My version of Drug eggs or Mayak eggs

The title of this post sounds, as my kids would say “well dodgy” but it’s not what it sounds and is in fact a recipe for Drug Eggs or Mayak Eggs.

What are Mayak Eggs? Why are they called Drug Eggs?

They are a Korean dish, of marinated eggs, which are so delicious they are like a drug according to some. We love them, and they are a bit addictive. I have eaten them in Korean and Asian cafes and love them and my kids do too. So now I make them at home.

They are also easy to make. They can be served over rice or noodles, or you can eat them alone as a snack. I find them an easy way to make a meal, although you do need to prepare them in advance.

Please note this is MY recipe, and it may not be fully authentic, but there are many variations and I do use similar ingredients.

One of the main best bits about these eggs is they are, what my children also call “jammy” in the middle. You do not want fully hard boiled eggs, or them to be soft runny boiled, but squishy in the middle, “like jam”.

This recipe serves 4 so you can adjust it to your needs.

I also make these at least the night before I need them although you can get away with 6 hours or so if you can’t do that.

You will need:

• 8 medium eggs
• 300mls of soy sauce (we use this gluten free soy sauce, because of Coeliac disease, but you can use normal soy sauce, if that’s not an issue for you)
• two tablespoons of sesame oil
• 2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
• one red chilli sliced. You can keep the seeds in, if you want extra heat.
• 1 tsp of fish sauce
• three spring onions finely chopped
• Sesame seeds for garnish

The joy of these eggs, apart from the taste is their texture. You need to be very precise about boiling them, cooling them and carefully peeling them. The rest is easy.

Bring a pan of water to a boil and carefully slide your eggs into the water. Set a timer for 2.5 minutes as the water starts to boil again, making sure the eggs are fully immersed in the water. As soon as the timer goes, remove the eggs and add them immediatly to cold water so they stop cooking.

Once they are cooled, peel them carefully so they are left whole.

You have done the hard bit, now just make the marinade.

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl or container, other than the sesame seeds and carefully immerse your eggs in the mix. Seal the container or cover the bowl tightly and refrigerate the eggs for at least 6 hours or overnight. You can give them a gentle stir to make sure they are evenly marinating but if they are fully covered you won’t need to.

When you want to eat them, simply remove them, slice them and serve them with rice, noodles, or as a side dish. You can use the marinade as a sauce. I tend to add it to rice or noodles then serve the eggs on top with greens and coriander.

This is a more traditional recipe from Cookerru if you want to try, and it’s also fairly easy to follow.