Soy Sauce Eggs, perfectly cooked “ramen eggs” marinated in a mixture of soy sauce, rice wine, and ginger, are an essential topper for a bowl of ramen. They also make a great snack on their own.
Soy sauce eggs start with an egg that’s boiled until the whites are completely set, but the yolk is still jammy. Just, you know, a perfect soft-boiled egg.
How do you make a perfect ramen egg?
You’ll see all kinds of tricks for making a perfect Japanese ramen egg on the internet. But you don’t need tricks. Making boiled eggs that are just right for topping a bowl of ramen isn’t tricky at all. Here’s how I do it:
- Fill a saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat so the water is simmering. Use a slotted spoon to gently lower the eggs into the water. If you are doing more than one at a time, try not to let the eggs smack against each other as you add them to the water or they will crack.
- SET A TIMER. I’m not going to say it again. Just do it. The second your last egg goes into the water, set a timer. I use “hey Siri” on my phone.
- Cook for 7 minutes (or if you’ve done a lot of eggs, you might set it for 6 ½ to account for the time it took you to get all of the eggs into the water).
- While the eggs are cooking, make an ice bath. Place a bunch of ice in a medium bowl. Fill the bowl with cold water.
- When the timer goes off, use your slotted spoon to transfer the eggs to the ice bath. If you are doing a lot of eggs at once, you can drain the pot and run some cold water over them first. If you put too many piping hot eggs in your water bath at once, it will raise the temperature.
- Let the eggs stand in the water bath until they are cool enough to handle.
- To serve, carefully peel the eggs and slice them in half lengthwise. Or peel them all and make this soy marinated egg recipe.
What ingredients do you need for this soy marinated egg recipe?
These eggs are marinated in a simple mixture of soy sauce and other flavorful ingredients. Here are the things you need.
- Eggs, obviously. Soft-boiled as above.
- Soy sauce (for a darker brown color, use half regular soy sauce and half dark soy sauce)
- Sake
- Mirin
- Water
- Sugar
- Ginger
How do you make soy marinated eggs?
Once you’ve soft-boiled your perfect Japanese ramen eggs as above, it’s time to make your marinade.
- Simply combine the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Let cook, stirring or swirling the mixture a few times, until the sugar dissolves, about two to three minutes.
- Transfer the mixture to a jar or another container that will hold it and the eggs. Let it cool for 15 minutes or so and then add the peeled soft-boiled eggs.
- Cover and refrigerate for anywhere from 6 to 12 hours. Don’t let the eggs marinate much longer than 12 hours or they may become rubbery.
Serving suggestions
Obviously, these soy sauce marinated eggs are delicious on top of a bowl of ramen. But it doesn’t stop there. I love to eat these on their own as a snack or pop them into my kid’s lunch box along with Onigiri or Yaki Onigiri.
They make a great topper for salads or rice bowls, too.
more japanese recipes you’ll love
- Yaki Onigiri
- Chicken Karaage
- Spicy Miso Ramen
- Ramen Tare
- Soy Sauce Eggs
- Sunomono
- Onigiri
- Miso Salmon
- Stir-Fried Lotus Root
- Chawanmushi
- Japanese Souffle Pancakes
Soy Sauce Eggs
Ingredients
- 6 large eggs at room temperature
- ¾ low-sodium soy sauce
- ½ cup sake
- ¼ cup mirin
- ¾ cup warm water
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh ginger
Instructions
- Fill a medium saucepan with water and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium so that the water is simmering just below the boil. Gently lower the eggs into the water using a slotted spoon.
- Let the eggs simmer for 6 ½ minutes.
- While the eggs are simmering, place several ice cubes in a bowl large enough to hold all of the eggs. Add cold water to cover.
- When the eggs are finished cooking, pour off the hot water and run cold water of them for a few minutes to cool them down. Transfer the eggs to the ice bath and let them sit until they are completely cooled, about 5 minutes. Drain.
- Carefully peel the eggs.
- In a medium saucepan, combine the soy sauce, sake, mirin, water, sugar, and ginger and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring frequently, until the sugar dissolves completely, about 3 minutes.
- Transfer the mixture to a jar or container large enough to hold both the marinade and the eggs and let cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes.
- Add the peeled eggs to the soy sauce mixture, cover, and refrigerate for about 8 hours (it is not ideal to leave them longer than 12 hours as the texture of the eggs may begin to suffer).
- Remove the eggs from the marinade and store them, covered, in a bowl in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Yum! This is going on my to make list!
My daughter loves ramen noodles and hard boiled eggs!! I am definitely making this for her! Thanks for sharing!!
You have displayed the most wonderful way to make a perfect Japanese ramen egg. I always love to cook Egg recipe and ramen egg is one of my favorite recipe. This is definitely an interesting way to Japanese ramen egg. Especially, Making boiled eggs that are just right for topping a bowl of ramen isn’t tricky at all.
I’d been in trouble because I couldn’t always make a perfect soft-boiled egg. Boil in boiling water for 6 and a half minutes, then make them dive in ice water to stop it from solidifying anymore! I’m convinced!
The perfect ramen eggs!