Ebisu Egg and Soy Agar

Name: Ebisu Egg and Soy Agar
Prep time: 165 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 175 min
Yield: 5 servings
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients: 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

Quick answer

Total time: 175 min
Level: Easy
Servings: 5 servings
Ingredients: 7

About this dish

Slice into it and fine ribbons of egg drift through amber agar.

This Ishikawa holiday dish, seasoned with soy sauce and sugar, is nicknamed berobero for the way it slips around, and in Kanazawa and Noto it goes in the top tier of the New Year box next to herring roe and red-and-white fish cake. Its roots are traced to the egg agar of Edo-period cookbooks, from a time when eggs and sugar were scarce.

Ingredients

servings

IngredientAmount

egg1 piece

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Instructions

5 steps

1

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

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

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

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. Remove from the heat when the egg is fully opaque and the center of the liquid is at least 71°C.
5

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.