If you saw my other recent recipe for soy eggs on drunken toast, then you know that after years of seeing them on Instagram, quarantine cooking curiosity finally led me to try marinating soy eggs! This is when you marinate jammy soft-boiled eggs for as little as an hour or as long as a few days in a soy sauce mixture. The exact mixture depends on who’s making it, but the one I used included soy sauce, rice vinegar, garlic, and red pepper flakes. You can then enjoy the super flavorful eggs with a variety of recipes.

Soy eggs originate from Chinese and Japanese cuisine, with each culture providing its own unique marinades with different spices and herbs. Since I am merely a fan of the idea of soy eggs and did not create them myself, I’ll leave the full story of them to the experts.

For this recipe, I served my soy eggs closer to the Japanese style, in some ramen – or Ajitsuke Tamago.

Ingredients:

• 1 previously prepared soy egg (I used Bon Appetit’s easy recipe by Ayesha Patel)
• About 10-15 small shrimp (raw, de-veined)
• About a cup of whatever leftover veggies you have (I used chopped fennel bulbs)
• About a cup of spinach (because I had it) or other more traditional leafy greens for ramen, like bok choy
• One packet of instant ramen (I used Mike’s Mighty Good veggie ramen)
• Optional chopped green onion for garnishing

Estim. Prep & Cooking Time: about 20 mins (with soy eggs prepared in advance)

Instructions:

• I used frozen shrimp, so I started by defrosting them under running water in a strainer. If your shrimp are fresh, skip to the next step!
• Sauté your chopped vegetables and shrimp together in a medium-large pan in some oil and garlic on medium heat. Season with salt and garlic powder. Stir occasionally and let cook until sizzling and slightly brown, about 7 minutes.
• While the veggies cook, begin boiling water in a pot for the ramen noodles.
• As the water comes to a boil, remove the veggies and shrimp from heat and set aside.
• Place the spinach in the pan you used to cook the shrimp and veggies, and cook for a minute or so until wilted.
• Cook instant ramen noodles in boiling water according to package instructions.
• Once noodles have cooked, remove from heat and stir in the flavor packets that came with the instant ramen.
• Transfer ramen and broth from the pot to a serving bowl.
• Add spinach, cooked veggies, and shrimp to the bowl, floating on top of the broth.
• Cut open your pre-prepared soy egg, and gently place on top of your ramen liquid.
• Season the egg with sesame seeds and just a bit of salt and pepper (be careful of over seasoning – it’ll already have a nice flavor from the soy sauce marinade!).
• Garnish with chopped green onion if desired.
• Take pictures of your beautiful work and tag me on Instagram so I can see it!