Cook’s notes

The next day, with the yolks still runny, they are scooped from the pickling solution and served on top of rice. It’s breakfast, it’s lunch, it’s dinner. It can be a snack too.

Shoyuzuke is a soy sauce based pickling solution

Shoyu is soy sauce; zuke is pickling. Shoyuzuke has three ingredients: soy sauce, rice vinegar and sugar. That’s as basic as it gets.

There really is no rule that sets the ratio between soy sauce and rice vinegar in stone. You may change the ratio depending on what you find more tasty. The same is true with the sugar. Use more or less. Let your taste buds guide you.

Grated ginger, garlic, chili flakes, mirin, dashi and sesame seeds are some of the optional additions you may want to consider to vary the flavor of shoyuzuke.

About substitutions

For non-Asians, it may seem like soy sauce and vinegar are generic condiments. They are not. Japanese soy sauce is not as salty as Chinese soy sauce, for instance. And rice vinegar is milder and sweeter than other vinegars.

If you’re wondering if some other soy sauce or vinegar can be substituted, the answer is a qualified yes. Your egg yolks will still get pickled but the flavors will not be the same.

Tip: This isn’t one of those cases when the longer you pickle, the better the results. Pickle the egg yolks for no more than 12 hours. If you let them sit in the pickling solution longer, they will be too salty.

Shoyuzuke egg yolks

Prep: 5

Cook: 0

Pickling 12

Total: 12 5

Servings: 4 people

Course: Main Course, Snack

Cuisine: Japanese

Label: Pickled

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Ingredients

4 to 8 large eggs (make sure they are very fresh; preferably, no more than a day old)

For the pickling solution

½ cup Japanese soy sauce
¼ cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar

To serve

hot rice
furikake (optional)

Instructions

Choose a covered container that can hold all the egg yolks in a single layer.
Crack the eggs and separate the yolks from the whites (you can freeze the egg whites for future use).
Carefully drop the egg yolks into the container. Make sure they do not touch one another.
Mix all the ingredients for the pickling solution until the sugar is dissolved.
Pour the soy sauce mixture over the egg yolks. Tilt the container gently to make sure that the liquid seeps under the egg yolks.
Cover the container and let the egg yolks marinate overnight in the fridge.
To serve, place rice in bowls. Top with shoyuzuke egg yolks. Sprinkle with furikake.