Mayak Avocado is an addictively good Soy Sauce Avocado Recipe that only takes minutes to make and is great for meal prep! Paired with a plain bowl of white rice, this easy Korean side dish tastes incredible. As it's a no-cook recipe, it's the perfect summer recipe to stay cool and on the table in under 15 minutes.
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⭐ Why This Recipe is a Star
- Mayak Avocado 마약아보카도 is delicious: soy sauce (the base) is full of umami, and this Korean sauce is savory, sweet and tangy all at the same time! Scrumptious with white rice or slathered onto toast.
- Quick & easy to make using readily available ingredients: You can get everything from the regulal supermarket. There's no need to trek all across town to the closest Korean grocery store or Asian market. The amount of time you need to make it depends on how quickly you can cut up the avocado!
- Perfect for Summer: not only is this Korean side dish light and refreshing- and tastes delicious cold- it's also a no-cook recipe so perfect for sweltering summer days!
🥘 Ingredients
You will only need a few simple ingredients for these soy sauce eggs:
- avocado: you want them ripe but firm. If they're soft, they'll break apart in the soy marinade and your dish will not look good! Cut into large cubes, about ¾ inch.
- onion: any kind is fine, but I prefer shallots and red onions as they add sweetness to the marinade and reduce the amount of sugar I need to use. If you don't have them, don't stress, the Korean Avocado recipe will still taste good!
- tomatoes: you can omit them but I like to add cherry tomatoes as they add sweetness and the crunch is a great contrast to the soft avocados. If you want the texture but don't have tomatoes, thin-skinned Japanese or Persian cucumbers are good too.
- springs onions or coriander: optional but they will give more flavor to the sauce and provide freshness to lift the savouriness.
For the marinade:
- light soy sauce (ganjang 간장): This is the most important ingredient in the recipe (besides the avocados) so use good quality soy sauce. The avocados soak in the sodium more quickly than Mayak Eggs so use a low-sodium soy sauce if you don't plan to eat the avocado immediately. For more umami, you can replace 1-2 Tablespoons with fish sauce (optional.) If you're on a Gluten Free diet, use light soy sauce substitutes such as Japanese tamari.
- white sugar: dissolve the sugar in hot water or use maesil cheong as a substitute sweetener (no hot water needed if using the syrup.) I don't recommend using corn syrup for health reasons.
- Asian white rice vinegar or fresh lemon juice: you can use white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar as a substitute. I find fresh lemon juice makes the brine taste a bit saltier so reduce the soy sauce by 1 Tablespoon.
- fresh garlic: peeled and minced. Don't substitute with garlic powder!
- fresh chilies: red or green chilies work. (I suggest small red chiles if you're not adding the tomatoes for the pop of color. Personally, I like the small Thai chilies!) If you can't take heat, use larger chilies and remove the seeds and veins inside the chilies.
- Lightly toasted sesame seeds and sesame oil (Optional)
Note: there is more than 1 type of Korean soy sauce. Make sure you're NOT using the Korean soy sauce that is just for soup (Guk-ganjang 국간장), as it will taste different!
📖 Variations & Substitutes
- Korean Soy Eggs: You can replace (or supplement) the avocado with eggs. The eggs take on the soy sauce more slowly, so they'll need to marinate overnight (Or you'll need to use more soy.)
🔪 Step-by-Step Instructions
1a. Pour the hot water over the sugar and mix till all the sugar is dissolved
1b. Add the soy sauce, vinegar/ lemon juice, minced garlic, sliced chilies and sesame seeds. Stir well till well-combined.
Note: make sure to use an airtight container. You can even shake the tightly sealed container, instead of stirring, to mix the sauce.
2a. Gently add the avocado cubes, onions, coriander/ scallions and tomatoes into the soy brine. Mix till all the avocado has been covered with the sauce.
Note: See below for what happens if you're not gentle with the avocado!
You can eat immediately with rice, or mixed into a fresh vegetable salad!
🥡 How to Store
The Korean Soy Sauce Avocado can be kept in the fridge in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
However, do note that the ingredients in the soy brine will progressively get saltier and saltier. (I make the brine salty enough for the flavor to infuse into the avocado immediately so that you can eat them straightaway. Hence, you may want to dilute with some water before storing in the fridge, if you plan on keeping the avocado for a few days.)
The avocado will also break into small parts and look less appetizing! (I don't recommend re-using the brine for a 2nd batch of Avocado.)
Avocados don't freeze well!
🥗 Other Korean Recipes
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Mayak Avocado
Equipment
- Airtight container
- Spoon
Ingredients
- 4 avocado ripe but still firm, de-seeded and cut into ¾ inch chunks
- 1 Onion peeled and sliced. Shallots work too but do not use onion powder!
- 8 cherry tomatoes Cut into quarters. You can substitute with regular tomatoes but they won't be as sweet. If you want crunch but not sweetness, use Japanese or Persian cucumbers.
- 1 sprig green onions sliced. Substitute or supplement with cilantro
For the sauce
- ½ Cup light soy sauce Do not use Guk-ganjang which is a soy sauce just for soup! Use low-sodium if you want to keep the avocado in the sauce for a few days.
- ½ Cup hot water This is to dissolve the sugar below
- 2-3 Tablespoons white sugar You can also use maesil syrup or tangerine cheong as a substitute.
- 2-3 Tablespoons lime juice or rice vinegar Substitute: apple cider vinegar, white wine vinegar or white vinegar (I'll tell you a secret- I once completely forgot the vinegar and nobody could tell!)
- 5 cloves garlic peeled and minced. Do not use garlic powder!
- 2 small Thai chilies de-seeded and with the veins removed if you can't take spice (do NOT touch your eyes after handling the chilies!) You can also use larger chilies which are less spicy. Either red or green work.
- 1 Tablespoon white sesame seeds Lightly toasted
Instructions
Making the sauce
- Stir the sugar in the water till it's all dissolved then pour in the rest of the sauce ingredients and mix well. Note: use an airtight container, seal well and you can just shake up the sauce (vigorously)instead of mixing by hand.
Making the Mayak Avocado
- Gently scoop in the avocado cubes, tomatoes, onions and scallions/ cilantro. Mix such that everything is well-covered with the sauce.
- Enjoy with rice, or stirred into a fresh lettuce salad!
Notes
Note: the nutritional information is an estimate automatically calculated using the WPRM recipe maker and I am not responsible for its veracity.
Nutrition
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