Ebisu Egg and Soy Agar

Quick answer

Total time: 20 min
Level: Easy
Servings: 5 servings
Ingredients: 7

About this dish

Ebisu is an Ishikawa celebration dish made by streaming beaten egg into agar seasoned with soy sauce and sugar, then chilling it into a sliceable jelly.

It is also called berobero for its smooth, slippery appearance, and hayabeshi in some communities. Its roots are associated with tamago kanten recorded in Edo-period cookbooks, when scarce eggs and sugar were turned into special-occasion food. In Kanazawa and Noto, soy sauce gives the jelly an amber color, and it traditionally shares the first tier of New Year boxes with foods such as herring roe and red-and-white fish cake. The cross section shows fine egg ribbons suspended in sweet-savory agar, sharpened by ginger.

Ingredients (5 servings)

Ingredient	Amount	Unit
egg	1	piece
water	500	ml
agar powder	4	g
sugar	2	tbsp
soy sauce	1.5	tbsp
salt	0.25	tsp
ginger	3	g

Instructions

Read the steps as a cooking flow: prep, heat, seasoning, doneness control, and finish.

5 steps

1

Prep

Cut 3g ginger into strips thinner than 1mm.

Beat 1 egg in a small bowl for 30 seconds until yolk and white are fully combined, without creating excessive foam.
2

Control

Whisk 500ml water and 4g agar powder in a saucepan over medium heat.

Once fully boiling, reduce to low and cook for 2 minutes, scraping the bottom, until no agar granules remain.
3

Control

Add 2 tablespoons sugar, 1.5 tablespoons soy sauce, 0.25 teaspoon salt, and the ginger.

Stir over low heat for 1 minute to dissolve the sugar, keeping the liquid at a gentle simmer.
4

Control

Drizzle the egg slowly over the entire pan along chopsticks and leave undisturbed for 15 seconds.

Stir once in a broad motion to distribute the ribbons, then simmer for 1 minute until the egg is fully opaque before removing from the heat.
5

Control

Cool in the pan for 15 minutes until steaming subsides, then pour into a 15cm square mold.

Cool for another 20 minutes at room temperature, cover, chill for 2 hours, unmold, and cut into 5 portions.

Practical Cooking Checks

The cues that matter most while cooking.

Key technique: Ishikawa celebration food rooted in Edo-period egg agar
Finish cue: Stir once in a broad motion to distribute the ribbons, then simmer for 1 minute until the egg is fully opaque before removing from the heat.