The Prep and the Plunge
First things first: you need your boiled egg. Whether you like them hard-boiled for a salad or soft-boiled for dipping, this method works across the board. Once your egg is cooked to your liking, give it a quick “shock” in an ice bath to stop the cooking process—this is standard practice, but it helps firm up the whites. Now, grab that drinking glass. You want something large enough for the egg to move around in freely, but not so big that it’s cumbersome to hold. A standard 12-ounce water glass is usually the best choice for this operation.
Take your glass to the sink and fill it with about an inch of cold water. You don’t need much; just enough to provide a liquid cushion. Now, take your boiled egg and gently drop it into the glass. At this point, it just looks like an egg taking a very shallow bath. You might be skeptical—how is a tiny bit of water and a glass going to do what twenty minutes of careful picking couldn’t? The magic happens in the next step, where we add the “action” to the equation. Brace yourself; things are about to get a little shaky!