Ages ago, before I knew that to freeze raw eggs for future baking or scrambling, you need to beat them with salt or sugar, I cracked a dozen eggs into a container and froze as is. Sure enough, the yolks remained solid after thawing, but the whites were fine. I guess if the cracked shell punctured the yolk before it had solidified, it might mix into the white before everything completely froze, but that’s a long shot. Should be usable when thawed.
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Reporting back on attempt #1. I cracked the egg into a cup (because the shell already had a fault line) and melted some butter. The white was very watery and immediately spread out to cover the bottom of the pan, while the yolk - which was a solid sphere - slid all the way to one edge. Not very pretty! I attempted to form the thing into something that looked more appetizing. Next time I’ll use oil, with butter to finish, so I can get the pan hotter. Nice texture to the yolk, but this does not alter my life.
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Good reporting!
I tried it. I overcooked my yoke because I was worried it was still frozen inside since I did not put it in the refrigerator for the full 24 hours. More like 16hrs. I should have trusted that it would cook up fine as article mentioned that it will seem as if yoke is still frozen while cooking. It was custard like on the top and more cooked on the bottom of the yoke. Next time I won’t cook as long. Like other reported the shells did crack a little. The cracks were less noticeable one they defrosted. One might consider disinfecting the shell in some food safe manner before freezing to help prevent bacteria from the shell entering the egg should it crack. I had no troubles with the whites separating. Not the most spontaneous egg I have eaten. I will try aging and cook it properly next time since I did like it. I’m trying to upload a picture. I am trying to upload a picture but I’m not sure it will work since my internet speed is so slow it might time out.
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Take two. Better, still needs work. This time, I used Jose Andres’ method for Spanish-style eggs - very hot oil, tipped to the side of the pan so that the egg doesn’t spread. Much prettier, and if I do this again, I’ll start basting the top with oil right away to set the white, so the yolk doesn’t cook as long.
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I’ll have to try this. Meanwhile, re: the oven-poached eggs in muffin tins article that was next to this one, my almost-foolproof microwave poached eggs method is to take a round-bottom bowl, and 1/2 cup of water for one egg or 3/4 cup for two eggs, cover with a plastic plate or whatever, microwave for 50 seconds for one or 1:20 for two (your microwavage may vary.) The plate’s in case it explodes, but that’s rare; the water keeps the heating slow enough for the egg to cook without overcooking.
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