Japanese soy-marinated eggs recipe

Bring a pan of water to a rolling boil, add the eggs and boil for 6 minutes and 20 seconds exactly. This gives them a totally set white, and a yolk that ranges from firm on the outside, to fudgy towards the middle, and still liquid right in the centre. To me, they are perfect – however, this method is for small eggs. If yours are large, cook them for 6 minutes and 40 seconds. If you store your eggs at room temperature, cook them for about 20 seconds less.

Chill the eggs quickly in cold water, then peel them and soak them in a mixture of the soy sauce and mirin for as long as you can (if you haven’t got much time, don’t worry – they’ll still pick up the seasoning in about half an hour).