Ajitama

A quintessential part of any bowl of ramen, and honestly pretty incredible by itself with some rice, or in a bento box. And it's remarkably simple to make too, as long as you're okay with peeling a couple of eggs. I had some leftover braising liquid from making soy braised chicken wings, and I purposed the braising liquid as the marinating sauce for these eggs. It turned out great! For the picture above, I could have let it braise a little longer to pick up a touch more flavor.

Active Time: 20 min

Total Time: 8 hr


Ingredients

> eggs
> soy sauce (3 tbsp)
> sake (3 tbsp)
> mirin (2 tbsp)
> sugar (1 tbsp)
> dashi (3 tbsp)


Instructions

1. In a pot of boiling water, cook the eggs for 6-8 minutes, depending on your preferred texture.
2. Immediately remove and cool down in an ice bath.
3. Peel the egg shells one by one. Be gentle here as to avoid breaking the egg.
4. In a small saucepot, bring the other ingredients up to a boil. Remove from the heat and let cool.
5. Put the eggs and sauce mixture in a airtight food container or a ziplock bag, and let marinade in the fridge for at least 6 hours, up to overnight.


Notes/Tips:

> Avoid using too vigorous of a boil when cooking the eggs -- with too much motion you risk breaking the egg and having the white / yolk seep out into the boiling water.
> To peel the eggs, I like to first gently tap the flat side against a hard surface until there's a light crack. Then I gently roll the egg along its long side, applying slight pressure until there are a series of small cracks in a loop.
> You can feel free to use any sauce mixture you prefer -- this is a great way to use up leftover braising liquid! I made soy braised chicken wings a couple of days ago, and the leftover braising liquid went into this.
> Adjust the boiling time depending on your preferred egg texture. I like a nice soft boiled egg, where the inside is in that lovely transitionary state between liquid and solid.