Gyeranjang (Soy-Marinated Soft-Boiled Eggs) · Kim Jin-sun

Boil the eggs to a soft set. Lower them into already-boiling water and give them roughly 6–7 minutes for a runny-to-jammy yolk.

💡 Her description says only '반숙란을 삶아주세요' without a time — the 6–7 minutes here is standard soft-boil guidance, not her stated figure, so treat it as a starting point and adjust to your eggs and altitude. She does call 반숙 one of the two things the dish stands on.

While the eggs boil, put the soy sauce, cooking wine, water, oyster sauce and sliced garlic into a small pot and bring it to a boil.

Let it boil for a couple of minutes, until the sharp alcohol smell from the cooking wine has gone and the garlic has softened.

💡 Boiling is not optional. Raw mat-sul tastes harsh and boozy, and an unboiled marinade will not keep — this jar sits in the fridge for days.

Take the pot off the heat and leave the sauce to cool COMPLETELY — to room temperature or colder. This takes 30 minutes or more.

💡 This is the step that decides everything. Warm marinade keeps cooking the eggs from the outside in, and the soft yolk you just timed so carefully turns chalky overnight. Cold sauce onto cold eggs — she says '소스가 완전히 식으면' for a reason.

While the sauce cools, slice the onion, green onion, Cheongyang chilies, red chili and carrot.

Cool the boiled eggs under cold running water, then peel them all.

💡 Peel soft-boiled eggs under a thin stream of cold water — the water gets under the membrane and does the work. Soft eggs tear easily, and a torn white lets the marinade straight into the yolk.

Check the sauce is genuinely cold — dip a finger in, not just the side of the pot.

Put the peeled eggs and all the cut vegetables into a container and pour the cold sauce over them.

Press the eggs down so they sit under the liquid. If they bob up, lay a sheet of kitchen paper over the top so it wicks the sauce onto the exposed curve.

💡 Eggs float — there is more sauce than they can sink into. Any part above the line stays pale and unseasoned, and the paper trick is what a shop does instead of doubling the marinade.

Close the container and refrigerate for one day.

💡 One day is her figure. Much less and the white is barely seasoned; much more and the whites turn rubbery and dark and the yolk firms up. A day is where it peaks.

Serve halved over hot rice with a spoonful of the marinade and some of the chili and onion from the jar.