Soy sauce eggs or shoyu tamago

Home-made soy sauce eggs or shoyu tamago in salad in salad | H is for Home

I’ve been looking after our neighbours’ chickens again – I refer to them ‘the ladies’. Each morning, they rush to greet me at the door of the coop, clucking and cooing with anticipation of breakfast. The 9 of them then follow me around, getting under my feet, as I replenish their drinking water and collect the eggs.

Boiling eggs | H is for Home

Between them, they lay 6 or 7 eggs per day – I think there’s one or two that aren’t pulling their weight! After a few days, the pile of eggs really mounts up. Each time I look after them, I attempt new recipes to avoid a glut.

Peeled boiled eggs and soy sauce liquor | H is for Home

Soy sauce eggs or shoyu tamago are traditionally eaten with ramen (Japanese noodle soup), which I love.

Soy sauce eggs in jars of liquor | H is for Home

Yesterday, I had a couple quartered atop a salad with a little drizzle of soya vinaigrette. Today for lunch, I had them with a bowl spicy noodles.

Bowl of spicy noodles, broth and soy sauce egg | H is for Home

What would you make with a surplus of eggs?

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Soy sauce eggs or shoyu tamago

Rating: 51

Prep Time: 6 hours

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 6 hours, 10 minutes

Number of servings: 6

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Soy sauce eggs or shoyu tamago

Ingredients

  • 6 eggs
  • 1L/ 34fl oz water
  • 3tbsp soy sauce
  • 2tbsp rice wine vinegar
  • 1tsp Chinese five spice
  • 1tsp Szechuan peppercorns
  • ½tsp ground cinnamon
  • ½tsp ground ginger
  • 2 whole cloves
  • 2 star anise 'stars'
  • 1 green cardamom pod
  • 1tbs palm sugar (you can use brown sugar)soy sauce eggs ingredients

Method

  1. Boil the eggs the way you like them - I like them fairly hard-boiled which takes about 6-7 minutes. Cool by plunging into cold water, then remove the shells. Put them into a large, sterilised Kilner jar, cover and set aside
  2. In a large saucepan, add all the other ingredients and bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar
  3. Remove from the heat and carefully pour over the boiled, peeled eggs
  4. Allow to cool slightly before snapping the lid shut
  5. Cool to room temperature before transferring to the fridge. Allow to marinate for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight

Notes

If you don't have all the different spices, just use the ones you do - the soy sauce and Chinese five spice are the most important. You can reuse the liquor, bringing it up to the boil prior to each use. The flavour develops and gets better over time!

Cakes & Bakes: White velvet cake with creamy mascarpone frosting

Slice of home-made white velvet cake with creamy mascarpone frosting | H is for Home

My chicken-sitting ended yesterday, I really enjoyed looking after them, they’re all such characters. During my 10 days of fostering, we must have got almost 100 eggs! We gave a few away and ate loads of omelettes, French toast and plenty of fried/boiled/poached eggs.

Baked white velvet cakes in their tins | H is for Home

Last week, I made a delicious all-yolk layer cake and, as promised, this week it’s an all whites one. It’s Rose Levy Beranbaum’s white velvet cake. Sometimes with this type of recipe, what you’re trying to achieve is a cake as white as pure, fresh snow. If that’s the case, you can make a few minor adjustments to the original cake recipe below.

Home-made white velvet cake with creamy mascarpone frosting | H is for Home

Instead of using vanilla extract, use white caster sugar that has been stored in an airtight jar along with a split vanilla pod for a few weeks so that the flavour infuses. Some people swear by the use of shortening such as Stork which gives less colour than butter. Other people who care more about the taste than the colour say that butter is far superior.

Have a look at the pair of YouTube videos below the recipe where Rose herself shows us how it’s done!

Click here to pin the recipe for later!

