Ramen Egg Recipe (Ajitsuke Tamago)
Ramen eggs are undeniably special, but the secret is that they're truly easy to make. You'll start with our seven-minute eggs and then just let them chillax in a bath of sake, rice wine, soy sauce, and sugar overnight.
Servings: 4
Calories: 70kcal
Ingredients
- 4 large eggs
- ½ cup (120 ml) sake
- ½ cup (120 ml) mirin
- ½ cup (120 ml) soy sauce (reduced sodium is fine)
- ¼ cup (50 grams) sugar
- 1 heaping cup ice
Instructions
- Fill a small pot about halfway with water and bring to a boil.
- Carefully lower the eggs into the pot one at a time. (I like to use a small strainer, but you can also use a spoon.)
- Set a timer for seven minutes. Try to keep the water at a brisk simmer without jostling the eggs around more than necessary.
- While the eggs boil, fill a medium bowl about halfway with lots of ice and cold water.
- When the timer rings, take the eggs out right away, place them in the ice water, and let sit until cool, about 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a small pot, stir together sake, mirin, soy sauce, and sugar.
- Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
- When it boils, turn down the heat and simmer for one minute.
- Off the heat, add one heaping cup of ice to the pot to both dilute and chill the marinade. (Alternatively, you can place the ice in a 4-cup glass measuring cup or nonreactive bowl and pour the marinade overtop.)
- Place peeled seven-minute eggs into marinade.
- Cover tightly, and refrigerate for about 24 hours, turning once or twice if you think of it.
Video
Notes
- For ramen eggs, I tend to use a good-quality Junmai or Junmai Gingo sake that I enjoy drinking. (Junmai means there's no no distilled alcohol added, and gingo has to do with the percentage that the rice is polished before brewing.) Bringing the marinade to a boil means that there won't be an appreciable amount of alcohol in the recipe, so it's totally appropriate for your umami-loving kiddos.
- Mirin is a sweet Japanese rice wine that's pervasive in cooking and in dipping sauces. It's pretty easy to find in grocery stores these days, but you can also buy it here.
- I like to use reduced-sodium soy sauce, which has all the umami but is a little less salty.
- For less intense flavor, you can remove the eggs at any point after about eight hours. For more intense flavor you can let the eggs marinate a bit longer. However, the salt and sugar in the marinade will make the eggs tough eventually, so don't leave them for more than about 36 hours.
- Ramen eggs will keep well in an airtight container in the fridge for a week. Just don't leave them in the marinade.
Nutrition
Serving: 1egg | Calories: 70kcal | Protein: 6g | Fat: 5g