Mayak Eggs (Drug Eggs). Soft-boiled eggs with a jammy yolk in a soy-based marinade with addictive flavors! These easy delicious eggs are savory, sweet, spicy with nutty sesame flavor and umami taste.
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What are Mayak Eggs?
Mayak Eggs aka "Mayak Gyeran" (마약계란) is the Korean name for these Korean soy sauce jammy eggs. 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 taste. When we combine soy sauce with water, honey, and a variety of aromatics, it creates an unbelievably mouth-watering egg dish in Asian cuisine.
I love how incredibly easy they are to make with minimal ingredients and steps. Mayak marinated eggs are typically served as a Korean side dish with a bowl of rice.
They also make for an easy meal as you can simply have them cold on hot white rice with roasted seaweed and a drizzle of sesame oil. I often make these for meal preparation for busy work weeks and pair them with other Korean side dishes.
Ingredients
Please scroll down to the recipe card below for measurements:
- Fresh large eggs: at room temperature. Tip: if you forget to remove your eggs from the fridge in advance, rinse under warm water. For bright yellow egg yolks, source free range eggs with Omega 3s. Avoid using older eggs for best taste.
- 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 white sugar, brown sugar, maple syrup, rice syrup, corn syrup or Oligodang syrup
- Onion
- Red chili, or green chili: I'm using Korean red peppers but feel free to use any red or green chili peppers you can find at your grocery store.
- Green onion
- Garlic cloves
- Toasted sesame seeds
Garnish (optional)
- green onions
- roasted seaweed flakes.
- sesame oil
Equipment:
- air-tight container
- plastic wrap or paper towel (optional)
- large bowl for ice water bath or ice bath
How to Make Korean Mayak Eggs
Boil Eggs
Bring a small pot of water to boil on high heat. Add salt and vinegar. Gently lower eggs. Boil for 6 mins if you're using room temperature eggs or 7 minutes if they're cold eggs, uncovered. For hard boiled eggs, boil for 10 minutes.
Prepare Ice Bath
Prepare a large bowl with enough water and ice cubes. Remove the eggs from boiling water. Transfer to ice-water bath to cool down completely.
Make Marinade
Meanwhile in a container, combine Marinade ingredients as listed and mix well. Ensure the honey or sugar dissolves fully.
Crack & Peel Eggs
Gently peel cooled eggs (Tip: crack the eggs with the back of the spoon and use spoon to help me lift off the shell starting at the bottom of the egg where there is a gap between the egg and shell). Set aside.
Marinate Eggs
Place eggs into marinade. Tip: Place clean paper towel or plastic wrap on top of the eggs to push them deeper into the marinade for a more even brown color.
Refrigerate
Cover container with lid and let this rest in the fridge for at least 5 hours or overnight.
Garnish & Serve with Rice
Enjoy over rice or noodles with suggested garnishes.
Storage
Mayak eggs will last up to 3 days stored in an airtight container in the fridge. To enjoy, just take them out of the marinade and enjoy cold.
Expert Tips
- Add Salt and Vinegar to Boiling Water. This helps to make the egg peeling process much easier! The egg shells will literally peel right off if you don't add these ingredients to the water.
- Use a Spoon to Crack the Bottom of the Egg. Use the back of a spoon to help you crack the base of the egg (the less pointy side) as there's a gap between the shell and the egg which allows you to dig the tip of the spoon under the shell removing it easily.
FAQ
Yes! Granted that no egg yolk seeps into the marinade, the marinade will last up to 5 days in the fridge.
Other Korean side dish recipes you may like!
- Korean Spinach Side Dish
- Pan Fried Tuna Cakes Korean Style
- Gyeran Mari (Korean Egg Roll)
- Korean Cucumber Salad
- Potato Salad Korean Style
- Korean Bean Sprout Salad
📖 Recipe
Easy & Simple Mayak Eggs (Korean Marinated Eggs)
Ingredients
- 6 large eggs room temperature or cold
- 2 teaspoon salt for boiling the eggs
- 2 teaspoon white vinegar for boiling the eggs
Marinade
- ½ cup regular soy sauce
- ½ cup water
- ¼ cup honey or white/brown sugar, maple syrup, corn syrup or Oligodang syrup
- ¼ cup onion finely diced
- 1-2 red chili pepper or green chilli, finely diced (or red/green bell pepper for mild)
- 1 green onion finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds toasted
Optional Garnish:
- green onions finely chopped
- Korean seasoned seaweed flakes
- sesame oil toasted
Instructions
- Bring a small pot of water to boil on high heat. Add salt and vinegar. Gently lower eggs. Boil for 6 mins if you're using room temperature eggs or 7 minutes if they're cold eggs, uncovered. For hard boiled eggs, boil for 10 minutes.
- Prepare a large bowl with enough water and ice cubes.
- Remove the eggs from boiling water. Transfer to ice-water bath to cool down completely.
- Meanwhile in a container, combine Marinade ingredients as listed and mix well. Ensure the honey or sugar dissolves fully.
- Gently peel cooled eggs (Tip: crack the eggs with the back of the spoon and use spoon to help me lift off the shell starting at the bottom of the egg where there is a gap between the egg and shell). Set aside.
- Place eggs into marinade. Tip: Place clean paper towel or plastic wrap on top of the eggs to push them deeper into the marinade for a more even brown color. Cover container with lid and let this rest in the fridge for at least 5 hours or overnight.
- Enjoy over rice with suggested garnishes.
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!