How To Boil The Perfect Ramen Egg Every Time

Salty, savory, creamy, and perfectly jammy, a ramen egg adds pleasant texture and flavor to your bowl of broth and noodles. What takes them from simple soft-boiled eggs to ramen eggs is the marinade — the eggs are soaked in a sweet and salty liquid usually made from soy sauce, mirin, vinegar, sugar, and some aromatics like ginger and garlic. Sure, boiled eggs walked so ramen eggs could run, but it's still true that at its base, the perfect ramen egg starts with the perfectly boiled egg. Chef James Bailey, Momofuku Las Vegas' executive chef, is one man who knows the ramen egg's ins and outs. His advice for cooking spot-on ramen eggs every time? "Boiling your egg for about 6-7 minutes usually does the trick for a firm but tender white, and a slightly jammy yolk."

You might think that you can cook the egg simply by adding it to your hot bowl of ramen, but this isn't the case. "Cooking the raw egg [in your] ramen isn't the best route, since it takes some time and a boiling temperature," Bailey said. Your ramen, once off the heat and in a bowl, won't stay hot enough for long enough to cook the egg efficiently. Plus, what makes the ramen egg is really the marinade, so they are best prepared before and added on top of your finished ramen.

Whether you're using instant ramen or crafting your bowl from scratch, no bowl of ramen is complete without the finishing touch of the egg. But there are other important factors that go into making a next-level bowl of broth. Seasonings will also level up your ramen: Shimchi togarashi, miso, and ginger and garlic are classics, but you can even use Old Bay, za'atar, or an everything bagel blend.

Add frozen veggies to instant or homemade ramen to bulk up the satiety factor and add more color and nutrients. In terms of fresh veggies, bean sprouts will give your ramen a better texture with their succulent crunch and tomatoes will add a bright burst of flavor. Plus, if all this talk of eggs has you thinking about bacon, a bacon and egg breakfast ramen will become your new favorite. Oh, and stir that bacon grease into your ramen for layers of flavor.