Ramen Eggs & Not Your Grandma’s Deviled Eggs
Ramen eggs (aka ajitsuke tamago) are eggs boiled just long enough to achieve the perfect jammy yoke consistency, then marinated anywhere from 3 hours to 3 days. They are sweet, salty, and rich with umami flavor. Perfect in a bowl of ramen, eaten as a snack, and as I recently discovered (through laziness sheer brilliance) a whole new (and much easier) way to make deviled eggs.
Let’s start with cooking the egg itself. The goal here is to have fully cooked egg whites with a yolk that is not quite runny and not quite set – it has a lovely custard-like consistency. Here’s a few tips:
- Start with high quality, pastured eggs (I prefer Nature’s Yoke) – since the yolk is the star of these eggs, I feel it is important to use quality eggs.
- Heat matters – it is important to bring your water to a rolling boil first before adding your eggs, one at a time, using a slotted spoon.
- Egg temperature matters – I start my eggs cold, which means out of the fridge but not straight out of the fridge. I pull them out as soon as I put the water on to boil so they sit out for a few minutes. I have tried both straight out of the fridge and out of the fridge a few minutes and they seem to be much easier to peel when the eggs “un-chill” for a few.
- Timing matters – once you put the eggs into the boiling water, set your timer for exactly 6½ minutes. Do not wait for the water to come back to a boil (because it will stop boiling as soon as you put the cold eggs in). This produces the perfect jammy egg!
- Ice bath – after hanging out in the boiling water, you need to cool those eggs down pronto. Have a bowl of ice water standing by, remove your eggs from the pot with a slotted spoon, and put them immediately into the ice water. This will stop the cooking and make them easier to peel. Let them sit in the ice bath for 5 minutes.
- Tap, tap, tap – you want to gently crack the eggs all over to loosen the shell.
- Peel under cold, running water – start with the fat end of the egg and peel under running cold water, getting under that membrane.
Now you know how to make the perfect Instagram-worthy, jammy egg! You could stop right here as they are perfect on their own with just a little sprinkle of flaky sea salt. And a great hack for making easy, peasy deviled eggs.
Usually with deviled eggs you start with hard-boiled eggs, remove the yolks, smash them up with mayo and seasonings and then put them back into the egg. I discovered that since the texture of the yolks on these jammy eggs is so delightful, you can leave the eggs intact, season up mayo any way you like, put the seasoned mayo on top of the halved eggs, and viola! The easiest deviled eggs ever!
Now, let’s talk about turning that perfect jammy egg into a ramen egg. It’s easy enough. All you need to do is marinate the eggs in a mixture of tamari or gluten free soy sauce and Mirin. Of course, you can season that marinade up with things like garlic, ginger, and peppers but here I kept it really simple. Just mix equal amounts of tamari and mirin, put your cooked jammy eggs in a deep container (I use a wide mouth pint Mason jar) or a resealable food storage bag and let them hang out in the fridge for 3 hours, up to 3 days. As a word of caution, however, if you plan on marinating for 3 days, add about half the amount of water as your tamari to keep the eggs from becoming too salty. Then just remove the eggs from the marinade, dry them, and cut in half lengthwise. So delicious as is and perfect in a big steamy bowl of ramen. They also make for a crazy good base of a deviled egg with an Asian accent (recipe to follow).
Ramen Eggs
Instructions
- Bring a pot of water large enough to hold the eggs in a single layer to a full rolling boil. There should be enough water to cover the eggs by 1 inch. As soon as you set the pot of water on the stove, take your eggs out of the refrigerator. Once the water is boiling, add the eggs, one at a time using a slotted spoon. Set the timer for exactly 6½ minutes.
- Prepare a bowl large enough to hold all the eggs with ice water and have it standing by. Once the eggs have cooked for 6½ minutes, remove them with a slotted spoon and place directly into the ice water. Let sit for 5 minutes. Peel the eggs. Place them in a deep container or resealable food storage bag.
- Combine the tamari and mirin and pour over the eggs. Marinate in the refrigerator for 3 hours or up to 3 days. If planning to marinate for more than 1 day, add ½ cup of water to the tamari/mirin mixture.
- I do not recommend reusing the marinade to make more ramen eggs however, if you plan to make ramen, it can be poured into the broth before bringing to a boil and simmering.
Nutrition
Not Your Grandma’s Deviled Eggs
Ingredients
- 12 ramen eggs (recipe above, doubled)
- ¾ cup mayonnaise
- 1½ tablespoons Sriracha sauce
- 2 green onions , finely chopped
- Furikake (Japanese seasoning consisting of dried seaweed, sesame seeds, and seasoning) or sesame seeds
Instructions
- Remove the ramen eggs from the marinade and pat dry. Cut in half lengthwise. Combine the mayonnaise with the Sriracha sauce and whisk until smooth. Divide evenly on top of the eggs, about 1 tablespoon per egg half. Top with the green onions and furikake or sesame seeds.
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe? Give it a star rating and let us know your thoughts in the Ratings & Reviews section below.