White velvet cake
For the cake
  1. 4½ large egg whites
  2. 240ml/8½ fl oz milk
  3. 2¼tsp vanilla extract
  4. 300g/10½oz bleached cake flour*, sifted
  5. 300g/10½oz caster sugar
  6. 1tbsp + 1tsp baking powder
  7. ¼tsp salt
  8. 170g/6oz butter, softened
For the frosting
  1. 275ml/9¾ fl oz whipping cream
  2. 225g/8oz mascarpone
  3. 125g/4½oz icing sugarHome-made white velvet cake ingredients
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For the cake
  1. Preheat the oven to 175ºC/350°F/Gas mark 4
  2. Grease two 23cm x 4cm (9-in x 1½-in) cake tins, line the bottoms with parchment paper, then grease again and flour
  3. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, lightly combine the egg whites, ¼ of the milk and vanilla extract
  4. In a large mixing bowl combine all the dry ingredients and mix on low speed for 30 seconds to blend
  5. Add the butter and remaining ¾ of the milk. Mix on a low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened
  6. Increase to medium speed (high speed if using a hand mixer) and beat for 1½ minutes to aerate and develop the cake's structure
  7. Scrape down the sides
  8. Gradually add the egg mixture in 3 batches, beating for 20 seconds after each addition to incorporate the ingredients and strengthen the structure
  9. Scrape down the sides again
  10. Scrape the batter into the prepared pans and smooth the surface with a spatula. The pans should be about half full
  11. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted near the centre comes away clean and the cake springs back when pressed lightly in the centre. The cakes should start to shrink from the sides of the pans only after removal from the oven
  12. Allow the cakes cool in the pans on wire racks for 10 minutes
  13. Loosen the sides with a small metal spatula and invert onto two other greased wire racks. To prevent splitting, flip over again so that the tops face up. Allow to cool completely before frosting
For the frosting
  1. With an electric mixer on medium speed, whisk the whipping cream until stiff peaks form (be careful not to overbeat, or the cream will become grainy)
  2. In another bowl, whisk together the mascarpone and icing sugar until smooth
  3. Gently fold the whipped cream into mascarpone mixture until completely incorporated
  4. Use immediately to frost the top of one cake
  5. Place the other cake on top of the first and frost the top & sides
Notes
  1. *If like me you're based in the UK and find it hard to find bleached cake flour in the shops, have a look at Kate Coldrick's meticulous method to make your own version
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Adapted from Rose's Heavenly Cakes
H is for Home Harbinger https://hisforhomeblog.com/
part I
 
part II



Cakes & Bakes: Yellow layer cake with buttercream icing

Slice of home-made yellow layer cake | H is for Home

Our neighbours have gone on holiday this week and have asked me to look after their chickens again. They have about twice as many chickens as they did last time… so that means twice as many eggs every day.

Separated eggs | H is for Home

I’ve been looking into recipes where you use lots of just yolks and just whites – as I don’t like to waste half the eggs. I found a couple of recipes by Rose Levy Beranbaum that fit the bill. I’ll be attempting her favourite yellow layer cake this week.

Flour, butter & sugar in a food mixer bowl | H is for Home

I decided to make the yolks-only cake first as I discovered, on my online travels, that egg whites can be easily and successfully frozen for use at a later date. Yolks take a little more effort. The yellow layer cake I made today – as you’ve probably deduced – uses just egg yolks.

Yellow layer cake batter in an orange vintage Kenwood food mixer | H is for Home

It also uses bleached cake flour, something you don’t tend to find in supermarkets here in the UK. I took a lengthy detour on the website of Rose’s Devon-based friend, Kate Coldrick, who shows you in great detail how to make your own substitute.

Yellow layer cake batter in a round baking tin | H is for Home Yellow layer cake cooling on a wire rack | H is for Home

I followed both Rose’s and Kate’s instructions almost to the letter, hoping that I’d produce a cake like never before.

Yellow layer cake sliced in half horizontally | H is for Home Yellow layer cake with buttercream icing in the centre and on the top | H is for Home

The sponge was light & airy and the texture was crumbly. I teamed it with a vanilla buttercream icing which complements, not overpowers the flavour.

Detail of a yellow layer cake with buttercream icing | H is for home

Stay tuned next week Thursday for my egg white recipe! Click here to pin the recipe to Pinterest for later!

Yellow layer cake recipe | H is for Home
Yellow layer cake with buttercream icing
Cook Time
35 min
Cook Time
35 min
For the cake
  1. 4 large egg yolks
  2. 160g/5½oz sour cream
  3. 1½tsp vanilla extract
  4. 200g/7oz bleached cake flour*
  5. ½tsp baking powder
  6. ½tsp bicarbonate of soda
  7. 200g/7oz caster sugar
  8. ¼tsp salt
  9. 170g/6oz butter, softened
For the icing
  1. 250g/9oz butter, softened
  2. ½tsp vanilla extract
  3. 300g/10½oz icing sugar
  4. 1tbsp milk
Add ingredients to shopping list
If you don’t have Buy Me a Pie! app installed you’ll see the list with ingredients right after downloading it
For the cake
  1. Grease a 23cm/9-inch spring-form cake tin then line it with parchment paper
  2. 20 minutes or longer before baking, set an oven rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 175ºC/350°F/Gas mark 4
  3. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, lightly combine the yolks, about ¼ of the sour cream and the vanilla
  4. In a stand mixer bowl, with paddle attachment, combine the cake flour, caster sugar, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, and salt
  5. Mix on a low speed for 30 seconds to blend
  6. Add the butter and the remaining sour cream and mix on a low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened
  7. Increase to medium speed, or high speed if using a hand held mixer and beat for 1 minute to aerate and develop the structure
  8. Scrape down the sides
  9. Gradually add the egg mixture in 2 batches, beating for 20 seconds after each addition until fully incorporated
  10. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Smooth the surface. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes away clean and it springs back when pressed lightly in the centre
  11. Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes
  12. Loosen the sides of the cake with a small metal spatula, and remove the sides of the spring-form tin
  13. Invert the cake onto a wire rack and flip it again onto a second rack it so that the top faces up
  14. Allow to cool completely before slicing in half horizontally and icing the middle and top
For the icing
  1. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and vanilla essence
  2. Blend in the icing sugar, a quarter at a time, beating well after each addition
  3. Beat in the milk and continue mixing until light and fluffy
  4. Keep the icing covered until ready to use
Notes
  1. *If like me you're based in the UK and find it hard to find bleached cake flour in the shops, have a look at Kate Coldrick's meticulous method to make your own version
Print
Adapted from The Baking Bible
Adapted from The Baking Bible
H is for Home Harbinger https://hisforhomeblog.com/

What to do with an egg glut

'What to do with an egg glut' blog post banner

egg glut - pile of eggs on antique wooden egg tray

Last week, we looked after our neighbours’ chickens while they went on holiday. We’ve done it before but, back then, the brood was only about a third of the size it is now.

Some of the neighbours' chickens

Before long, we had an ever-growing pile of eggs mounting up in our kitchen. With each passing day, another 6 eggs or so were being added. What to do with our new-found egg glut?

Boiled eggs in a saucepan

I didn’t want to have either leftover yolks or leftover whites going to waste, so I looked into making dishes that used whole eggs.

Here’s one savoury and one sweet recipe I decided on…

  • Pickled eggs – We’ve both lived nearly half a century but neither of us has ever eaten a pickled egg! They never look appetising sitting on a shelf, in jars, in a hot chip shop, for who knows how long! I didn’t have whole allspice, only ground, so my pickle liquid became a bit cloudy with a little sediment. You’re meant to leave them for a month before you eat them – so we’ll report back then.
  • Egg custard – This was a little disappointing to be honest – a bit unexciting. It had nothing over a traditional egg custard tart baked in a pastry case. Transforming it into either a crème caramel or crème brûlée are other good options.

Pickled eggs
Serves 7
Ingredients
  1. 7 hard-boiled eggs
  2. ½tbs chilli flakes
  3. 1 pint distilled malt vinegar
  4. 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, rough chopped
  5. ½tbs white peppercorns
  6. ½tsp whole allspiceHome-made pickled eggs ingredients
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Instructions
  1. Tie the spices in a piece of muslin and boil gently in the vinegar for 5 minutes
  2. Pour into a bowl and remove the spices. Leave to cool
  3. Shell the eggs and pack into a sterilised, wide-necked jar
  4. Fill with the cold vinegar to cover the eggs completely. Screw or tie down and leave for a month before eating
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H is for Home Harbinger https://hisforhomeblog.com/

Egg custard
Serves 4
Ingredients
  1. 568ml/1 pint full fat milk
  2. 4 eggs
  3. 50g caster sugar
  4. 2tsp vanilla extract
  5. fresh nutmegegg custard ingredients
Add ingredients to shopping list
If you don’t have Buy Me a Pie! app installed you’ll see the list with ingredients right after downloading it
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 140ºC/Gas mark 1 and butter a round oven-proof dish
  2. Pour the milk into a saucepan and heat until hot but not actually boiling
  3. In a bowl that's large enough to take the milk as well, whisk the eggs, sugar and vanilla. Then, still whisking, pour in the hot milkadding hot milk to egg mixture
  4. Sit the buttered dish in a roasting tin to make a bain marie. Strain the custard mixture through a sieve into the buttered dish, then grate some nutmeg generously over the topuncooked egg custard
  5. Pour freshly boiled water into the tin, to come about halfway up the baking dish, and gingerly (you don't want slopping and spillage) put it into the oven and cook for 1½ hours. You want the custard to set but only justcooked egg custard
  6. Take the tin out of the oven, and the dish out of the tin, and let the custard cool a little before eating
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Adapted from Kitchen: Recipes from the Heart of the Home
H is for Home Harbinger https://hisforhomeblog.com/