The Best Brined Miso Eggs Ever

Apr 16, 2021

Traces of salted grain techniques in Japan date back as far as 16,000 years ago, suggesting a long history of salted food production for earlier precursors to shoyu (soy sauce). Various fermentation techniques were also introduced from mainland China, making it slightly difficult to tell when and where miso first appeared. Still, by 900 B.C.E. miso products were part of Japanese culinary production, with ground-style miso being turned into soup sometime during the Kamakura period (1192-1333 B.C.E.).

Tangy and salty, these are perfect for soups.

Recently, miso eggs gained expanded international attention from a cooking show Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, as well as through cookbooks like that written by Nancy Singleton Hachisu. But while those egg recipes call for salting the eggs by wrapping them directly in miso, this recipe is all about the brine, similar to my ramen egg recipe. This is a longer and slower method of miso brining but creates a full-flavored, very tangy, and salty egg perfect for soups. It allows you to make a large batch of these eggs with far less miso paste (which can get quite expensive).

Kitchen tools
1 ea		Sauce Pan
1 ea		Mixing bowls
1 ea		Wide-mouthed Mason Jar
1 ea		Slotted Spoon
1 ea		Liquid Measuring Cups
1 ea		Measuring Spoons
1 ea		Fermentation Weights
Ingredients
1 ea		Water
1 bowl		Ice Cold water or Ice
6 ea		eggs
1/4 Tspn		Baking Soda
1 1/2 Cup		Rice vinegar
1/4 Cup		Red Miso Paste
1/2 Cup		Mirin

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Mise en place is French for “everything in its place” and is the opening phrase for any of my recipes. Make sure you get all your items and ingredients lined up beforehand to make this recipe as easy as can be (and a cinch to clean up afterward).

Fill your saucepan with enough water to cover your eggs, plus a little extra. Place on high heat and bring to a boil.

Using your slotted spoon, place the eggs into the boiling water and let boil for 6 1/2 minutes.

While the eggs are boiling, fill a bowl with cool water and, if you have them available, add ice cubes. As soon as the eggs have finished cooking, use your slotted spoon to place them in the cold water. This will cool them quickly and keep them from cooking.

Mix all your ingredients together in the sealable jar that you’ll be storing your eggs in. Use a fork or whisk to quickly combine. Once whisked, seal the jar and give it a quick shake to make sure that you got your miso fully combined.

Place your cooled eggs into the brining jar, dropping them into the miso brine that you’ve created. Now, seal the jar back up!

We also recommend investing in some fermentation weights to hold your eggs below the brine. Otherwise you will need to turn the jar over every now and then to ensure that the eggs float in the miso and not just in the rice vinegar (the miso sinks).

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A really good miso brine needs some time to imbue the eggs with flavor, and the egg yolks will become much firmer after a day in the brine, making them perfect for snacking. If you’re in a rush, however, you could eat these in as little as 4 hours.

These will become tangier the longer you brine them for, so we recommend making them a day ahead of the meal you plan, and then using them at the same time.

When you’re ready to enjoy your eggs, simply remove them from the brine, rinse off any miso, and enjoy! The eggs will stay good for at least two days.

Remember, these aren’t properly pickled eggs, so they can’t be stored for months at a time. Make them and then eat them (though, honestly, after you taste one there’s little hope of the rest surviving for long).

These go great served on soba (buckwheat noodles) or as a topping for ramen.

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Christina (139)

Apr 5, 2021

10 minutes

When I was first on my own, seventeen, and trying to cook meals that didn't include instant noodles or powdered cheese, I found that, like the literature and art classes I loved so much, food was a wonderful, creative outlet. I fell in love with the art of cooking, with the colors and smells that filled our humble kitchen, and have since then mastered many of the classics: lasagna, roasted chicken and vegetables, and spaghetti bolognese, but I have never been able to poach an egg with any success. With all these different factors, what really is the "best" way? Poached eggs are commonly thought of as the most difficult way to cook an egg. I've loved poached eggs since my first time eating eggs benedict when I was nine years old, and since my passion for cooking started, I have tried to poach eggs a handful of times and failed. Either they came out overcooked, the whites didn't bind together in the cooking process, or I ended up with a glob of eggs in a whirling pot of water. This year, I finally decided to tackle the poached egg. With every new year, I create a cooking goal. Last year, I bought six New York strip steaks and challenged myself to make the perfectly seared steak. This year, I finally decided to tackle the poached egg. The problem with learning to make the perfect poached egg is that every chef and online cooking guru has a different preference, and they all claim their way is the "best" way. They all have strict guidelines about using either saucepan or skillet, using seasoned or unseasoned water, adding vinegar or not adding vinegar, cooking it for ninety seconds on the burner, or taking it off the heat and cooking it for anywhere from three to seven minutes. With all these different factors, what really is the "best" way? I've tried every egg poaching recipe and tip I could find to create one simple guide for poached eggs with a golden, liquid center that any at-home cook can do!

The Best Brined Miso Eggs Ever

Prepare

Boil water

Boil eggs

Ice-cool eggs

Mix brine ingredients

Put eggs in sealable jar

Brine for 24 hours

Enjoy!