Japanese cuisine · Breakfast & Eggs

Iri Tamago

Crumbly Japanese scrambled egg with sugar and sake, the classic topping for rice and bento boxes.

Ingredients · for 2 servings

• 4 eggs
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp sake
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 tbsp sesame oil

Instructions

1. Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk with sugar, sake, soy sauce and a pinch of salt until the sugar has fully dissolved.
2. Pour the egg mixture through a fine sieve so the chalazae stay behind and the crumbles turn out evenly fine later.
3. Spread sesame oil in a nonstick pan over low to medium heat and pour in the egg mixture while the pan is still cold, before it gets properly hot.
4. Stir briskly and without pause with three to four chopsticks at once so the mixture breaks into fine crumbles instead of forming large clumps.
5. After 2–3 min. the egg is cooked through and loosely crumbly — take the pan off the heat at once before the crumbles turn dry and hard.
6. Scatter the iri tamago, warm or cold, over steaming rice or use it as a splash of color in the bento box.