How To Make a Japanese Onsen Tamago
How to make a Japanese Onsen Egg!
Making ramen at home isn't hard, but if you’re not taking the time to add an onsen egg to your bowl you should probably reevaluate your life choices.
Adding mix-ins to your next bowl of Mike’s Mighty Good Craft Ramen is the easiest way to step that flavor game up. You can use whatever meats, veggies, or seasonings you want, but if you're not starting with a soft boiled onsen egg tamago you’re going to miss out on a crazy amount of flavor.
By dropping a soft poached onsen tamago into your next bowl, you add an awesome punch of protein and rich fatty egg yolk to Mike's Mighty Good Craft Ramen’s already insanely rich broth. The end result is a level of umami that's almost mind-bending in its ability to get you going back for another bite.
Ramen with an egg in it is dangerously addictive, and If you don't already drink the leftover stock after you finish your noodles, adding an Onsen egg to your bowl should definitely fix that right up for you.
What is Onsen Tamago anyways?
Japanese Onsen Tamago is a type of soft-boiled or poached egg that is prepared in the shell. Onsen Tamago means "Hot Spring Egg" in Japanese and once upon a time these crazy tasty soft poached eggs were prepared by soaking them in the geothermally heated waters of natural hot springs which is super cool, also not really necessary with the advent of on-demand hot water.
These days it’s way easier to create a Japanese Onsen Egg at home with the use of some boiling water and a few eggs. You can still head down to your local hot spring with your eggs if you're feeling up for the OG method, but if not, it's super simple to just do it on your countertop.
The Science behind the Japanese Onsen Egg!
The ability to create delicious soft-boiled or poached eggs, especially Japanese Onsen Tamago, lies in the fact that the parts of an egg cook at different temperatures.
Egg yolks don’t set until they reach a temperature of 158°f, while egg whites on the other hand firm up at 149°f. What this means for you is that if you keep the water surrounding an egg at ~170°f or slightly under boiling, you can time the eggs as they cook and remove them from the hot water before the yolk sets up entirely.
By cooking eggs this way you create an insanely velvety egg white with a lightly poached egg yolk that is almost entirely runny. The best thing about Japanese Onsen eggs, is that making them is stupid easy. Seriously, you don’t need a thermometer, and as long as you can set a timer on your phone, you should be alright. If not, find an adult and ask for help.
Adding an Onsen Egg to your ramen is like 101 level cooking. It’s basic, it just makes sense. Like Rum and Coke, Spaghetti and Meatballs, Mac and Cheese, Ramen and Onsen Eggs were meant for one another.
The lightly cooked egg white adds a really meaty texture to the soup and gives it a punch of protein, while the yolk emulsifies into the broth completely, tempering the flavors and giving the soup depth and and more body than that Meaghan the Stallion track.
When they talk about chicken soup for the soul, what they really meant was ramen with onsen egg tamago.
Making your first Onsen Egg!
Making your first onsen egg is almost as easy as fixing yourself a bowl of Mike’s Mighty Good Craft Ramen, which is probably a good thing because you’ll most likely be doing both on a regular basis moving forward.
Realistically for this process, you only need a pot, some water, a measuring cup, and a few eggs, which is nice, because dishes are way less fun than eating ramen.
Step 1:
To make yourself a delicious onsen egg you’ll need to bring 3 cups of water to a boil on your stove. You will want to use a smaller sauce pan which will fully submerge your eggs as the cook. If you have access to an electric kettle that will work perfectly as well, you will just need to use a heat safe bowl instead of a pot.
Step 2:
Once the water is at a boil, turn the burner off and move it to a cool burner or hot pad/trivet. If you are using an electric kettle you can pour the water into a heat-safe bowl instead of a pot.
Step 3.
Next place the eggs into the pot of hot water, and then pour an additional cup of cold/room temp water over the eggs to help reduce the temperature to that 170°f window that's perfect for soft poaching eggs in the shell.
Step 4.
Cover the pot or bowl with the lid or with a plate large enough to lock in the heat. I like to use a plate because it’s ceramic and really does help lock in the heat. Once covered, set a timer for 15 minutes and walk away for a while.
Step 5.
Once your timer goes off, go ahead and remove the eggs from the water. The temperature should be more manageable but go ahead and use a spoon just to make sure you don’t drop the egg on its way out of the water.
Step 6.
Once the eggs have been removed from the poaching water you can crack them directly into your bowl of ramen, or serve them over steamed rice with seasonings. Either works, but the ramen option is definitely the tastier one.
How to serve your Onsen Egg!
Serving onsen eggs can definitely be the most frustrating part of this entire process. While traditional European soft-boiled eggs have a firm set egg white thanks to the boiling water they are often prepared in, Japanese Onsen Tamago is a much more delicate food and one that is prone to breaking apart if handled incorrectly.
The biggest mistake people make when they first start serving ramen with a soft-boiled egg is to put the egg in and then pour the broth quickly over the noodles/egg. If you do this you're not going to have a great time.
Because of the super fragile egg white that surrounds the lightly poached yolk in an onsen egg, if you pour hot ramen broth directly over it you are going to break apart the egg white and most likely puncture the yolk, which will not result in the photo-friendly bowl of ramen goodness you were hoping for.
To serve your onsen eggs, follow these simple tips:
- Transfer your onsen eggs to a bowl of cool water for 10-20 seconds before serving them. This helps the egg white set up slightly and reduces the heat of the eggshells so you don't burn your fingers. The broth will be more than hot enough to keep the eggs hot when they are in the soup so don't worry about losing too much heat at this step.
- Place your noodles into your bowl first, then crack the egg over the ramen and carefully place the egg into the center of the bowl.
- Arrange any other toppings you want around the outside of the bowl and then carefully pour the broth over the noodles.
- Make sure to pour the broth to the side of the bowl away from the egg, this helps avoid breaking the white or the yolk.
Chicken and Fried Garlic Ramen with a Japanese Onsen Egg!
The combination of Mike's Mighty Good Craft Ramen and an Onsen egg is 100% something you need in your life right now. The incredible garlicky, chicken broth combined with the noodles, and a perfectly poached onsen egg is the kind of self-care we all need.
Go grab a pack of Mike's Chicken and Fried Garlic Flavored ramen, follow the recipe below for a perfect onsen egg, and try not to faint when the Umami wave hits.
Ingredients:
1 package of Mike's Mighty Good Craft Ramen Chicken and Fried Garlic Flavor
1 egg
3 cups of water (for boiling)
1 cup of water ( for cooling)
Instructions:
- Bring 3 cups of water in a small saucepan to a boil on your stovetop. If you have an electric tea kettle you can use this as well!
- Once the water is boiling remove the water from the stove and add 1 cup of room temperature water to the pot. If you are using a tea kettle you can simply pour the boiling water into a heat-safe bowl and continue as normal.
- Next, add the egg to the pot and cover it with a lid.
- Set your timer for 15 minutes
- While the onsen egg cooks, you can prepare your ramen.
- Prepare the Mike's Chicken and Fried Garlic flavored ramen according to the instructions on the package.
- Once the ramen is finished cooking and the timer goes off, carefully remove the eggs from the pot and let them sit in chilled water for 10-20 seconds before serving.
- To serve your ramen and onsen egg tamago, carefully place the noodles into a bowl. Arrange any toppings you want to add around the outside and crack an egg carefully over the center of the bowl.
- Gently settle the egg onto the noodles before pouring the broth from the side of the bowl to avoid breaking the egg.
- Enjoy immediately!
Looking for more easy ramen hacks? Check these out:
