Gyeran Jjim
Soft Korean steamed eggs in a small pan: eggs, broth, and scallion, spooned next to hot rice.
- Prep
- 5 min
- Cook
- 8–13 min
- Serves
- 2 as a shared side with rice
- Difficulty
- easy
A classic Korean home method compiled from common versions of 계란찜. Use a small, heavy saucepan (about 3 cups / 700 ml). Medium-low heat matters more than a fancy pot.
Gyeran jjim is 계란찜, Korean steamed eggs: a soft, savory custard that sits on the rice table next to kimchi and banchan. Restaurants often send it out in a hot earthenware bowl. At home, a small saucepan does the same job.
Beat the eggs smooth, thin them with water or light broth, season, cover, and cook gently until steam spills from the lid. The texture should be spoonable and jiggly, not scrambled. Fish sauce or salted shrimp make the eggs a little briny. Salt alone keeps them clean.
Ingredients
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup (240 ml) water, or unsalted chicken broth, or light anchovy/dashima broth
- Seasoning, pick one: ¾ tsp fine salt; or 1½ tsp Korean salted shrimp (saeujeot); or, if using plain water, 4 tsp fish sauce stirred into the water
- 1 scallion, thinly sliced, divided
- ½ to 1 tsp toasted sesame oil, for finishing
- Pinch of toasted sesame seeds (optional)
Method
- 1Crack the eggs into a bowl or measuring cup. Beat with a fork or chopsticks until no clear white streaks remain. For a silkier top, pour the eggs through a fine-mesh strainer into another bowl.
- 2Stir in the liquid and your seasoning. If the broth is already salted, skip the salt or fish sauce and season at the table later. Stir in most of the scallion; save a pinch for the top. The mixture should fill a 3-cup pot about halfway to three-quarters full so it has room to puff.
- 3Lightly oil a small, heavy saucepan (about 3-cup capacity) with a drop of sesame oil or neutral oil. Pour in the egg mixture. Cover with a heatproof bowl inverted over the pot, or a lid that sits above the surface, so the eggs can rise without getting smashed flat.
- 4Set over medium-low heat. Cook until steam escapes around the cover and condensation drips down the sides, about 8–10 minutes in stainless steel or 12–13 minutes in thick earthenware. Keep the burner gentle the whole time. If your stove runs hot, lift the cover once halfway through and scrape the bottom in a slow circle with a spoon so the eggs do not brown, then cover again.
- 5Uncover carefully. The center should look softly set and jiggly, not watery. If it is still liquid, cover and cook 1–2 minutes more. Drizzle the sesame oil, scatter the remaining scallion and sesame seeds, and set the pan on the table with rice.
Notes
Useful details
- The reliable home ratio is about ¼ cup liquid per large egg. Four eggs and 1 cup liquid make a shared side for two. Five eggs need about 1¼ cups liquid.
- Water works. Light unsalted broth tastes deeper. Salty boxed stock will overseason the eggs unless you cut back hard on salt or fish sauce.
- Saeujeot is the classic seasoning with eggs. The plain-water fish sauce amount (4 teaspoons per cup) comes from Maangchi’s home method. Plain salt is fine when that is what you have.
- A ttukbaegi (Korean earthenware) holds heat at the table. A small stainless saucepan cooks a little faster and still works.
- High heat gives a rubbery or browned bottom and a wet center. Medium-low is the whole method.
- Restaurant-style fluffy gyeran jjim often uses more liquid (about 1½ cups liquid per cup of beaten eggs) and more stirring. This version aims for a soft spoonable custard that is easier to hit on a weeknight.
- No small pan: pour the mixture into a heatproof bowl, set it in a pot with gently simmering water halfway up the sides, cover the pot, and steam about 8 minutes, stir once, then steam 3–4 minutes more until set.
- Microwave times vary by wattage. If you use one, cook in short bursts, stirring between, and stop when the center is just set.