Soft-boiled eggs with a jammy yolk in a delicious and flavorful soy-based marinade. These easy and simple mayak eggs are savory, sweet, spicy with a hint of sesame with umami flavor. A tasty Korean side dish that is totally addictive!
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Mayak Eggs (aka "Mayak Gyeran" 마약계란 in Korean) features soft-boiled jammy eggs marinated in a delicious sweet and spicy soy sauce brine.
(I also share how to hard-boil the eggs if you're not a fan of soft-boiled).
The literal translation in Korean is "drug eggs", thanks to their addictive flavors! Rest assured, there are no actual drugs in these eggs.
The sweet and savory marinade is what gives these Korean mayak eggs their distinct and mouthwatering taste. The marinade is made of soy sauce, water, honey, garlic, red chilis, onions, and sesame seeds.
The boiled eggs are soaked in the marinade for at least 5 hours or overnight for best results and served cold over steamed rice with other Korean side dishes.
These Asian-style eggs are fantastic for meal preparation or busy weeknights when you have little time or energy to cook. You can prepare them in advance and whip them out of the fridge to enjoy cold.
The best part about this easy egg recipe is that it's made with minimal ingredients and there's little cooking involved. I love making when I have fresh eggs in the fridge, it's probably one of my favourite banchans!
Ingredients & Substitutes
Please scroll down to the recipe card below for measurements.
- Fresh Large Eggs: ideally brought to room temperature by rinsing them under warm water, so the shells don't crack when they hit hot boiling water. Optional Tip: For bright yellow yolks, get the eggs with Omega 3's!
- Salt: to help making the peeling process easier.
- White Vinegar: to help making the peeling process easier.
Marinade
- Regular Soy Sauce: or substitute with low sodium soy sauce or light soy sauce. If you’re gluten-free, substitute with tamari sauce, coconut aminos or a gluten-free soy sauce of your choice.
- Cold or Room Temperature Water
- Honey: or substitute with white sugar, brown sugar, maple syrup, rice syrup, corn syrup or Oligodang syrup.
- Onion
- Red Chili: I like to use Korean red peppers but you can substitute with any large red chili or green chili pepper at your grocery store. For a non-spicy version: substitute with red bell pepper.
- Green Onion
- Garlic Cloves
- Sesame Seeds: if you're allergic to sesame, please omit this ingredient.
Equipment
- air-tight container or a mason jar
- measuring set or kitchen scale
- plastic wrap or paper towel
- large bowl
- knife
- cutting board
Expert Tips
- To quickly bring cold eggs to room temperature, rinse them under warm tap water until the shells are room temperature.
- Add salt and white vinegar to the egg boiling water to make the egg peeling process super easy! The salt and vinegar make the egg shells peel off smoothly.
- Transfer the boiled eggs to an ice bath to stop the cooking process.
- Use the back of a spoon to help crack the egg shells and start from the less pointy side when peeling the shells because there's a tiny gap between the egg white and the shell.
- Make sure the honey is completely dissolved in the marinade before adding the eggs for even taste distribution.
- Be gentle when dropping the boiled eggs into the marinade or they can split open, especially if they're soft boiled.
- Place a piece of paper towel over the submerged eggs so it pushes it further into the marinade for an even brown color.
- Marinate for at least 5 hours for brown colored eggs or over night for best results.
Instructions
Below are step-by-step instructions on how to make mayak eggs:
- Bring a small pot of water to boil on medium-high heat and add salt and vinegar. Gently lower in room temperature eggs and reduce to medium heat for a rolling boil. Do not cover. Set a timer and soft boil for 6.5 mins or 10 minutes for hard-boiled eggs.
- Prepare a large bowl with enough water and ice cubes. Remove the boiled eggs from boiling water with a slotted spoon and transfer them to the ice bath to cool down completely.
- In a small container or regular-sized mason jar, combine the marinade ingredients as listed above and mix well so the honey is fully dissolved.
- Gently peel the eggs by cracking them with the back of the spoon. Then lift the cracked egg shells with the spoon from the less pointy side.
- Gently submerge the eggs into marinade and place a square piece of clean paper towel or plastic wrap on top of the eggs to push them deeper into the marinade for a more even brown color.
