Soy Sauce Eggs (Shoyu Tamago) (2024)

Soy sauce eggs (also known as Shoyu Tamago) are the perfect savoury on-the-go breakfast that's easy to prepare and gives you a great jump to the day.

This post is sponsored by Egg Farmers of Canada.

World Egg Day

Today is World Egg Day and what better way to celebrate than using Canadian Eggs in a way that occurs daily in Japan and around the world in the form of a Shoyu Tamago. In Japanese, "Shoyu" is "soy sauce" and "Tamago" is "egg." Together with the help of a few simple ingredients, they transform into something amazing.

Breakfast time has always been a challenge for me. I’ve never been particularly hungry in the morning and I have vivid childhood memories of my parents pleading with me to eat anything before heading to school. For whatever reason, that lack of hunger in the AM has more or less continued over the years. The biggest difference between now and then is my understanding/acknowledgment that I need to eat to get my day started properly. Luckily, I have found my new favourite breakfast over the last few years…soy sauce eggs!

Supporting Canadian Farmers

I’ve always loved the soft-boiled egg that is the yolky star in a bowl of ramen soup. So now I eat one or two soy sauce eggs on their own in the morning. I'm ready to tackle the day knowing I'm having 6g of protein from each egg and getting a good chunk of my vitamins A, D, E, folate, iron and zinc.I also take enjoyment knowing that Canadian eggs are produced by Canadian families and my morning routine helps to support local farmers.

How To Make Soy Sauce Eggs

There's something about soy sauce eggs that is so satisfying. If you've had a bowl of ramen with an egg, you know what I'm talking about. For those that haven't, then you need to try these soft-boiled eggs that are essentially brined in a salty, yet slightly sweetsolution full of umami.

And that's what you'll be doing when you make these eggs. You're going to soft boil and then peel the eggs first, and then soak and store them in a mason jar (or other sealable container) full of a flavourful soy sauce mixture where they'llsoak up all that delicious goodness.

I thinkpart of the greatness of this is how easy it is to prepare and how simple it makes life in the morning or when I just want a snack. All I have to commit is 30 minutes of my time every five days to save countless hours in the morning when I'm still sleepy, reaching for coffee and trying to figure out what I want for breakfast.

The Soy Sauce Egg Process

So let’s break it down a bit...

The Soy Sauce Solution

I use a large (4-cup) mason jar to store my eggs because I can fit about five (5) eggs in at any given time - which I find is the right amount (for me) to enjoy over the course of the week.

What goes in my 4-cup Mason Jar

• Soy Sauce - It is called a soy sauce egg after all. It gives it that wonderful salty taste.
• Rice Wine Vinegar - On its own, soy sauce is too intense for the eggs so the rice wine vinegar adds a nice touch of mild acidity to the solution and adds a little sweetness to it as well.
• Mirin - Soy sauce (for sure) and rice wine vinegar are probably staples in most kitchens but Mirin equally deserves a prominent spot in your cabinet. Mirin is a go-to in many Japanese kitchens, it’s similar to sake but sweeter. It’s used in a lot of Japanese marinades/sauces and adds sweetness and overall depth to the soy sauce solution.
• Sesame Oil - As you probably already know with Sesame oil, a little goes a long way. I’m a huge fan of it so I add 1-2 drops once everything else is poured in.
• Water - Depending on the type of soy sauce I'm using, the solution may change in flavour a bit, so I'll add a few splashes of water to smooth it out.

(note - these are my preferences but I encourage you to play around with the solution and quantities depending on how salty/sweet you like the solution. I change the solution after every 3 batches of eggs, so about once every three weeks).

Cooking The Eggs

Now for the eggs, the true stars of the show! After about 3 years and probably soft-boiling over 150 dozen eggs, I feel like I’ve zeroed in on the keys to success.

The real beauty of this is that it takes almost no time of standing around in the kitchen but it does take a bit of timing.

I usually do about 4-5 eggs at a time so I’m good for a few days. Fill a pot or saucepan of water about 1/2 to 2/3 of the way full and bring that up to a boil. Once the water reaches a boil, place the eggs gently into the water with a slotted spoon. When the last egg is in the boiling water, hit the timer for 7 minutes.

In the meantime, prepare a bowl of ice and water to place the eggs once the 7 minutes is up. If i’m out of ice, I’ll run cold water for about 30 seconds over the eggs and let them sit in the water.

Now here’s the key, don’t forget about the eggs in the bowl! After about 15-30 minutes, you have to start peeling them. I’ve found that the shell sticks to the egg if it sits in the water too long and makes peeling an absolute nightmare. Remember, these are soft-boiled eggs so they can be a bit fragile.

I have the best success gently tapping the bottom (wider part) of the egg to start the peeling process. I find the peeling process therapeutic and usually do this while listening to a podcast.

Once they’re all peeled, place them gently in the soy sauce solution, refreigerate and for the next few days, breakfast is served! They are the perfect breakfast bite in the morning at home or pop them into a small mason jar and eat on the way to work.

For recipes, nutritional info and everything egg-related, visit eggs.ca!

More Reading

• 9 Twists on the Classic Eggs Benny
• 30 Egg Recipes To Start The Day
• Why These Canadian Bloggers Love Cooking With Eggs
• 24 Ways To Have Eggs For Breakfast

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