Onsen tamago salad
A quick Japanese lesson
- tamago means egg
- onsen means hot spring
Onsen tamago are eggs slowly cooked in hot spring water. Literally!
I get hungry every time I see poached eggs on a menu! Onsen tamago are extremely popular in Japan, they are served on their own with just a dash of tsuyu (I love this preparation!), or along with a bowl of rice with beef, pork or chicken. I’ve gotten used to adding them to just about anything these days; with ramen bowl noodles, next to roasted asparagus and prosciutto.. Even as a pasta topping to a simple tomato sauce or a carbonara! They are so good!
Poaching an egg can be REALLY frustrating – it took me a long time to find the proper way to do it. But once I got the hang of it, it suddenly became easy and a lot of fun! There’s a great video (posted below the recipe) from Runnyrunny that shows how to make perfect poached eggs. His technique is brilliant and it’s the one I used for this onsen tamago salad recipe. I like using arugula for its peppery flavor but you can use frisee or spinach as substitutes. It’s also very good topped with chopped nori (dried seaweed).
Onsen tamago tofu salad
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 8 minutes
- Total Time: 18 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Salad
- Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients
- 1 box silken tofu
- 4 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon potato or corn starch
- 1 tablespoon water
- 2 teaspoon bonito flakes
- 2 1/2 tablespoons mirin
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sake
- 2 scallions (finely chopped)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons ginger (peeled and grated)
- 1 cup arugula
Instructions
- Drain and wrap the tofu in paper towel. This will remove excess water. Cut into quarters and set aside.
- In a small-medium size pot, add 4 cups of water and bring to boil. When the water is boiling, turn off the heat and move the pot to a cool surface.
- Mix the potato starch with 1 tbsp water, add to the pot and stir well.
- Gently put the eggs in the pot, cover and set the timer for 8 minutes.
- In four separate bowls, put arugula at the bottom and top with silken tofu.
- Make the tsuyu by combining soy, mirin, bonito flakes and sake. Microwave for a minute and set aside.
- When the eggs are done cooking, carefully transfer them in a bowl of cold water and let cool for a minute.
- Very gently break each eggs in a small bowl, then lay on top of each piece of tofu. This prevents the eggs from sliding to the bottom when breaking them right on top of the tofu.
- Add scallions and ginger and finish by pouring a little tsuyu on top. Serve immediately.
Nutrition
- Calories: 125
- Saturated Fat: 2
I need to go and grab some silken tofu. I think I’ll have this for dinner tonight 🙂