Ramen Eggs (Ajitama)

A ramen egg sliced in half after being marinated.

Ramen eggs, or ajitama, have the most incredible jammy yolk center and are flavored to umami perfection. These Japanese soft-boiled eggs are marinated overnight in a rich, sweet, savory, soy sauce-based marinade and are perfect for your bowl of ramen, as a side dish, or as a snack!

Course Appetizer, Appetizer & Sides, Breakfast, Side Dish, Snack

Cuisine Japanese

Keyword ajitama, ajitama egg, ajitsuke tamago, how to make ramen eggs, Japanese boiled eggs, Japanese ramen egg, Japanese soft boiled egg, Japanese soy egg, korean marinated eggs, ramen egg, ramen egg marinade, ramen egg recipe, ramen eggs, soy marinated eggs, soy sauce egg recipe, soy sauce eggs

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 6

Marinate Time 8

Total Time 8 21

Servings servings

Calories 115kcal

Author Megan

Equipment

Ingredients

6 large eggs room temperature
1 tablespoon vinegar
water for boiling

Marinade

¼ cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce (optional for darker color)
1 cup dashi broth
¼ cup mirin
¼ cup sake
1 tablespoon sugar

Instructions

Make the marinade. In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, add the soy sauce, dark soy sauce, dashi broth, mirin, sake, and sugar. Bring to a boil and whisk to combine. Once it is boiling, reduce the heat and simmer for 1 minute. Set aside to cool completely.
Soft boil the eggs. In a medium pot, add enough water to cover the eggs and vinegar. Boil over high heat. Carefully, lower the room temperature eggs onto the bottom of the pot with a spider strainer or a slotted spoon and gently rotate the eggs for the first 2 minutes. Turn the heat to medium heat and simmer for 6 minutes and 30 seconds.
Place the eggs in an ice-water bath. Using a slotted spoon or spider strainer, scoop the eggs out and transfer them to an ice bath. Make sure the ice water covers the eggs. Chill for at least 10 minutes then gently peel the eggs. Pat to dry and set aside.
Marinate the eggs. Add the eggs and cooled marinade into a large ziplock bag or a container with an airtight lid. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours or overnight. Rotate the eggs after 4 hours for even coverage.
Serve. Remove the eggs from the marinade and cut them in half to serve. You can use a knife, string, or cheese cutter for a clean cut.

Notes

Cook the marinade. Cooking the soy marinade is necessary to burn off the alcohol flavor of the sake and to completely dissolve the sugar. Make sure to continue cooking the soy marinade for at least 1 minute after it reaches a boil.
Use room temperature eggs: using room temperature eggs takes out all the guesswork. It will ensure that you have the perfect jammy runny center and there is less of a risk that your eggs will crack upon touching the boiling water. If you don’t want to wait for the eggs to naturally come to room temperature, gently submerge them in lukewarm water for 5 minutes before boiling.
Add vinegar to the boiling water. Adding vinegar to the boiling water helps with peeling the eggs. Since the ramen eggs are soft boiled it may be difficult to peel the eggs without breaking the egg whites.
Cook the eggs over medium heat. The water should come to a boil and then be reduced to medium heat where the eggs are cooking over a gentle simmer with medium bubbles on top not aggressive roaring ones.
For the perfect centered yolk, gently roll the eggs with a wooden spoon or chopsticks for the first 2 minutes in the boiling water to center the yolk.
Shock the soft-boiled eggs in an ice-water bath. Soaking the soft-boiled eggs in ice water for at least 10 minutes allows the egg whites to contract, and firm up the egg white proteins which release them from the shell making them easier to peel.
Marinate the eggs overnight and for a max of 2 days. For the best flavor, serve the ajitama egg after an overnight marinade. The soy-marinated eggs should only remain in the marinade for a maximum of 2 days.
Storage Instructions: You can store the Japanese ramen eggs in the marinade for a maximum of two days. Then you can store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for an additional 1 day (for a total of 3 days maximum).

Nutrition