Who are your truest friends? One definition might be those you feel relaxed enough to eat a fried egg sandwich with. There’s a lot going on in there involving runny egg yolks and it’s never elegant!

The best fried egg sandwiches are made with eggs that are as good quality and fresh as possible, with proper deep yellow yolks and firm whites: the older the egg, the more chance of the yolk breaking when you crack it into the pan. Older eggs have white that just splats all over the pan as well, instead of sitting there nicely in the classic fried egg shape.

The bread must be fresh. A white tin or farmhouse-style loaf or a wholemeal that you cut yourself work really well but nice quality sliced loaves are also good: the key thing is that it’s got to be fresh.

Proper butter, ideally slightly salted is much better than spread and contributes to the overall flavour. You may want a sprinkling of salt and or freshly ground black pepper as well.

Egg Frying Tips

Use a clean pan.

Heat a little oil and turn the heat down to moderate just before you put the eggs in.

Keep the pan moderately hot but not excessively so.

Unless your pan is extra-large, four eggs are realistically the most you can fry at one time.

Cook until the white is set but the yolks are still runny.

Serve immediately. Don’t forget to squash the sandwich down so that the yolk runs into the bread and is fairly evenly distributed across the sandwich.

Sunny Side Up

This usually means a set white and a runny yolk. To make sure that the yolk is hot all the way through, put a lid on the pan for a few moments. Alternatively, if you have enough oil in the bottom of the pan you can baste the egg very carefully with the hot oil, using a teaspoon.

Over Easy

This is more of an American Diner term and means the egg has been flipped over briefly and back again. This has the effect of giving the yolk a nice opaque pink tinge.

Crispy Bottom

You might like your fried egg to have a crispy, lacy bottom: if you do, you need to keep the heat high, but be aware that the bottom of the yolk can go hard when you do this.