Soft poached eggs nested in a bed of cool garlicky strained yogurt, finished with a drizzle of nutty red-pepper butter. An elegant Ottoman-era egg dish eaten for breakfast or brunch.
A poached-egg-and-yogurt dish documented in Turkish cuisine since the Ottoman Empire, with the name çılbır recorded in palace kitchens (The Mediterranean Dish, Ozlem's Turkish Table).
Break the yolk and it streams into the tangy, garlic-laced yogurt while the warm chili butter pools on top. Cool, creamy and rich all at once, it begs to be scooped up with torn bread.
Poaching in barely-simmering acidulated water lets the egg white coagulate gently around a still-liquid yolk. Blooming red pepper flakes in hot butter extracts their fat-soluble pigments and aromas, and the warm fat contrasts the cold, acidic yogurt.
Variations
With a sprinkle of dried mint or sumac; topped with dill; pul biber swapped for Aleppo pepper; some add a layer of sautéed spinach.
On the Palate
Where Çılbır sits in the Turkish flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 2How it's made
8 steps · 10 min
- 13 min
Bring the strained yogurt to room temperature and stir in grated garlic and salt.
- 22 min
Spread the garlic yogurt across the base of two shallow bowls.
- 33 min
Bring a pot of water to a bare simmer and add a splash of vinegar.
- 44 min
Swirl the water and slip in each egg, poaching until the white is set but the yolk runny.
Watch outKeep the water at a bare tremble, not a boil, and lift the egg when the white just sets around a still-liquid yolk — a rolling boil shreds the white into rags.
- 51 min
Lift the eggs out with a slotted spoon and drain briefly.
- 61 min
Nest the poached eggs on the yogurt.
- 73 min
Melt butter with red pepper flakes until it turns fragrant and red.
Watch outMelt the butter with the pepper flakes only until it foams and glows red and smells fragrant — the instant it darkens or smokes it's burnt and turns bitter.
- 81 min
Drizzle the spiced butter over the eggs and serve with bread.
