Ramen eggs are the best eggs. No question about it!
Some people might find certain contentment in the tidily tucked, Jacques Pepin-esque French omelette, or joy in emulating Gordon Ramsay’s assaulted scrambled eggs, or even revel in the delicate balance of shock and salivation when faced with a Filipino balut.
Photos: LOH YI JUN
But for me, glorious eggy happiness comes in the form of ajitsuke tamago, or as they’re more commonly known – ramen eggs!
Soy-braised, soft-centred and worthy of a Shakespearean soliloquy, ramen eggs are a dream. Each element of the ramen egg is near perfect.
Keep eggs overnight in the soy marinade.
Let’s start with the yolk. The yolk is a gentle gradient from just-set curds on the outside to a runny custard in the centre, a hint at 63°C yolks before 63°C yolks were cool.
Then, there’s the egg white, encasing the tender orange yolk within. Bouncy and gelatinous, the whites of a ramen egg serve as a canvas to the richness of the yolk, adding a supple bite, a textural contrast to the melted yolk.
Soft inside, firm on the outside.
Lastly, there’s the skin – stained earthy brown, smelling of soy and umami, proudly Asian.
Like the best egg dishes – ramen eggs come together in no time at all, and certainly a fraction of the time it takes to make actual ramen.
The yolk is still gooey.
Just boil some eggs (6 minutes will give you the greatest yolk gradient in my tests), peel them, simmer in some ingredients to infuse overnight. That’s it.
They don’t even have to come with a bowl of ramen. Plonk them onto rice, plunge them into porridge, or just pop them straight into your mouth whole. This is an ovum deserving of an ovation, regardless how you eat it. — Contributed by LOH YI JUN/junandtonic.com
Ramen eggs
(makes 6) Ingredients
6 eggs at room temperature
60ml light soy sauce
1 tbs mirin or Shaoxing wine
1 tbs light brown sugar
1 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
2 cloves
240ml water
Method1. Start by boiling the eggs. Bring a pot of water to the boil. (Make sure that you have enough water to completely submerge all the eggs.) Gently place the eggs into the boiling water and let them cook for 6 minutes, making sure the water is constantly simmering. Prepare an ice bath. When the eggs are done, immediately remove them from the boiling water and plunge them into the ice bath to stop the cooking process.
2. In a small saucepan, add in soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, brown sugar and all the spices. Place this over high heat, and once it comes to a boil, remove from the heat and add the water in.
3. Peel the eggs and place them snugly in a container. Pour the soy marinade over the eggs, making sure all the eggs are completely submerged. (Add a bit more water to the container if they aren’t.) Then, refrigerate the eggs in the marinade for at least 3 hours, or up to two days, depending on how salty and umami-laden you like it. (I find the sweet spot to be at one day, after which it can get a little too salty for my taste.) When they’re marinated to your liking, remove them from the soy liquid, and they’re ready to be eaten.
