Shoyu Pickled Quail Eggs

Ingredient List

12-15 Fresh Quail Eggs

1/4c Shoyu (Soy Sauce)

2T Mirin

1T Sugar

1 Red Chili Pepper, minced

1 Stalk Green Onion, sliced

1T Sesame Oil

1t Sesame Seeds

1T Vinegar, for boiling the eggs

Add the Vinegar and Quail Eggs to a pot of boiling water for 3 minutes. Drain the eggs in a colander and gently place in an ice bath for 20 minutes. Peel, rinse, and place the cool eggs in a clean jar.

In a small pot, combine Shoyu, Mirin, Sugar, Chili Pepper, Green Onion, Sesame Oil, and Sesame Seeds. Bring the ingredients to just boiling, then immediately remove from the heat. Pour the hot pickling liquid into the jar with the eggs.

Cap the jar and store it in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours. This delicious condiment will last up to 5 days in the fridge.

Enjoy! Add Shoyu Pickled Quail Eggs to salads, poke, grain bowls, and soups. You may also enjoy one or two as a simple, on-the-go, protein-packed snack!

 

We Can Pickle That!

My husband and I met and started dating in 2009. Rob's originally from the East Coast and I was raised in the Pacific Northwest, specifically, Portland, Oregon. While we were young in our relationship, we started watching a new weekly show... Portlandia. This sketch comedy series was set in my beloved PDX. The show spoofed the city's reputation as a haven for eccentric hipsters. Comedy is often based on truth and Fred Armisen nailed the Rose City's vibe. I knew the people caricatured in each episode. They were my classmates; college friends and members of the bicycle obsessed community. I loved sharing my Portland with Rob via the weekly episodes and I'm sure it provided some insight about me and my funky, cultural quirks.

One of my favorite episodes featured the, 'We Can Pickle That' sketch. Monkeypod Jam was in full swing, and the mantra of the kitchen was, if we can't jam it, we will pickle it! We were making krauts, dillies, kimchis, marinated breadfruit, pickled ohiʻa fern, and salt preserved citrus. Community members would stop by our market stand just to see what we were pickling. It's been a few years, and we have slowed down on the brining, but recently the 'We Can Pickle That' voice made a comeback.

A few weeks ago, our friend from @kauai_edible_flowers gifted our family three dozen quail eggs. If you haven't tried a quail egg, please do! First off, they are ADORABLE! Quail eggs are about one-third the size of a hen's egg, a cream color and covered with rich brown speckles and artsy blotches. The eggs can be fried, poached, and boiled, just as you would a chicken egg. But they are so cute, so tiny, and so buttery in flavor, all while being incredibly nutritious. We could only serve so many for breakfast before Rob would tell Annika and I that while they are super fun, could we cook up a more substantial egg from our backyard ladies? I decided the rest needed to be pickled... Korean style. It's a shoyu (soy sauce) based recipe and after letting the boiled and peeled eggs bob around in their brine for a few days, beyond delicious!

So far, we've been enjoying the lovely, one-bite treats with Rob's kalbi and rice, garnishing our farmers market soup, adding a few halved eggs to our beach night poke bowls, and I'll often pop one as a little protein pick-me up before heading out the door to retrieve the kiddo. They are custardy, rich in flavor, and have a little kick on the end from our garden's spicy peppers (Mahalo Homestead Design Collective). While quail eggs can be challenging to source, they are worth the effort to seek out at your local farmers market, food hub, and I hear they are sometimes at Costco.

This recipe will also work with run-of-the-mill hen eggs, so please, give it a try and let us know how you are serving this fantastic condiment!