Which Japanese convenience store has the best ‘onsen tamago’ hot spring eggs?

If you happen to’ve ever visited an onsen city in Japan, you could have seen small stone basins fed by pure scorching springs with complete eggs in baskets or nets floating inside them.

Picture: Pakutaso

That is what’s generally known as onsen tamago (“scorching spring eggs“), the place the water naturally poaches the eggs whereas they’re nonetheless contained in the shell, supplying you with a silky easy, runny egg once you crack into it. It’s such a beloved delicacy in Japan that you may simply discover onsen tamago exterior of onsen cities, and even at comfort shops nationwide.

Whereas these eggs won’t be cooked the normal method in pure scorching springs, they’re cooked to an analogous low temperature that leads to the identical runny texture. So if you happen to’re seeking to get a style of an onsen egg conveniently at a comfort retailer, which one do you have to go to?

That will help you out with that mission, we bought onsen tamago from the three high comfort retailer chains in Japan — Lawson, FamilyMart and 7-Eleven — so be part of as we crack into them to see what they seem like inside.

First, let’s check out the costs — Lawson’s onsen tamago is the costliest of the lot, at 117 yen, adopted by FamilyMart’s at 110 yen, and 7-Eleven’s, at 105 yen.

Apparently, FamilyMart’s egg (beneath) got here with a sachet of bonito inventory, which was a shock, as they don’t often include further additions.

Sliding all of the eggs onto particular person plates, we had been glad to search out that each one three slipped out simply, however when it comes to look, Lawson’s egg regarded slightly totally different.

▼ Left to proper: FamilyMart, Lawson, 7-Eleven

Whereas the opposite two eggs retained their plump shapes, with the whites nonetheless clinging to the yolks, Lawson’s appeared to have such a excessive liquid content material that it regarded prefer it was about to interrupt underneath its personal weight.

This was a very good signal, as a result of for a lot of onsen tamago lovers, the runnier the egg the higher, and these so-called “drinkable” sorts of onsen egg are sometimes served for breakfast in Japanese lodges.

▼ The reality could be within the breaking, although, so we took a pair of chopsticks and gently poked into them.

With the yolks now revealed, we actually couldn’t see a lot of a distinction between them.

We thought no less than one would possibly look slightly firmer than one other, however they had been all jiggly and silky easy, with related runny textures.

That meant we must search more durable to discover a winner, and to try this, we regarded on the high quality print on all of the packs, which revealed they had been all manufactured by totally different corporations. FamilyMart’s was collectively developed with Itochu Feed, Lawson’s was manufactured by Tamago Manufacturing unit, and 7-Eleven’s was made by Isedelica. Out of those, the latter two are corporations that specialize in egg merchandise.

▼ Left to proper: FamilyMart, Lawson, 7-Eleven

To seek out out whether or not the egg specialists would make a greater runny egg, we stored that in thoughts whereas we tasted them.

The Lawson egg (above) pushed the boundaries between free and liquid to such an extent that it was virtually like consuming a uncooked egg. It appeared unashamedly proud to take issues to runny extremes, so if that’s how you want your eggs, this’ll positively put a smile in your dial.

However, the eggs from FamilyMart and 7-Eleven appeared to prioritize viscosity over runniness, discovering a very good steadiness between the 2 that helped to intensify the flavour of the yolk.

Each these eggs had been nearly as good as one another, however if you happen to’re counting cash, the 7-Eleven selection wins for worth for cash. Nonetheless, if you happen to’re keen to spend slightly extra and wish some added taste with the bonito inventory, you received’t go unsuitable with the FamilyMart model.

Nonetheless, for us, the Lawson selection was the last word winner, with the extraordinarily runny texture giving it a singular taste that onsen egg lovers will fall in love with. That being mentioned, although, you received’t be disillusioned with any of those eggs, so be happy to provide them a strive subsequent time you’re feeling peckish.

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