Korean Steamed Eggs. It’s one of my favorite egg dishes of all time! If you ask me, a must-try dish for every foodie.
Gyeran Jjim involves no oil.
Instead, the egg is boiled in broth.
Simple, healthy and delicious!
This egg dish is a staple in Korean households. Growing up, my mom also loved to cook gyeran jjim for breakfast - alongside a pot of doenjang jjigae and a few banchans.
My favorite part about this dish is when you open the lid.
You’re hit with a wave of fragrant steam. Then you see this egg bomb in front of you. Break into it with your spoon and you'll see more steam escape.
Then of course, mix it into freshly cooked hot rice.
It's perfecto 👌
The key ingredient in gyeran jjim is the broth.
Traditionally, you’ll make anchovy-kelp broth.
And season the broth with pinch of Korean shrimp brine. This is the classic way – the way that my mom taught me.
But with ever-busier mornings, I’ve seen friends (and BBQ restaurants in Seoul) use a dab of fish sauce as a substitute for the anchovy-kelp broth.
I switched over to this method. It cuts the prep time by 99% and tastes just as good!
Key Taste Variable: Korean Fish Sauce
Koreans typically use anchovy fish sauce. It tastes less pungent than other fish sauces. (We like this brand.)
Drop in a teaspoon (not Tablespoon!) of fish sauce into the water. And this will add just the right level of saltiness.
Don't worry - the eggs will not taste fishy!
Cooking Notes.
This written recipe will make a two person portion.
Koreans typically cook gyeran jjim in a claypot called Ttukbaegi. It distributes heat evenly and retains heat efficiently.
You can purchase one of Korea’s best selling Ttukbaegi here.
(No worries, you can also make this in a small thick-bottomed pot.)
If you want a 1-person portion - use two eggs. And you can cook it in the microwave too! Here is the video of how to do it ... (skip to 2:58 in this video)
Enjoy Neighbors! And share us a photo on IG if you try it out (We love to see you cook!)
-Daniel out 🕺
Korean Steamed Egg - A New Breakfast Idea
Ingredients
- Eggs - 5
- Spring onion - 1 Tablespoon
- Water - ¾ cup
- Fish sauce - 1 teaspoon
- Black pepper - few handshakes
- Sesame oil - 1 teaspoon
Instructions
Boil Water
- Put water into pot. Put fish sauce into water. Place on high heat and bring pot to a boil.
- While you wait for the water to boil. Move onto next step.
Prep Eggs
- Crack 5 eggs into a mixing bowl. Mix the yolk and the white portion thoroughly together with a whisk. Place in chopped spring onions and give one more mix.
Steam Eggs
- Place the egg mixture into the boiling water. Then reduce the heat to a medium-low.
- Use a wooden spoon to stir the egg mixture. Gently bring the egg curds into the middle of the pot and scrape against the bottom and walls of the pot as well. Once egg mixture begins to resemble a runny scrambled egg (reference video), reduce the heat to a low heat.
- Then place a bowl or round-shaped lid over the top of the pot. Let it cook for an additional 2 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and take off the lid. Garnish with spring onion, black pepper and sesame oil.
Notes
- Make sure to gently stir-in the egg curds when it is cooking. You should scrape-in the edges as well as the bottom of the pot. When the eggs start to look like runny scrambled eggs (about 70% done), stop stirring. Let the egg rise on its own.
- I recommend using a Ttukbaegi pot as it is thick and spreads heat evenly. If you don’t have a Korean mart nearby, you can also use a thick-bottomed stainless pot.
- See video below for more details
Jessica says
I used two eggs and a dark mushroom soy as I’m vegetarian and can’t use fish sauce. My eggs seemed to cook almost immediately, they did not separate out into the water as yours did. Any advice on how I can remedy this? Thank you!
Kenneth says
I used similar receipts as you but i only used 2 eggs as i cooked this for myself. It looked great and smelled good but in my opinion the egg lacked of taste. (I used extra salt to make it taste better)
afra says
I love eggs! And scrambled eggs are one of my favourite way to eat them. I had to laugh that I never even thought about a different way of preparing them :-> These are very tasty. Really enjoyed that they had a different texture - fluffier, drier. Lovely! You will probably cringe, but as I did not have Korean fish sauce I used a little Thai and a little oyster sauce (sorry, but I just had to have them immidiately when I saw the recipe and could not wait to buy Korean fish sauce) Oh and as I have you shocked aleady I also had them with toast instead of rice. Thank you so much for sharing! (and hope your forgive the liberties I took)