Do you love soft boiled egg? How about one with tons of flavor? Salty, savory, sweet and flavorful. It is tasty for breakfast, looks unbelievable on a bowl of noodles and a great side dish to any meal. Super simple and easy recipe, but never disappoints.
I hated boiled eggs when I was a kid, I’d only eat the egg white because I often choke on the yolk because it’s too dry. (Stupid kid) Then I discovered soft boiled eggs and it was like that silver silk of sunshine streaming through that grey sad cloudy sky; then I found ways to make the soft boil egg flavorful, and all the grey clouds are gone! For some reason, I’m very dramatic today but that’s only a slight exaggeration of how I felt.
“Braised egg”, 滷蛋(lu3dan4) is a common and popular side dish in Taiwan, it is usually made with braised meat dish(Ex. TAIWANESE BRAISED TOMATO BEEF NOODLE SOUP | 番茄紅燒牛肉麵) so when all the meat is gone there are still these tasty wonderful braised eggs that has soaked up all the essence of the meat to go with your noodles or rice dish, since eggs are cheaper. Usually, these braised eggs are hard-boiled eggs, but swapping it with soft boiled eggs you’ll get these irresistible soft gooey glistening dripping center that I’m addicted to. There’s something about it that’s really comforting.
There are two ways you can make these delicious soft braised eggs:
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Make your own marinade
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Use part of the broth of your braised meat
If you’re using the broth of braised meat, simply make soft boiled eggs, peel them then soak them in enough cold broth overnight in the fridge to let the eggs soak up the flavor. It is extremely important that the broth is cold otherwise the eggs will keep cooking inside and it won’t have that magical yolk anymore. The same goes for making the marinade from scratch, if you boil the marinade, make sure you chill it first before adding the eggs.
I love these eggs from Prosper Valley Farm at the Rochester Downtown Farmers Market! The yolk is super rich and creamy plus the lady selling them is super nice. The 18 pack medium free-range brown eggs are perfect, lasts us through the week and it’s only $3.50! We get our eggs from her every Saturday, and we always bring the egg carton back and get a “refill”, so we don’t have to waste cartons and she can reuse them, win win. (We are trying to be minimal and not have a lot of trash… Can we talk about how styrofoam is non-recyclable here?)
I am ridiculously bad at peeling boiled eggs. I could hardly get them out in one piece, but adding 1 teaspoon of baking soda to the boiling water helps! It increases the alkalinity, which will make the eggs easier to peel later on. For super soft center, bring a pot of water +1 teaspoon of baking soda to simmer, boil at most 4 room-temp eggs at a time(it is easier to control the time and quality this way) for 5.5 mins, remove immediately and rinse with cold water to stop the eggs from continuous cooking on the inside. Peel and then soak them into your chilled marinade in the fridge overnight and you’ll have some super tasty eggs to enjoy!
Try Soft Braised Eggs with:
TAIWANESE BRAISED TOMATO BEEF NOODLE SOUP | 番茄紅燒牛肉麵
TAIWANESE PICKLE MEATLOAF | 瓜子肉
MALA HOT SAUCE|秘製淑油麻辣醬
MALA BEEF NOODLES | 麻辣牛肉乾拌麵
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Ingredients
- 4 Medium Organic Eggs add a few extra seconds if boiling large eggs
- 1 Pot Water
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
Marinade
- 1 Cup Water
- 1/3 Cup Soy Sauce
- 1 T Sugar
- 1 Star Anise
Instructions
the Marinade, Omit if using broth from braised meat
- Set aside and let cool
Soft Boiled Eggs
- Bring a pot of water and 1tsp of baking soda to simmer
- Add 4 medium eggs at room temperature and boil for 5.5mins(Soak the eggs in warm water until they become room temp if taken straight out of the fridge)
- Remove the eggs from heat and soak in cold water till cold enough to peel
- Peel the eggs and put in a container that's not too big, so the marinade can cover the eggs.
- Pour the cooled marinade into the container and let the eggs soak overnight. Try to soak ALL of the eggs in the marinade so there isn't uneven color patches on the eggs. (or shake it up halfway during the marinating)
- Slice the eggs open and enjoy!
Notes
- The recipe can easily be doubled or tripled.
- If you'd like to reuse the marinade, bring the sauce to a boil once the eggs are removed. Remove any white foam(protein) that may float to top during the boiling process. Let the marinade cool down and add your soft boiled eggs! The sauce can be reused twice, each time with the same boiling process.
