Soy Sauce Eggs (Shoyu Tamago)
December 22nd, 2009 | Japanese Recipes | 24 Comments
Rachael of La Fuji Mama is a sweetheart, you’ll know what I mean if you meet her in person. I first met her a few months ago in an event at New York and became fast friends because we love similar stuff: food, traveling and living in Asia, and a penchant for Japanese cuisine. La Fuji Mama used to live in Tokyo but her family is now based in Orange County. Her blog is a collection of droolsome recipes, her family, and her past adventures living in Asia. Please welcome La Fuji Mama to Rasa Malaysia and check out her soy sauce eggs (shoyu tamago) recipe and step-by-step photos in the gallery above. This recipe is also a great side dish with porridge.
Bee and I recently met up at Mitsuwa, a local Japanese market, to do some shopping and then eat some ramen in the food court. In addition to ramen, we both ordered shoyu tamago–Japanese soy sauce eggs. We each ordered one egg, but I quickly realized that this was a mistake, because my almost-three-year-old daughter ate half of my egg and then kept trying to con Bee out of hers!
Recently Bee mentioned those eggs and how good they were and I had to laugh because they are one of the easiest things on the planet to make! Shoyu tamago are eggs that have been hard boiled, peeled, and then cooked in heated soy sauce so that the egg white turns brown on the outside and the egg becomes flavored by the soy sauce. They are wonderful as snacks or as an addition to a bento (a traditional Japanese lunch in a box) because they don’t need any additional seasoning…(get soy sauce eggs/shoyu tamago recipe) after the jump
I always use tamari soy sauce, which is darker in appearance and richer in flavor than regular soy sauce. I prefer the darker mahogany color and extra flavor gained by using tamari soy sauce, but if all you have on hand is regular soy sauce, it will still work beautifully! One trick to note–when peeling your hard boiled eggs, peel carefully, trying to avoid nicking the surface of the egg whites. If you do nick the surface, the eggs will still taste delicious, but they just won’t be as pretty.
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients:
4 hard boiled eggs
5 tablespoons tamari soy sauce
Method:
1. Pour the soy sauce into a pan that is approximately 10 inches in diameter. Heat the soy sauce of medium-high heat. When the soy sauce starts foaming up, reduce the heat to medium heat and carefully add the eggs. Roll the eggs around in the soy sauce to coat them, and continue rolling them around the pan until the eggs are a dark mohagony color and the soy sauce has been reduced to a thick sludge.
2. Remove the eggs, letting any extra soy sauce drain off, and place on a plate to cool.
3. When the eggs have cooled completely, pack them into lunches or enjoy one as a snack. Just don’t leave them near my daughter, or else you’ll never get to have a bite!
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Yummy! These are so much better than regular hard boiled eggs. I should remember to make these next time I pack a lunch, either for myself or for family.
As always, I love your pictures. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks DailyChef!
Simplicity at it’s best!
My recipe is very similar to yours, but I use dark soy sauce to coat. I like to try this too.
Beautiful post Rachael!
Thanks Kamran! :)
I tried this with some low octane soy sauce. Great lower salt flavor, less color than yours. All gone!
mr. ed– The darker color comes from the tamari soy sauce, but you’re right, these are good with any kind of soy sauce!
wow, yum!! I’m so going to make these today!! Thanks so much for the recipe LFM :)
eggs cld be add in d lo ark as well…
but this looks simple to make..
simple yet fabulous!
merry christmas!
These are quite beautiful and sound like they would be tasty! Do you perchance undercook the eggs a tad to compensate for the additional cooking in the soy sauce, or does it not really matter?
I was wondering about that, too. I do my hard boiled eggs in an electric jug – starting with cold water and room temperature eggs; bringing it to the boil, immediately turning off heat and leaving for 11 minutes. I then plunge them into cold water and crack the shells to prevent grey colour forming around the yolks; this results in eggs that are not quite totally hard.
For this delicious sounding (Shoyu Tamago) recipe I think I will let the eggs cook for 10 minutes so as to follow your suggestion of compensating for the additional cooking efect in the soy sauce.
I was also wondering how they’d be with the addition of a little Chinese 5 Spice – perhaps this is taking things a little too far…………
When I learned to make these, the woman teaching me told me to start with “regular hard boiled eggs” and go from there. I’ve never had a problem with them being overcooked!
I make a similar Chinese egg dish with the addition of spices and black tea, but the eggs are steeped in the shell that’s cracked. I love the pure dark color of these though, and I can imagine how wonderful they’d taste with noodles.
Tried it out the other day along with RM’s Teriyaki Chicken.
Both turned out fab! Many thanks for the recipes :-)
Hi, great dish for kids! Where can I get Tamari soy sauce in Malaysia? Can’t find it in hypermarket. Thanks. Bryan
i love eggs but this really look beautiful.
happy new year to you Bee!
Older eggs actually peel better than fresh eggs, making hard boiled eggs a great way to use the last of the dozen before you get more.
Thank you! Simply delicious.
Just made these. Loved them!!!
Ohh, I will have to try this recipe! Any tips for making a big batch for a (Chinese New Year) party?
For a big batch, you might want to try my Chinese tea leaf eggs recipe.