Soy Cured Egg Yolks

Egg yolks are super permeable, aka they’ll absorb anything they come in contact with – including the flavors of this soy sauce + mirin marinade! Salt in soy sauce draws out moisture (giving yolks a thicker, more jammy consistency over time), while mirin balances the flavors with its subtle acidity and sweetness. And, both enhance umami flavors, making these yolks the most deliciously savory topping.

A note on ingredients

Halal version: mirin can be subbed with ~1/2 tsp sugar for every tablespoon of rice vinegar. the acidity and sweetness will imitate the flavor balance that mirin provides. I would do something like 1/4 c soy sauce, 3 tbsp rice vinegar, 1.5 tsp sugar.

Gluten-free version: sub soy sauce with tamari.

Soy-free version: I haven’t tried using coconut aminos, but I think it’d work just fine as a sub for soy sauce.

Can I reuse the marinade?

Short answer – yes, bring the marinade to a boil, lower to a simmer (uncovered) for 5-10 min, then let cool completely before adding yolks.

The curing components (salt + sugar) in the marinade get absorbed into yolk, and water gets drawn out, making the solution less concentrated (s/o osmosis) and therefore less able to cure (affects food safety and flavor). Boiling would kill off any bacteria in the liquid that would be there from handling, and simmering it so that water evaporates will help re-concentrate the liquid.

You can also use leftover marinade to make this carbonara-adjacent soy mirin pasta.

Leftover egg-whites

Save the egg whites to make egg drop soup, meringues, candied pecans, or just a simple veggie egg-white scramble. You can also freeze egg whites and defrost in the fridge to use later. But we h8 waste here so I vote don’t toss em’ ◔̯◔

Is this safe to eat?

In short – yes. Eggs nowadays are pasteurized, so both the whites and yolks are safe to consume.

And even if they weren’t – in the high sodium environment from soy sauce, “good” bacteria (aka non-pathogenic and supportive of gut health) are able to survive better than “bad” bacteria (pathogenic, would make you sick). The “good” bacteria also cultivate by breaking down the sugars (partly coming from mirin), and produce lactic acid, which is another component that kills off “bad” bacteria. This is essentially the same process that occurs when fermenting foods (e.g., kimchi, kombucha, sauerkraut). So, it’s both safe and may have similar gut health benefits as fermented foods.

Note: I mentioned this in the recipe video, but shouldn’t have stated it so conclusively since there aren’t studies on if “good” bacteria in cured egg yolks actually survive and markably affect gut health (b/c who would fund this). It’s just a hypothesis.

Soy Cured Egg Yolks

thingslinadoes

3 ingredient umami bomb

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Resting Time 6 hours hrs

Cuisine Asian Fusion

Servings 5

Ingredients

  

• 5 eggs
• equal parts soy sauce : mirin (e.g., 1/4 c soy sauce : 1/4 c mirin)

Instructions

 

• In a flat-bottom, airtight contianer, combine equal parts soy sauce & mirin
• Separate egg yolks from whites
• Gently plop egg yolks in the mix. If egg yolks aren't fully submerged, cover with a clean paper towel or cheese cloth – the liquid will absorb over the yolks, essentially covering them so they cure evenly (so no need to use up half your bottles of soy sauce & mirin !). Alternatively, you can flip the yolks every 6-12 hours
• Store in fridge for at least 6 hours (see notes below).
• Remove paper towel and serve with whatever your lil <3 desires. some personal favs have been on top of congee, pasta (melts into a rich, thick kinda pasta sauce), or – my go to easy meal as of recent – a plain bowl of rice

Notes

• The longer the yolks marinate, the more flavor absorbed and the thicker the consistency. if you prefer a more runny yolk, marinate for up to 1-2 days. I usually like to do a batch of 4 and eat 1 a day – it’s also fun to see how they change each day c: