April 1, 2012

Onsen Tamago/温泉卵

I finally got around to making onsen tamago this evening.
今晩、やっと温泉卵を作りました。

There are several easy methods to make onsen tamago, but they are less reliable than the straightforward one: Keep eggs in water at 65-68C for 30 minutes. For my first attempt, I used the straightforward method.
温泉卵を作る簡単な方法がいくつかありますが、正攻法(卵を65~68度のお湯に30分漬ける)より信頼性が乏しいので、初めての挑戦は正攻法で行いました。

I took four eggs out of the fridge, and used them immediately.
冷蔵庫から卵を4個取り出し、すぐに使いました。
When the temperature reached 68C, I turned off the heat. Later, I had to turn on the heat for about 10-20 seconds every five minutes or so to keep the water in the 65-68C range.
温度が68度に達すると、火を止めました。その後、約5分おきに火を10~20秒点けて、水の温度を65~68度の範囲に保ちました。
30 minutes later.
30分後。
I immediately cooled them under running water.
すぐに流水で冷やしました。

I broke one egg. It looked almost perfect!
一つ割ってみました。ほぼ完璧に見えました。
The white was still runny, while the yolk was harder than the white.
白身はまだ半熟で、黄身のほうが白身より固かったです。
Almost perfect, but I think I should have kept the eggs on the counter for an hour or so to reach room temperature.
ほぼ完璧ですが、カウンタに1時間程度置いて、室温にすべきだったと思います。

I had my onsen tamego with premade mentsuyu (noodle soup). I'm not a big fan of runny eggs, but I liked this particular onsen tamago.

温泉卵は出来合いの麺つゆで食べました。私は半熟の卵はあまり好きではないですが、この温泉卵は気に入りました。

A description of onsen tamago can be found here.
ここに温泉卵の記述があります。

7 comments:

  1. Fascinating! I am also not a fan of runny eggs, I mean runny white...

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  2. I too am not a fan of runny whites on my eggs, but I'm still interested in giving this a shot! I'll have to find some especially clean, fresh eggs for it, though - we're not known for having "raw usable" eggs here in central Texas.

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  3. Quite troublesome to watch over the water temperature every 5 minutes, but the result is perfect. I would like to cook an onsen egg at an onsen, must be fun. And afterwards soaking in the hot spring must be heavenly too, maybe not at 68 C.

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  4. Sissi: Yes, it's fascinating, and it's also exotic!

    Ruminating Roy: Sorry to hear that. In Japan, all store-bought eggs are safe to eat raw.

    Kiki: I will come up with a better, easier method the next time I make them.

    Yes, bathing in an onsen is heavenly, and having a gorgeous dinner is heavenly, too!

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  5. Oishisou...I would like to try Onsen Tamago. I think it will be really tasty with rice. Hiroyuki-san, did you hear about the fake eggs that are sold in China? The egg shell, egg white and egg yolk are all made from industrial chemicals. And the fake eggs can be fried, boiled or steamed! I heard the chemicals are really harmful to the body.

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  6. Anonymous: For my second attempt, I think I'll make them in a much simpler way, using a styrofoam box.

    Yes, yes, several years ago.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ortMIxJPEDc
    (Sorry, Japanese only)

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  7. とても魅力的な記事でした。
    また遊びに来ます!!

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