Eggs Royale (Smoked Salmon Benedict)
Eggs Royale is Eggs Benedict made with smoked salmon instead of Canadian bacon or ham: a toasted English muffin topped with cold smoked salmon, a poached egg and hollandaise. It also goes by Eggs Atlantic, Eggs Hemingway and Eggs Montreal. The salmon needs no cooking, so the work is getting three things ready at the same moment: the poached eggs, the warm hollandaise and the toasted muffins. Read the whole recipe before you start.
Ingredients
- 2 English muffins, split and toasted
- 120 gcold smoked salmon
- 4 large eggs, as fresh as possible
- 1 tbspwhite wine vinegar
- 3 large egg yolks
- 150 gunsalted butter, clarified or whole
- 1 tbspfresh lemon juice
- 0.5 tspDijon mustard
- 1 pinchcayenne pepper
- 1 tbspfresh chives
- 1 tspcapers
- 1 pinchsalt
Method
- Make the hollandaise first and keep it warm. Melt the butter in a small saucepan until fully melted but not browned. For clarified butter, skim off the white foam and leave the milky liquid at the bottom of the pan behind; whole melted butter works too. In a heatproof bowl or blender, combine the 3 egg yolks, lemon juice, Dijon, cayenne and a pinch of salt. Blender method: the butter should be hot and just starting to bubble. Blend the yolk mixture for 30 seconds, then with the motor running pour in the hot butter in a slow, steady stream; the sauce emulsifies and thickens in about 30 seconds. Double boiler method: let the butter cool until it is only warm (55 to 60°C). Set the bowl over a pan of barely simmering water, not touching it, and whisk the yolks until pale and slightly thickened. Yolks start to scramble at around 65°C, so if the edges look set, lift the bowl off the heat at once and keep whisking. Then take the bowl off the heat and whisk in the butter a little at a time. Season with salt. Keep the sauce warm, not hot, over a pan of warm water or in a preheated thermos. It keeps thickening as it sits, so before serving whisk in a teaspoon of warm water if it has stiffened.
- Poach the eggs. Fill a wide, deep saucepan with about 7 cm of water and add the white wine vinegar. Bring to a gentle simmer — small bubbles rising from the bottom, not a rolling boil. Crack each egg into a small cup or ramekin first (never directly into the water). Lower the cup close to the water surface and tip the egg in gently. Add the eggs one at a time, 30 seconds apart. Poach for 3 minutes for a runny yolk, 3.5 minutes for slightly firmer. Do not boil vigorously — the turbulence tears the whites apart. Lift each egg with a slotted spoon and touch the white gently: it should be completely set and firm. The yolk should still feel soft and give when you press it. About a minute after the last egg goes in, put the muffin halves in the toaster or under the grill, so they come out hot just as the eggs are done.
- Drain and trim the eggs. Remove each egg with a slotted spoon and rest briefly on a clean folded tea towel or a plate lined with kitchen paper. Wet eggs thin out the hollandaise and slide on the salmon, so let the water drain away. If any ragged strands of white have formed, trim them with scissors for a cleaner presentation. The eggs hold their heat for the few minutes the muffins need. For advance preparation: cook the eggs, immediately transfer to a bowl of iced water to stop the cooking, and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. To serve, slide into barely simmering water, not boiling, for 60 seconds to reheat.
- Assemble on the hot muffins. Take the muffins out as soon as they are golden — they need structure to support the topping, so they should be properly toasted, not just warm. Lay the smoked salmon generously over each muffin half. Salmon should cover the muffin completely and drape slightly over the edges. Place the drained poached egg directly on top of the salmon. The warmth of the egg will very slightly warm the salmon, which is desirable — cold salmon under a hot egg is better than trying to warm it separately.
- Spoon hollandaise over and serve immediately. Give the hollandaise a quick whisk and loosen it with a teaspoon of warm water if it has thickened. Spoon it generously over each egg — it should pool on the egg and run slightly over the salmon and muffin edge. Scatter over the chives and capers. Serve immediately on warmed plates: hollandaise cools and thickens within minutes. This is not a dish that waits. If cooking for more than two, stagger the assembly so each plate is finished in sequence rather than all at once.
FAQ
All three share a toasted English muffin, a poached egg and hollandaise; only the layer between muffin and egg changes. Eggs Benedict uses Canadian bacon (back bacon) or ham, Eggs Royale uses smoked salmon, and Eggs Florentine uses wilted spinach, which makes it the vegetarian one. Eggs Royale is also listed on menus as Eggs Atlantic, Eggs Hemingway or Eggs Montreal, so any of those names means salmon. The original Eggs Benedict uses the same technique with bacon or ham, so everything here applies to it too.
Fresh eggs hold their shape significantly better than older eggs — the white of a fresh egg is thick and cohesive, while an older egg has a thin, runny white that spreads. Beyond freshness: crack into a small cup first and slide in gently rather than dropping; keep the water at a gentle simmer rather than a boil (turbulence tears the white apart); add a splash of white wine vinegar (it sets the white faster); and lower the cup to just above the water surface before tipping. The egg should sink, then float back up as it cooks.
A split hollandaise looks grainy or watery rather than smooth and creamy. The quick fix: add a teaspoon of cold water and whisk vigorously — this sometimes brings it back. If not: put a new egg yolk in a clean bowl, whisk it until slightly pale, then slowly add the split sauce into the yolk as if it were butter, whisking constantly. The fresh yolk re-emulsifies the sauce. Prevention is easier: keep the heat very low during the double boiler method, and add the butter slowly — too fast and the emulsion breaks.
Cold smoked salmon is traditional and best — it's silky, thin-sliced, with a subtle smoke that doesn't overwhelm the egg and hollandaise. Hot smoked salmon (which is firmer and flakier) is a valid alternative and gives a different texture. Gravlax (cured with salt, sugar, and dill rather than smoked) is excellent for a lighter, more Nordic version. Cold-smoked salmon and gravlax are not cooked and can carry listeria. If you are pregnant or have a weakened immune system, use hot-smoked salmon heated until steaming hot instead; the warmth of the egg does not heat cold-smoked fish enough to make it safe. Whatever type you use, bring it to room temperature for 15 minutes before serving — cold salmon directly from the fridge under a hot egg creates an unpleasant temperature contrast.
Not really: hollandaise is best made and served within 30 minutes. It can be held warm over a hot water bath for up to 30 minutes without significant quality loss, but it gradually thickens and can break if the water gets too hot. Do not refrigerate and reheat — the sauce separates on cooling and the reheating process almost always breaks it. If you need to make it slightly ahead, keep it in a wide-mouthed thermos that you've prewarmed with boiling water — it will stay warm and pourable for 20 to 30 minutes. Thin with a teaspoon of warm water before serving if needed.
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Comments (1)
The poaching water for eggs royale needs a splash of white vinegar and the gentlest possible simmer — not a rolling boil. I crack each egg into a small cup first, then slide it in, creating a tight vortex with a spoon. Three and a half minutes gives you a perfectly runny yolk.