Korean Marinated Eggs (Mayak Eggs) - CJ Eats Recipes (2024)

FAQs

Why are Mayak eggs called drug eggs? ›

They were nicknamed “mayak eggs” because “mayak” means drug in Korean – and there are SO addictively good that that they're jokingly referred to as “drug eggs”! The combination of the runny, jammy yolk with the savory, garlicky, and sweet marinade is out of this world good!

Eggs are soft-boiled (or hard-boiled, if you prefer), then marinated in a honey soy sauce mixture that's filled with green onions, sesame seeds, and chili peppers. You serve these Korean eggs over rice and spoon with a generous amount of the addicting sauce.

Storage. Store leftover mayak eggs in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Make a Small Batch of Marinade

The eggs are ready in 2 hours but taste better if marinated overnight. However, it's a good idea to transfer the eggs to a clean airtight container the next day otherwise they will be too salty. They are good for 2-3 days refrigerated.

They're so delicious, cheap, and healthy! All you do is make a brine with about 1 part soy sauce and 1part rice wine vinegar, cook eggs in the shell at a medium- hard boil in some water on the stove, peel the eggs, and let them soak in the brine for at least 24 hours.

HOW LONG DOES IT KEEP FOR? Boiled eggs are generally good for 7 days with the shell on but since we remove the shell off these eggs, these soy-marinated eggs are good for up to 4 days. Just be sure that the eggs are in a good airtight container for maximum freshness!

Do you eat Mayak eggs cold? You don't need to reheat the eggs when you consume them. The hot rice should suffice to make it hot!

Pickled eggs MUST be always stored in the refrigerator. The pickling solution must completely cover all hard-boiled eggs. Once eggs have been combined with a pickling solution, a period of 1 to 3 weeks is required for seasoning to fully penetrate the eggs. Use pickled eggs within 3 to 4 months for best quality.

I do recommend leaving them in the fridge at least overnight, but if you're in a hurry, marinate them for a minimum of 2 hours. Then you can transfer the eggs into an air-tight container and store them in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Don't be alarmed… but mayak in Korean means 'illicit' when referring to drugs, which is why they're sometimes called 'drug eggs'. While there are no illegal substances involved in the making of this Korean recipe, we're thinking the name comes from the fact they're so darn addictive.

What soy sauce do Koreans use? ›

There are four basic kinds of Korean soy sauce: Yangjo Ganjang, Hansik Ganjang, Sanbunhae Ganjang, and Jin Ganjang. Yangjio Ganjang is a soybean- and rice-, barley-, or wheat-based soy sauce that takes at least 6 months to ferment. It's the least salty and the most expensive of the four soy sauces.

Mayak eggs are usually served with a bowl of steamed rice however the eggs are eaten cold. So there is no need to reheat them after marinating.

I don't recommend reusing the marinade for a second batch as most of the flavor would have been seeped into the eggs of the original batch. You can use the leftover marinade for stir-frying, or drizzle it on rice as a sauce.

TIP #6: Don't marinate the eggs for too long. Due to the high salt content of the marinade, keeping the eggs in the marinade for too long not only makes the eggs saltier, but also alters the texture of the eggs. Over-marinated eggs tend to be harder and more rubbery.

If kept under refrigeration, hard cooked eggs by themselves only last about 3–7 days. However the saltiness of the soy sauce will help extend this time, but probably not more than a couple of weeks, and only if the eggs were fully submerged within the liquid.

Fermented eggs are unlike pickled eggs preserved in vinegar. Fermented eggs are preserved in a salt-brine solution. The salt brine, plus added starter culture, create an anaerobic environment for good bacteria on the surface of the eggs to develop, thereby producing healthy probiotic bacteria to feed your gut.

Albumen. The egg white is known as the albumen, which comes from albus, the Latin word for “white.” Four alternating layers of thick and thin albumen contain approximately 40 different proteins, the main components of the egg white in addition to water.

Century eggs are made from many types of eggs, including duck eggs, quail eggs, and chicken eggs. They are also called by many different names, including thousand-year eggs, thousand-year-old eggs, hundred-year eggs, millennium eggs, skin eggs, or preserved eggs.

The health benefits that a daily meal of fermented eggs can afford you are: Enhanced Digestibility: The enzymes and probiotics produced during fermentation can help break down complex compounds in eggs, making them gentler on the digestive system.