Mayak gyeran went viral in Korea a couple years ago- I remember seeing it everywhere for quite a while. Some of my non-Korean friends were even asking me about it, but I had never actually made it before.
It’s basically a soy sauce marinated egg that is boiled to your preference.
“Mayak” means drugs and it is meant to describe how addictive this dish is. Don’t worry, there aren’t any actual drugs in this recipe. But I think that you will find it very addictive.
This isn’t exactly a traditional dish to begin with, but I just wanted to note that my recipe is not traditional at all. I have to be honest- I didn’t like mayak eggs the first time I followed a recipe to try it. But I really liked the idea and thought I could come up with something that suits my tastes better. One of my best friends also suggested adding cilantro, and now I’ll never make it any other way.
Pro tip:
Do not add any sesame oil to the marinade! Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE sesame oil. But it tastes funky when it has been sitting in a marinade over some time. I prefer the way sesame oil tastes when it is freshly added to a dish right before serving. Drizzle some sesame oil over your mayak eggs as you eat them for the best results.
Mayak Eggs (Drug Eggs)
Ingredients
- 8 eggs boiled to your preference
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
- 1 tsp kosher salt
Marinade
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup plum extract or any sweetener you prefer
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 3 green onions chopped
- 1 jalapeno chopped
- 4 red thai chili peppers chopped, optional
- 1/4 cup cilantro
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp furikake
- 1 tsp sesame seeds `
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- sesame oil as needed
Instructions
- In a pot, bring enough water to cover 8 eggs to a boil then add vinegar and salt. You can skip the vinegar and salt if you want to, but this is my foolproof way of peeling the shells off easily
- Boil your eggs to your liking. I like runny yolks, so I bring my eggs to room temp and then gently drop them in the boiling water for exactly 6 minutes. But NOT a rolling boil. That much heat and movement may cause the eggs to break and leak. A little breakage is ok, but if your egg starts to leak then the heat is too high.
- Immediately place the eggs in an ice bath to stop the cooking until they have completely cooled.
- Mix all the sauce ingredients together. I highly recommend using plum extract as your sweetener. This is my preferred sweetener for most dishes, since it is much more complex in flavor and can be made at home.
- Carefully peel the eggs. They should be squishy not too firm to the touch, so be gentle.
- Pour the sauce over the eggs in an air tight container and refrigerate over night.
- When ready to eat, drizzle over a little sesame oil and serve with rice
