Ramen School 003: Ajitama (Ramen Eggs)
The key to ramen eggs (known in Japanese as ajitsuke tamago 味付け卵) is that they aren’t just flavoured by their marinade. The salty and sweet marinade actually acts as a cure to firm the whites and yolks, and give the yolks a savoury and jammy taste and consistency, which is a much better texture for ramen. Two days curing is about right for curing ramen eggs, but you can go more or less depending on the levels of salt and sugar in the liquid.
Ingredients
6-8 eggs
1 cup chashu braising liquid (or 1 cup homemade teriyaki sauce)
Alternative:
½ cup soy sauce
¼ cup mirin
¼ cup sake
any aromatics, dried shiitake mushrooms or dried seafood you might like
Method
Prick a hole in the base of the egg. Bring a pot of water to the boil, add the eggs, reduce the heat and simmer for 6 minutes. Remove to a bowl of iced water and allow to cool completely.
Combine the eggs with the chashu braising liquid and 2 cups of water. Refrigerate for 48 hours. Serve with ramen. Alternatively, bring the mirin and sake to the boil and flambe. Add soy sauce and 2 cups of water, plus any dried aromatics, shiitake mushrooms or seafood you might like. Add eggs and refrigerate for 2 days.
Top Tips for Ramen Eggs
- When cutting the eggs in half, the yolks are likely to stick to the knife. Use a wet knife to minimise this, or do as ramen shops do and cut the eggs with a piece of string or fishing line.
- Some common flavourings that can be added to the steeping liquid are: dried shiitake mushrooms, dried sardines or anchovies, bonito flakes, kombu, and even onion and garlic.
- Ramen eggs will keep for around 4 days refrigerated in their liquid or out of it. The eggs will likely be fully cured after 2 days.
Hello Adam,
I am Ela and I live in Berlin, Germany.
Since I found you/your recipes every thing is ok ^__^
I want to thank you , you made my cooking days complete , easy and delicious !
Now I am waiting for #4 in Ramen School ♥
With best wishes, Ela
Hey Adam!! Thank you for this great recipe! Can we use this steeping liquid for anything else after the eggs (safely)?
Thanks!
where did you get your piercing tool?
Hi Adam, I just tasted the ajitama I cooked strictly following your instructions. And it’s awesome.
You’re my new rock star! Keep on.
Hi Adam thanks for sharing this! Are the eggs at room temp before cooking?
I was very disappointed with this recipe. Adam, you do not say what size your eggs are or how to compensate for eggs being in the fridge. I had 75 gram eggs stored in the fridge and I guessed at 8 minutes. But that didn’t seem to work and I have no idea how far I should compensate.
Firstly it is extremely difficult to start the hole. My meat skewers wouldn’t even scratch the egg. So i ended up using a scalpel then the point of a steak knife then the skewer to get a hole like in your video. When each implement won’t turn easily move to the next otherwise you will crack the egg.
Then into iced water for 6 minutes then wait a couple of minutes (while finishing the curing liquid) then try and peel the eggs. Totally no different from peeling a conventionally boiled soft egg. The shell and the membrane stick to the white which comes away in chunks but you have no trouble shooting guide so I have no idea what I did wrong. Also my eggs still have a pocket except now it is full of water instead of air.
I bought a tool that puts a hole in eggs. I think I paid around $14.00 on Amazon. It was listed as bar equipment. Just type in ‘egg piercer’ and you will find a bunch of options.
Hope this helps. Happy Rahmen eggs!
Mine are in the fridge now, I can’t wait until Monday for the results.
Does anyone know if the brine can be used again?
Use a small needle to pierce the hole if you dont have a skewer. keeping the eggs in the carton keeps them steady and you can more easily pierce the shell. Try scratching a spot in the shell to start.
My eggs were “large” eggs and about 65g. I followed the recipe and it the eggs turned out great so don’t be downhearted, have another go.
Holy shit dude, relax! haha
Now officially addicted to these eggs and marinade. Thanks Adam!
Using Size 7 eggs straight from fridge and boiling for 8min 30sec, getting perfect results. Alex, that french guy cooking has an excellent youtubee video outlining perfect way to get the exact egg doneness you want.
Thanks for the series, I’ve found them really inspiring.
However, there’s a few details left out, like do you only dilute the teriaky sauce and not the fresh mixture? And do you cool the marinade before adding eggs?
Best wishes, M
I have the same question! Do you cool the marinade down? And do you need to let it simmer? If so, for how long?
Thanks!
Important note for everyone, as I just did this. Make sure you poke the BASE of the egg, the flatter side, not the pointed side. The pointed side made some egg come out. Also, don’t poke so deep that you hit egg. Just enough to break the shell and membrane.
Making these as a rice complement and topping with toasted sesame seeds and chives. Thank you.
Dear,
I am from Lithuania and i don’t understand what is : ¼ cup mirin
Can you explain me or send a link where i can buy it.
Thank you in advance.
Andrius, Mirin is a Japanese rice wine. If you can’t find Mirin where you are, google substitutes for Mirin. Happy Cooking!
Hi Adam! Thanks for this great advice, a soothing video and inspiring instruction.
Hei, is it possible to re-use marinade after 2-3 day for a new batch of eggs?
Can I repeat using the same marinade?
I don’t have sake
I peel the eggs before marinating them, I assume?
For those not feeling great about this: just keep swimming! You’ll get it, and experimenting in the kitchen is fun!
I’d suggest to throw the marinade away afterwards as there is direct contact with the eggs, and there will be plenty bacteria floating around, nomming on the sugars and such.
I absolutely adore ajitama in any ramen, especially with a spiced teriyaki sauce (mine has 1 madame jeannettes, thumb of ginger ginger and a few shiitakes). Thanks so much Adam, for the inspiration to get more involved in asian quisine!