Cue the Kinks: Avocado Toast and a bit about eggs

Hi everyone. Today's entry is unplanned, mostly because one of the most important ingredients isn't where I want it yet. On the other hand, it's a fine breakfast, so why not share?

I am not what you'd ever call a dedicated follower of fashion, but I do like variations of avocado toast. My version for breakfast this morning:

• One ramen egg (soft boiled, marinated in soy, mirin, dashi, sake, rice vinegar) (comments about the egg below)
• Chopped 1/2 of a ripe (ha!)* avocado
• Soy sauce
• Hot sauce
• Toasted slice of your favorite bread (optional)

It's a damn fine breakfast if you ask me. It's filling, it's flavorful, and there's a mix of textures so it's interesting to eat. I don't always bother with the toast--that depends on how hungry I am. I've also considered putting this over a small amount of rice, but I haven't tried it yet.

About the egg:

I love ramen and I've tried it multiple ways in multiple places. Several of my friends get an invitation once a month for a Ramen night and we always have a great time. This has been going on (minus lockdown, of course) since 2014. The members of the group have changed, and it's not always the same group at the same time, but there's always fun, food, and drinks.

Ramen eggs, if you haven't experienced them, are unique and fabulous. The correct name is ajitsuke tamago and they are soft-boiled and marinated. I have seen recipes for all kinds of marinades and I haven't found one or improvised one that I am completely happy with.

The texture, where you have a solid, but soft white without a trace of a rubbery feeling, and a yolk with a texture that you could describe as feeling like a rich custard or your favorite jam, I do have down. That is thanks to Ivan Orkin, who is an interesting human and has a chain of restaurants. My birthday has been spent at Ivan Ramen more than once. If you have a big appetite, I recommend the triple-pork-triple-garlic, which is hugely delicious, but I can't finish even if I fast for two days prior.

Anyway I was searching with various terms for the recipe and several pages into the search engine I found this blog entry from Rowley's Whiskey Forge. While I didn't love the marinade recipe when I tried it, boiling the eggs for six minutes and ten seconds is pretty much perfect! When I have a marinade I like, I'll post a full entry.

Happy noshing!

*Yeah, I know. It is really hard to find that 15 minutes when an avocado is perfectly ripe.