Turmeric Poached Eggs & Vegan Hollandaise

Adding golden turmeric powder to poached eggs is an easy way to add rich antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties to your breakfast, brunch, or lunch.

If you are not adept at making poached eggs yet, this is a good time to learn! The method of poaching eggs doesn’t requires any fat for cooking like fried or scrambled eggs do, and there’s no need to mess with the shells, like with boiled eggs.

I am always surprised by how many of my friends have never tried making poached eggs. It is easy. I promise!

The learning hurdle is tiny, and once you pass it, you will be wondering where poached eggs have been all your life?

If you'd like to watch a video demo, then visit this link here.

My poached egg story

I learned years back when I had the honor of cooking hundreds of poached eggs a day as a weekend brunch cook at a farm-to-table restaurant.

We specialized in fancy eggs benedict-type creations that featured local produce and artisan meats on English muffins, along with the poached eggs and homemade hollandaise sauce.

Me and the eggs necessarily became one, together with a very large shallow pot, filled with barely simmering water and white vinegar.

With one hand, I’d crack the eggs straight into the liquid, then move on with the rest of the fixings for the dish.

I’d come back to the eggs 3-4 minutes later, and they’d be perfect. All I had to do was fish them out with my slotted spoon into a holding dish to await final plating.

The individual shapes of the eggs could always be admired, since the vinegar in the water naturally keeps the whites attached to their respective yolks, no matter how many eggs you crack in. Shapes vary, but it doesn't affect the taste any.

In my opinion, the margin of error is very forgiving for a medium cooked egg. I am talking about one that still has some runny egg yolk to play with.

So you see, there is nothing to be afraid of when making poached eggs. A pot, a bit of vinegar, a slow rolling boil, and an egg. Three minutes later—or so—your perfect egg is ready to eat.

In this version of poached eggs, we add turmeric powder to the cooking water so the eggs become deep golden yellow, like the setting sun.

The eggs take on a mildly pungent and bitter flavor from the turmeric that is the perfect complement for our vegan hollandaise sauce.

Vegan hollandaise sauce

This vegan hollandaise sauce is full of flavor and nutrition for vegetarians, with nuts, good quality olive oil, fresh lemon juice, nutritional yeast, a bit of hot sauce, salt, and pepper. That is it.

You’ll need at least four hours to soak the cashews and almonds that form the base for the sauce, but overnight is also okay.

Soaking enlivens the nuts, enhances their nutritional value, and makes the hollandaise sauce nice and creamy.

Next, you blend the nuts into a fresh nut milk. Fresh nut milks are waaaay better for you than a packaged product.

However, you could try using a prepared nut milk in lieu of the homemade, and I bet it would work.

Olive oil provides the emulsification for the sauce, and since the sauce is not heated to high temperatures (or at all), go ahead and use your best quality extra virgin olive oil.

You’ll also add fresh lemon juice. I jump at any opportunity to enjoy lemon. It is good for digestion, increases metabolism, and is mildly detoxifying.

The final key ingredient in our vegan hollandaise sauce is nutritional yeast.

The nutritional yeast is optional for our sauce, but including it brings complexity to the flavor of the sauce, as well as the elusive-for-vegetarians Vitamin B12. More on this in the next section.

The final minor ingredients in the sauce are your choice of hot sauce, salt, and pepper. Simple stuff.

Nutritional yeast?

For those who have not explored an exclusive vegetarian diet, you may not be aware that getting enough Vitamin B12 can be a challenge for vegetarians.

The popular nutritional yeast brand by Bragg (as well as others) is fortified with Vitamin B12, and it has a long history of use as a food-based supplement for vegetarians and vegans.

Nutritional yeast is different from the type of yeast used in baking, as it undergoes a heating and drying process that renders it inactive.

The high protein food tastes a bit yeasty, but also cheesy, thus it's often used as a substitute for cheese by vegans. (It is also great on popcorn.) In fact, you may just find yourself sprinkling it on everything.

12 Ways to enjoy turmeric poached eggs

There are so many ways to add turmeric poached eggs and vegan hollandaise sauce to your meals.

You can enjoy it any way that strikes your fancy. Below I have 12 suggestions for you.

I absolutely love poached eggs on a good quality sourdough toast, eaten with a knife and fork. Since the bonus hollandaise sauce is made with good quality olive oil, I don’t butter the toast.

Or since it is hollandaise after all, how about enjoying it with the turmeric poached eggs on an English muffin, as is traditional?

Or if you are into grain bowls, healing bowls, and the sort, turmeric poached eggs and vegan hollandaise make for a natural focal point.

This hollandaise sauce also serves as a stellar all-around sauce. Have it on steamed vegetables, such as broccoli and cauliflower. Or on roasted carrots, radish, turnip, etc.

Or, Oh! How about this sauce on roasted asparagus? Or on potatoes cooked any way?

If you like things simple, I used to enjoy a creamy sauce like this on short grain brown rice with feta cheese and avocado.

I also mentioned earlier that this sauce could be a healthy substitute for butter on toast, and it could.

I also imagine it as a vinaigrette, especially for a pasta, potato, or vegetable salad.

Or as a way to turn turmeric cauliflower slabs into a vegetarian meal with rice and braised greens.

The simplicity, and pleasing tang of your leftover sauce will definitely make its way into your menus.

It will last in the fridge for at least a week, so go ahead and fully enjoy it.

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