In the event that you consider eggs in connection with a salad, you’re most likely thinking hard-boiled. It’s a classic American mix-in.

But consider instead a soft-cooked egg atop a pile of greens. Break the yolk and it becomes a part of the dressing, coating the greens with a rich, silky ooziness.

I met my first Lyonnaise salad this summer in its birthplace of Lyon, France, which may well be the foodie town to beat all foodie towns. It is the home of legendary chef Paul Bocuse — whose official title, I think, is “deity” — and often cited as the gastronomic capital of France, over even Paris.

We ate mostly at bouchons, casual cafes that specialize in old-school food of the region (lots of pork but also fish, chicken, cheese and a rich variety of local produce). Except for one misstep (pig trotters), everything I ate here was exceptional, down to the dried apricots out of a bag from a grocery store.

The salad is a classic dish of the city — a nice mix of salty, tangy, bitter and rich — and I vowed upon eating it to look up the recipe when I got home.

The only complication in this dish is timing: The dressing needs to be warm, and who wants to eat a cold egg, so you’ve got to be a bit ambidextrous at the stovetop to get everything primed for serving at optimum temperature.

This salad calls for a sturdy green — not soft Manoa lettuce, which would collapse under the warm dressing. Look for frisee, which might sound precious but is in plentiful supply at Safeway. It’s got a slight bitterness that is also key.

The truly precious ingredient is the pancetta, an Italian bacon, which can be pricey and might require a trip to a specialty deli. You want a thick slice, not thin packaged slices. I got mine at R. Field Wine Co. Go with thick-cut bacon as an alternative.

You’ll also need to poach an egg. If that skill is beyond you, go with over-easy. They wouldn’t do this in Lyon, but they don’t have to know.

Salade Lyonnaise

• 6 cups sturdy, slightly bitter greens (frisee, endive or escarole)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 pound pancetta or thick-cut bacon, cut in 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 shallot, minced
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 2 poached eggs

Place greens in large bowl and tear leaves into bite-size pieces.

Heat oil in skillet over medium-high. Add pancetta or bacon, and saute until browned on all sides. Remove from pan and drain on paper towels. Reduce heat to low.

Add shallot to oil in skillet, stirring until lightly browned; remove from heat (this will take just seconds; be careful not to burn). Whisk in vinegar and mustard until well combined.

While still warm, pour this dressing over greens; toss to slightly wilt greens. Divide between two serving bowls. Top each with pancetta pieces and an egg. Serves 2.

Note: This makes a lightly dressed salad. If you prefer more dressing, double the amount of vinegar and stir in more olive oil with the mustard.

Approximate nutritional information, per serving: 300 calories, 25 g fat, 6 g saturated fat, 200 mg cholesterol, 500 mg sodium, 9 g carbohydrate, 5 g fiber, 1 g sugar, 11 g protein

Write “By Request,” Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, Honolulu 96813; or email requests to bshimabukuro@staradvertiser.com. Nutritional analysis by Joannie Dobbs, Ph.D., C.N.S.