I love ramen eggs. That soft gooey egg yolk that's creamy and sweet and savory, with a solid egg white that has absorbed all the delicious flavors of your marinade. Skip to the recipe.
Eggs are also a good source of choline, shown to increase memory, boost fat metabolism and reduce stroke chances. The rich flavors of a ramen egg goes well with ground black pepper and turmeric, for added health benefits.
As a snack, they are amazingly healthy and convenient. Just open the fridge, remove from container and eat directly. Great for a pre-workout or pre-run snack that will fill your stomach but won't bog you down.
It's also one of the best things to add some additional flavor and protein to a pack of instant noodles.
Adding 1/3 tsp (1g) turmeric to one half of the egg, and at least 1/20 tsp (0.01g) pepper to the other, makes this snack a strong anti-inflammatory / anti-cancer superfood. Turmeric has the compound curcumin which slows aging, improves brain function, prevents heart disease and may prevent cancer. It's bioavailability is increased when taken with pepper, which contains piperine, that helps you absorb curcumin (and maybe vitamin A) Combining fats with curcumin (such as those in egg yolks) also helps absorbtion.
At about 70cal for every large (50g) egg, and 6-7 grams of protein (10~11 calories per gram of protein), eggs are pretty healthy as well. Egg whites are almost one of the lowest at 4.6 calorie per gram of protein. I'm still trying to find a healthy way of eating those.
Eggs are also a good source of choline, shown to increase memory, boost fat metabolism and reduce stroke chances. The rich flavors of a ramen egg goes well with ground black pepper and turmeric, for added health benefits.
Humble breakfast of eggs and congee
As a snack, they are amazingly healthy and convenient. Just open the fridge, remove from container and eat directly. Great for a pre-workout or pre-run snack that will fill your stomach but won't bog you down.
An average "large" sized egg has around 75 calories and 7 grams of protein. That's around 10 calories per gram of protein, with 5 grams of fat (only 1.6 saturated fat), it is usually enough to stave off hunger pangs until the next meal.
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| Thin "dan dan" style noodles tossed with some szechuan spicy 小面 sauce, with a sausage and some baked brussel sprouts. The slight sweetness of the cool eggs are great to sooth the burn of the noodles. |
It's also one of the best things to add some additional flavor and protein to a pack of instant noodles.
I like making a quick breakfast of overnight basil & chia seed peanut butter oats with a ramen egg with a cold brew will last me until lunch time, and is ready to eat straight out of the fridge on hot summer mornings.
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| Noodles tossed in a soy sauce and shallot oil with some leftover stewed pork belly. Jazzed up with a ramen egg. |
I make them in batches of 6 (because that's how many my container comfortably fits), and they generally last me 5 days or so (USDA guidelines for boiled eggs is 7 days in the fridge) Once I place them in their marinade, I'll leave them there until I finish the batch, then top up the soy and re-use the marinade once or twice before starting from scratch.
Having an average 2% salinity means that my eggs don't get too salty after the first 2 days. The bare minimum recipe is just soy sauce, sugar and water, but I feel that at bare minimum, you need some mirin and/or sake in there for the sweetness and umami. Most people don't like the slightly alcoholic flavor that these impart, so it's advisable to boil the marinade before using it. People without mirin can just replace it with a little sugar. Adding a little vinegar to it also imparts an interesting flavor. The only thing that I wouldn't replace, is the soy sauce - but feel free to use anytime of soy sauce you have. Just plug in the sodium level into my calculator to work out how much you need. Crank down average salinity level from 2% to 1% if you feel it turns out too salty the first time around.
Sub 24g of sugar (2 table spoon) for mirin, and use chicken stock instead of sake if you prefer.
| Ingredients for 2% Ramen Egg | ||
| 6 Large Eggs (50g each) | 300 | g |
| Dark Soy Sauce | 55 | ml |
| Mirin | 55 | ml |
| Sake | 30 | ml |
| Water | 60 | ml |
| (Total Marinade 200ml) |
||
| Optional (Soy or Water) | ||
| Dashi Stock | ||
| Shiitake Mushroom / Stock | ||
| Red Wine Sherry | ||
| Sweet Vinegar | ||
| Rice Vinegar | ||
| Garlic | ||
| Ginger | ||
| Smoked Chilis | ||
| Fish Sauce | ||
| Miso | ||
| Oyster Sauce LKK "Chicken" Marinade Various spices Suggestions Soy, miso & rice wine vinegar |
||
EQUIPMENT
Push Pin
Push Pin
Pot
Ice Bath
Jar for eggs and marinade (or freezerbag)
NOTE ON SALINITY
I'm using a high salinity Dark Soy sauce that has 370mg of Sodium per 5ml (19% salinity), and aiming for a 2% equilibrium salinity for the marinade + the eggs. My container fits around 500ml, with 300ml being the 6x50g eggs, and the remaining 200ml being the marinade.
Adjust accordingly if your soy sauce has a higher / lower sodium level than mine.
You can also use the below calculator to workout the exact amount of soy sauce you should use, and adjust the equilibrium salinity for your own preference.
Most savory food is best between 1-2% salinity. If you plan on eating the eggs by themselves, I suggest using 1% salinity.
PREP (Optional, for cooking off some of the alcohol and infusing the marinade)
1) Boil your marinade to drive off some of the alcohol from the sake / mirin. If you are using ginger / garlic / other aromatics, boiling them in the liquid will help infuse the liquid with flavor.
2) Toast any spices you wish to use, e.g. star anise, pepper corns, szechuan pepper corns etc.
2) Toast any spices you wish to use, e.g. star anise, pepper corns, szechuan pepper corns etc.
3) Wait for the marinade to cool down before using
4) Use a push pin to poke a hole in the eggs on the fat end before boiling. This punctures the air sacs and you will see little bubbles when the egg is put into water. This makes it easier to peel the eggs, and stop the eggs from cracking when you boil them.
COOKING
1) Boil water
2) Using a spoon, gently lower your eggs into the water
3) Stir the water, as it simmers. This moves the eggs around so they cook evenly.
4) After 5:30 - 6 minutes, remove the eggs and plunge directly into an ice bath. This timing is for fridge temperature eggs. Reduce your timing if using room temperature eggs.
5) Peel eggs
6) Put the eggs into a jar / freezer bag and cover with marinade.
7) Eat sometime between 4 hours - 5 days (they have never lasted that long, these things are like giant chicken caviar and the first time I made these, I ate 3 at one sitting).
BONUS MATERIAL
Adding 1/3 tsp (1g) turmeric to one half of the egg, and at least 1/20 tsp (0.01g) pepper to the other, makes this snack a strong anti-inflammatory / anti-cancer superfood. Turmeric has the compound curcumin which slows aging, improves brain function, prevents heart disease and may prevent cancer. It's bioavailability is increased when taken with pepper, which contains piperine, that helps you absorb curcumin (and maybe vitamin A) Combining fats with curcumin (such as those in egg yolks) also helps absorbtion.
Ensure that you are getting your turmeric (and other spices) from a supplier that tests it for lead.
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