Sous Vide Ramen Eggs – Is It Worth It?

We’ve been thinking about making sous vide ramen egg aka ajitsuke tamago for some time. I always thought the sous vide would be the perfect machine to do the job, taking most if not all of the guesswork out. I found out that eggs are a bit more temperamental and require more attention than I initially thought. Getting the perfect center was not the hard part … but peeling those things are a different story! We tried boiling for 6.5mins, sous vide at 190F for 8.5mins, and a combination boil 3 mins and sous vide 165 for 15mins.

Ingredients

Up to 12 eggs

1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup sake
1/2 cup mirin
1 cup water

Instructions

1. Heat medium size pot or saucepan on medium heat.
2. Pour in Sake and Mirin.
3. Allow alcohol to burn off.
4. Turn off the heat and add water and soy sauce.
5. Stir and set aside.
6. Alternatively, you can skip all this and just use the marinade from your chashu pork

Method 1: Boiling Method

1. Bring a pot of water to boil – enough to cover the eggs by 1 inch.
2. Remove the eggs from the fridge just before ready to boil.
3. Poke a small hole in the fatter side of the egg using a thumbtack or similar.
4. Gently place all the eggs into the boiling water.
5. Boil for exactly 6 mins 30 seconds.
6. While eggs are boiling, prepare an ice bath.
7. Once timer is up, remove the eggs immediately and put them straight into the ice bath.
8. Peel the eggs promptly.

Method 2: Sous Vide

1. Set water bath to 190F
2. Remove the eggs from the fridge just before ready to drop in
3. Poke a small hole in the fatter side of the egg using a thumbtack or similar
4. Gently place all the eggs into the water bath.
5. Sous vide for 8 mins 30 seconds.
6. While the eggs are in the sous vide prepare an ice bath.
7. Once timer is up, remove the eggs immediately and put them straight into the ice bath.
8. Peel the eggs promptly.

Marinating the eggs

1. Put the eggs into a bowl large enough to fit.
2. Pour the marinade over the eggs until just covering.
3. Put a piece of paper towel over the eggs in the liquid to ensure that it gets marinade all over.
4. Refrigerate for 24 hours.