- Seal the container with a lid and marinate the eggs in the fridge for at least 5 hours or overnight for best results. To enjoy, remove an egg from the marinade, slice into half and serve with steamed rice with a drizzle of the marinade on top.
Storage
- Mayak eggs will last up to 3-4 days stored in the marinade in an airtight container in the fridge. To enjoy, just take them out of the marinade and enjoy cold.
- To heat up the marinated eggs, microwave each egg for 10-15 seconds but the yolk will cook further.
- Freezer-friendly? I don't recommend freezing mayak eggs because they will turn rubbery in texture.
Pairing Suggestions
Korean mayak eggs serve well with:
- steamed white rice or brown rice
- with garnishes like green onions, roasted seaweed flakes, sesame oil or more sesame seeds
- kimchi
- Korean cucumber salad
- beansprout salad
- zucchini fritters
- gamja jorim
- Korean spinach
- japchae
- gyeran mari
- fish cake stir fry
- Korean Tuna Cakes
- Egg Roll Kimbap
FAQ
Mayak eggs can be made up to 3-4 days in advance and stored in the marinade in the same airtight container in the fridge. There's no need to reheat them once you remove them from the marinade as they're meant to be enjoyed cold.
Yes, as long as there is no egg yolk into the marinade. The marinade will last up to 5 days in the fridge so you can marinate another batch of eggs.
I don't recommend using this cooking method to prepare the eggs as they change the texture of the egg whites causing them to look unevenly colored in the marinade.
📖 Recipe
Easy & Simple Mayak Eggs (Korean Marinated Eggs)
Ingredients
- 6 large eggs room temperature *See Notes below to quickly bring to room temp.
- 2 teaspoon salt for boiling the eggs
- 2 teaspoon white vinegar for boiling the eggs
Marinade
- ½ cup regular soy sauce
- ½ cup water cold or room temperature
- ¼ cup honey or white/brown sugar, maple syrup, corn syrup or Oligodang syrup
- ¼ cup onion finely diced
- 1-2 red chili pepper finely diced (or sub with green chili or red bell pepper for non-spicy version)
- 1 green onion finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds toasted
Instructions
- Bring a small pot of water to boil on medium-high heat and add salt and vinegar. Gently lower in room temperature eggs and reduce to medium heat for a rolling boil. Do not cover. Set a timer and soft boil for 6.5 mins or 10 minutes for hard-boiled eggs.
- Prepare a large bowl with enough water and ice cubes. Remove the boiled eggs from boiling water with a slotted spoon and transfer them to the ice bath to cool down completely.
- In a small container or regular-sized mason jar, combine the marinade ingredients as listed above and mix well so the honey is fully dissolved.
- Gently peel the eggs by cracking them with the back of the spoon. Then lift the cracked egg shells with the spoon from the less pointy side.
- Gently submerge the eggs into marinade and place a square piece of clean paper towel or plastic wrap on top of the eggs to push them deeper into the marinade for a more even brown color.
- Seal the container with a lid and marinate the eggs in the fridge for at least 5 hours or overnight for best results.
- To enjoy, remove an egg from the marinade, slice into half and serve with steamed rice with a drizzle of the marinade on top. Note: Remaining eggs can be kept in the marinade for up to 4 days in the fridge and see Storage notes below.
Notes
To Bring Cold Eggs to Room Temperature
- Rinse the cold eggs under warm tap water until the egg shells are at room temperature.
Storage
- Leftover eggs can be stored in the marinade in the same container in the fridge.
- Leftover marinade can be reused for another batch of eggs, up to an additional 5 days, as long as there is no leaked egg yolk from the previous batch.
Helen
So yummy! They have so much flavour. Definitely a keeper for meal prepping.
Christie Lai
Amazing! Thanks for making it!
Lisa Yu
Hello is this 146cal per egg?
Christie Lai
Correct!
Nion
Very tasty. I made them several weeks ago for the first time and now I make them all the time. Great for a quick lunch or dinner.
christieathome
So happy to read this, Nion! They really are so easy and delicious. Perfect for any meal really!