You Should Definitely Add Mirin To Your Scrambled Eggs

There are many wonderful omelettes in this world, and I love them all. I like a meaty, cheesy Denver omelette, and I enjoy a delicate, tender French omelette, but a tamagoyaki — the Japanese rolled omelette — delights me to no end. I may not have the rectangular pan (or patience) required to make a true Japanese omelette at home, but I do have mirin, which gives mundane scrambles exciting tamagoyaki vibes.

Now, there are a lot of tamagoyaki recipes out there, with a lot of variations. Not all of them contain mirin, but many of them do, and the koji-fermented wine is something I will always include in a recipe if I’m given the chance.

If you can find hon-mirin (aka “real mirin”) at a reasonable price, use that, but Eden Foods makes a pretty good mirin that contains nothing but water, rice, koji and sea salt. (If you’d like to understand all the different types of liquids sold as “mirin,” check out this helpful explainer.)

You don’t need a lot of mirin to add a perfect amount sweetness and fermented funk to your scramble. Half a teaspoon per egg along with a pinch of salt is all you need.

Just whisk it all together, then scramble as usual. The scrambling method is up to you. I’ve used mirin in custardy slow-scrambled eggs and fluffy quick-scrambled eggs, and both were the better for it.