Just Bento

Joining the list of delicious things to do with the humble hardboiled egg alongside soy sauce eggs and lazy easy tea eggs, are these delicately beige, utterly delicious eggs marinated in miso. They don’t have the burnished brown color of soy sauce eggs, but are just as, if not more, delicious. And they get tastier the longer you let them marinate.

They are very easy to make, if a bit messy. They last in the refrigerator for up to a week, so are a nice staple to have and eat over the course of a few days.

Good miso is expensive, so this recipe uses as little miso as possible while still doing the job.

Recipe: Miso tamago (Miso marinated eggs)

Amounts are given per egg. I like to do half a dozen at a time.

• 1 hardboiled egg, peeled
• 2 Tbs. miso of your choice (I would recommend a mild white miso; a red salty miso will make the eggs taste a lot stronger)
• 1 tsp. maple syrup

Mix the miso and maple syrup together very well to form a smooth paste. Spread the paste over the middle of a piece of cling film/plastic wrap that is big enough to wrap the egg in.

Put the egg in the middle of the cling film, and wrap it around the egg. Twist the plastic shut at the top, and gently squish the miso so that is completely covering the egg.

Put the wrapped eggs in a plastic container, and leave for at least 5 hours and up to a week in the refrigerator.

When you are ready to use an egg, take off the cling film. The white of the egg should be a light to medium beige. The surface will be covered with a bit of miso. You can leave this on, or wipe it off gently for aesthetic reasons if you like.

You can use the miso eggs as-is without any additional flavoring. Here is half of one nestled in a bento box. Note how the miso marinade has penetrated the egg.

You can also make interesting egg salad with miso eggs, with a subtle miso flavor. Go easy on the mayonnaise, since the eggs are already a bit salty.

Eggs, they are good for you now.

Recent announcements by the health police have declared that eggs are actually pretty good for you, and are not heart-attack bombs they were previously said to be. Don’t you wish they’d make up their minds about these things once and for all?