Ajitama Onigiri (味玉おにぎり) is a Japanese rice ball with a marinated boiled egg (Ajitama) inside. Ajitama is often called Ramen Egg because it is a common and popular topping for ramen noodle soup. Eggs are marinated in salty and sweet soy sauce based sauce, and they taste great with rice, too. We use the same sauce to season steamed rice for making Onigiri.
You can make soft and runny Ajitama for a ramen topping, but we recommend cooking to medium well for onigiri to make it easier to press and shape with rice. You can achieve the perfect softness when cooking cold eggs straight from the fridge and start cooking in boiling water. We cooked exactly 8 minutes for large eggs, and let cool immediately after. Adjust the cooking time more or less to your liking.
Ajitama Onigiri
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Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 3 Tbsp soy sauce
- 3 Tbsp sake
- 2 Tbsp mirin
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 4 cups Steamed Rice
- 4 sheets Nori roasted seaweed
Instructions
- Heat water in a pot until boiling. Cook eggs for 7-8 minutes. Take immediately from hot water and keep in cool water. Peel shells.
- Cook soy sauce, sake, mirin, and sugar in a small pot, and boil for a minute. Let cool.
- Put eggs and the sauce in a plastic bag with zipper and marinate in the fridge for a few hours to overnight.
- Remove the eggs from the sauce (save the sauce). In a bowl of warm steamed rice, add 1/4 cup of the sauce and mix.
- Wet hands with water and place 1/4 rice in one hand, and press and form into a triangle shape onigiri. Push down the center and make a well. Place the egg and cover with the rice. Press and re-shape into a triangle.
- Wrap with a seat of Nori seaweed.
Video
