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Ramen eggs are Japanese soft-boiled eggs known as ajitsuke tamago  in Japan. By the name, you know it is obvious that they are eaten with ramen noodles. However, these delicious flavorful eggs are not limited to ramen only, they can be used in salads, snacked on, and in sandwich toppings, especially in avocado toast.

In summary,the eggs are soft boiled,then marinated for hours before being sliced into halves  and rested on a ramen noodles bowl. These eggs are necessary for a ramen dish as they add texture,umami flavor and color from the bright appetizing yolks.

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Ingredients

•  1/4 cup Soy Sauce
•  1/4 cup Mirin
•  1/2 cup Rice Wine 
•  2 Tsp Sugar
•  4 Eggs

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Procedure

1. Bring water to a boil,reduce heat then add the eggs. Your eggs should be at room temperature,prick the bottom of the egg with a sharp needle to break the air sack.This prevents the eggs from cracking due to sudden expansion upon immersion in boiling water.Set a timer and boil for exactly 7min 30sec
2. Prepare an ice bath ready for the eggs, after the timer goes off immerse the boiled eggs to prevent further cooking from the conducted residual heat. Chill for 20 to 30  minutes before proceeding to peel.
3. Make the marinade: The simplest marinade will only require two ingredients: Soy sauce and Mirin. Combine everything and if you optioned sugar stir till combined. Bring to a boil to evaporate the alcohol. 2 to 3 minutes will do just fine. Cool your marinade.
4. Peel your eggs gently by cracking the shell and then rolling them on a flat surface. You should peel your eggs under running water, the seepage helps get under the sack membrane. This is important so that your peeled egg doesn’t resemble the moon’s surface
5. Marinating: You can either use a tall slender jar with a lid or a Ziploc bag. Add the marinade then drop your eggs into the jar, line with paper towels and push them in to touch the marinade.This helps to ensure eggs marinate evenly and we wont result to white patches.If using a Ziploc bag, make sure all the air is expelled before closing the bag
6. Marinate a minimum of 12hrs, you can do 24hrs or even 36hrs if you want darker, more flavorful, and intense eggs
7. Slice your eggs lengthwise and neatly with an egg slicer or dental floss (non-mint). Wrap around the egg and pull in opposite sides. A fishing line works too and so does a plastic wire. If you have to use a knife as your last option make sure it is razor sharp.

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Notes and Tips

Chosing your Eggs

Choose eggs that are slightly aged (like a week old) as fresh eggs are difficult to peel, especially if soft boiled.Chunks of the whites tend to come off with the shell. Why so? In fresh eggs the egg whites are cemented to the shell, but after some days the egg whites shrink and creates an air gap with the shell, the air gap makes peeling of older eggs significantly easier as compared to the fresh ones

Boiling Perfect Soft Eggs

We bring water to a boil first to have a better control of the cooking time.Kindly note if you add eggs before water is boiling, the eggs will start cooking with the pre-boiling heat thus your resultant eggs will be overcooked 

Make sure your eggs are covered with at least an inch of water level. Reducing the heat upon egg addition helps with maintaining steady temperature environment for even cooking.

Cook extra eggs in case one gets messed up( during cooking) for insurance purposes lol

When peeling eggs start with the edge with the air bubble so that you can easily get under the membrane between the shell and the egg whites

Peeling the eggs cooked under 7 minutes is difficult but that doesn’t mean you should increase the cook time. Overcooking will lose the tenderness factor and result will be rubbery in texture, we want our yolks jammy but the egg whites a little firm but importantly,tender.

You can option to steam the eggs using a rice cooker steamer instead of boiling them. Add water and boil it, add the steaming basket with the eggs and cover cook for 7 minutes  and proceed as before

Cook time is not defined and greatly changes to conditions such as pot size, egg size and temperature, so be sure to do some test runs before you get your perfect conditions

You can add baking soda in boiling water to help with peeling

Marinade Preparation

Combine the liquids, you can also option to infuse aromatics eg scallions,ginger garlic and spring onions.Let them boil and strain after 10 minutes. For soy sauce any Japanese brand will be good enough.

Marination

It is critical to cool your marinade before pouring it onto the eggs because while hot, it may further cook your eggs and the result will be crumbly hard boiled marinated eggs. 

Soft boiled eggs will tend to float to the surface.This will lead to uneven marination that is why placement of a paper towel before sealing the marinating jar is called for.The paper absorbs the marinade and diffuses it through ensuring the floating egg surfaces get marinated as well

Optionally a Ziploc bag should be used but should be entirely vacuumed. Use a vacuum sealer if you got one or if not, roll the bag to remove most of the air close it like 95% and suck the residual air with a straw. Okay, This is tedious i will just go with the jar method.

You can re-use the marinade for upto 3 batches or use it in stir fries

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Nutrition Facts

Amount per serving   Calories 421

Total Fat 4.4g 6% Saturated Fat 1.4g 7% Cholesterol 164mg 55% Sodium 10614mg 461% Total Carbohydrate 90g 33% Dietary Fiber 1g 4% Total Sugars 58.5g   Protein 13.6g 

Vitamin D 15mcg 77% Calcium 49mg 4% Iron 3mg 18% Potassium 336mg 7%

*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calorie a day is used for general nutrition advice.

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Related Links

Dark Soy vs Light Soy Sauces