By Grocery List Plus Editorial Staff | Published on June 14, 2026
Serves 5
81 cal · 30 min
Onsen Tamago
Recipe GLPR48953e5151ba27
Onsen tamago is a delicate Japanese hot spring egg dish where eggs are gently cooked in warm water to achieve a perfectly runny yolk and tender egg white. The eggs are served in their own creamy goodness, drizzled with a light, umami-rich dashi-based sauce and garnished with fresh scallions. This elegant dish is simple yet refined, making it perfect as a light appetizer or part of a Japanese meal.
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Ingredients
5 large eggs
6½ cups water for hot water bath
½ cup dashi stock
1 teaspoon soy sauce
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon evaporated cane sugar
scallions, chopped (optional, for garnish)
Directions
Fill a rice cooker with 5 cups of boiling water. Add 1.5 cups of room temperature water to bring the total to 6.5 cups at a gentle, warm temperature (around 160–165°F). The mixture should feel hot but not scalding.
Carefully place 5 eggs into the warm water bath in the rice cooker. Close the lid and switch the cooker to its warming function. Set a timer for 20 minutes. The warm environment will slowly cook the egg whites while keeping the yolk soft and runny.
While the eggs cook, prepare the dashi sauce. In a small saucepan, combine the 1/2 cup dashi stock, 1 teaspoon soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon evaporated cane sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the salt and sugar fully dissolve. Remove from heat and let the sauce cool to room temperature.
When the 20-minute timer sounds, carefully remove the eggs from the warm water bath with a spoon and transfer them to a bowl filled with ice-cold water. Let them cool for 2–3 minutes to stop the cooking process completely.
Gently tap and crack the cooled egg shell on a flat surface, then carefully peel away the shell under cool running water if needed. The egg white should be tender and set while the yolk remains soft and creamy. Transfer each peeled egg to a small serving bowl.
Pour a small amount of the cooled dashi sauce over each egg and garnish with fresh chopped scallions if desired. Serve immediately and enjoy the silky, delicate texture of the hot spring egg.
Comments
Onsen tamago is a five-minute active cook once you nail the water temperature, though that initial setup and the 30-minute steep demand real time commitment—budget 45 minutes end to end. Every ingredient is instantly available at Harris Teeter, Food Lion, Walmart, or ALDI: eggs, dashi (or you can sub with water and a pinch of salt), soy sauce, sugar, and scallions live in every grocery store's core stock. A single large egg costs roughly $0.20 to $0.30, making this under $2 per serving even accounting for dashi and soy. This is a low-fuss side dish that reheats gently and suits meal prep beautifully; set the eggs in the morning, finish them at dinner, store them in their cooking liquid for days. The only caveat is precision—overshooting water temperature by even a few degrees scrambles instead of sets—so pay close attention on your first attempt, but once learned it becomes foolproof.
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