Onsen Tamago (Japanese Hot Spring Eggs)
Ingredients
- 4 eggs chilled & straight from the fridge, pasteurized
- 1500 ml water
- 300 ml cold water chilled in the fridge
- ice cold water
- 2 tbsp dashi stock liquid not powder
- ½ tbsp Japanese light soy sauce (usukuchi shoyu)
- 1 tbsp mirin
- 1 tbsp water
Instructions
- Measure out 300 ml cold water and place it in the refrigerator. It should be fully chilled before you start (about 10°C/50°F). Once chilled, add 1500 ml water to a pot and bring to a rolling boil. (Tip: Heating with a lid will speed up the process.)
- Once the water is thoroughly boiling, turn off heat and add the cold water from the fridge.
- Immediately add 4 eggs straight from the fridge. At this point the water should be about 80 °C (176 °F).
- Cover, move the pot off the stove and set a timer for 15 minutes. Keep the lid on the whole time.
- Remove the eggs and rest in a bowl at room temperature for exactly 3 minutes (5 minutes in winter). Use a timer to ensure accuracy. While you wait, prepare a bowl of ice cold water.
- Once rested at room temperature, pour ice-cold water into the bowl to halt the cooking process and stop them from cooking any further. Rest for 5-10 minutes, this will help them come out cleanly before serving.
- Combine 2 tbsp dashi stock, ½ tbsp Japanese light soy sauce (usukuchi shoyu), 1 tbsp mirin and 1 tbsp water in a small microwavable bowl. Microwave uncovered for 1 minute at 600W. The sauce can be served warm or cooled depending on preference
- Crack the egg into a serving bowl and add about 1 tbsp of sauce for each serving. Enjoy!
Notes
Pot choice: The 1500 ml and the 15 minutes were dialed in using a 20 cm stainless steel pot. Amounts and temperatures fit that pan, so a pan of similar material is a good choice.
About 80°C (176°F) adds up from 3 parts: Water at a full boil (1500 ml), 300 ml of water at about 10°C (50°F) and 4 cold eggs together bring the pan to about 80°C. Change any one and the temperature you reach changes too.
Boil the water in this pan: Water boiled in a kettle or microwave and poured in will not do. It has to come to a boil in the pan itself before the heat goes off.
Keep the eggs cold: Straight from the fridge, the eggs do part of the work of cooling the water. Eggs left out to warm up cook too far.
4 eggs at most per batch: Every egg you add chills the water more, and it ends up too cold. For more eggs, work a second pan through the same steps alongside the first.
The 3 minutes on the counter are cooking time: The eggs keep cooking after they leave the water, on the heat trapped in the shell. Go past 3 minutes (5 in winter) and the white firms up as well.
Stop the cooking with ice water: Water that is only cold leaves the carryover heat running, and the whites firm up. Make sure ice is floating in it before you pour.
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