How To Make Ajitsuke Tamago (Ramen Eggs)

Known in Japan as ajitsuke tamago – often abbreviated to ajitama – ramen eggs are an integral element of a good bowl of ramen and Pete and I adore them! Soft-boiled eggs are chilled (to stop them cooking further) before being marinated in a soy sauce, mirin and sake marinade until the egg whites take on some of the marinade’s flavour. Leave them 24-48 hours and the egg yolks become jammy in texture too.

We usually make these to have in ramen but always do six at a time; they are so good that we love to have them as snacks or a quick breakfast.

These are easy to make and lovely to have in the fridge for a few days (though I could eat all six in one sitting!)

It’s best to make them the day before you want to eat them to allow the flavours and textures to develop but you can make them six hours ahead at a push and they will still be good.

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Ajitsuke Tamago (Ramen Eggs)

Known in Japan as ajitsuke tamago – often abbreviated to ajitama – ramen eggs are an integral element of a good bowl of ramen. Soft-boiled eggs are chilled (to stop them cooking further) before being marinated in a soy sauce, mirin and sake marinade until the firm egg whites takes on some of the marinade's flavour and the yolks become a little jammy in texture.

Leave them 24-48 hours and the egg yolks become jammy in texture too.  

Servings 6 eggs

Author Pete Favelle

Ingredients

• 6 eggs (UK large size)
• 2.5 tbs soy sauce
• 2 tbs mirin (sweet rice wine)
• 2 tbs sake
• cold water

Notes

If you use different sized eggs, you'll need to adjust your cooking times appropriately. You want the egg whites to be cooked through but the yolks to be soft and runny. 

If you don't have mirin, you can substitute with sweet marsala wine.

Instructions

• Put a pan of water on to boil.
• Once water is boiling, add your eggs and leave them in to cook for 6.5 minutes.
• Remove the eggs from pan and transfer into a bowl of cold water and leave to cool.
• Mix the soy sauce, mirin and sake and place into a jug, bowl, or box.
• Carefully peel the cold eggs and place them into the marinade.
• Top up marinade with water to ensure all the eggs are covered.
• Cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 6 hours or up to 4 days.

This is a recipe we shared on Instagram a few years ago and we still get great feedback so it’s overdue to publish it here on Kavey Eats too.

Let us know in the comments if you make these and enjoy them as much as we do!