"Homemade Japanese Marinated Soft Boiled Egg for Ramen (Ajitsuke Tamago) Recipe

By RoketJSquerl

Ingredients

• For the tare sauce:
• 240 ml Japanese soy sauce see notes below
• 1 piece kombu
• 120 ml mirin
• 120 ml cooking sake
• 1 leek
• 1/2 cup bonito flakes
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 inch ginger thinly sliced
• 8 cloves garlic crushed
• 6 extra large eggs about 65g each

Details

Adapted from iceorrice.com

Preparation

Step 1

Instructions
In a medium saucepan, add all the seasonings and bring it to a boil. Switch to lowest heat and gently simmer for 15 minutes. Strain the sauce through a fine-mesh sieve. Let it cool and set aside.

Bring the water to a boil in a large pot. Make sure you have enough water to fully submerge all the eggs.

if you take the eggs straight out of the refrigerator, place them in a bowl of warm water (104 F / 40 C) for 1 minute. The water should be a little warmer than body temperature.

Use a slotted spoon to lower the eggs into the boiling water gently. Cook for exact 7 1/2 minutes over medium-high heat. If the eggs are room temperature, boil for exact 6 1/2 minutes.

Prepare a bowl of ice-water. Drain the hot water and transfer the eggs to ice-water and let them sit for a few minutes. Peel the eggs under running water.

Transfer the eggs to a zip top bag and pour the tare sauce over them. Squeeze out the air from the bag to marinate the eggs evenly.

Refrigerate for at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours. Discard the sauce and transfer the eggs to a sealed container. Consume the eggs within 3 days.

Recipe Notes
Any regular/ gluten-free soy sauce from Kikkoman, Yamasa or other Japanese brands is fine. I love Chinese soy sauce, but it tends to be saltier than Japanese soy sauce in general.
Most recipes commonly suggest 6 1/2 minute for the soft-boiled egg. While this cooking time works for me, do remember that it may vary depending on the size of the egg, egg's temperature, egg-to-water ratio, cookware, and even altitude. So do a few test runs and adjust the cooking time.
You can re-use the marination for 2-3 times or use it for ramen broth or chashu. The eggs would extract some liquid after marination. So the flavor is not as intense as the first time. I made a video for shoyu ramen a while ago and used the same sauce for the broth.