(はんじゅく)

はんじゅく
noun, no-adjective
soft-boiled; half-cooked; half-ripe
food
1. soft-boiled, half-cooked
Describes food, especially eggs, that is not fully cooked through. The most common usage refers to soft-boiled or runny eggs.
半熟(はんじゅく)(たまご)()だ。
I like soft-boiled eggs.
ラーメン半熟(はんじゅく)味玉(あじたま)のせる。
I put a soft-boiled seasoned egg on my ramen.
Please fry the egg with a runny yolk.
2. half-ripe, not fully mature
Describes fruit or produce that has not yet fully ripened. Can also be used figuratively for a person who is still immature or not fully developed in skill.
このトマトまだ半熟(はんじゅく)だ。
This tomato is still half-ripe.
半熟(はんじゅく)バナナ()っぱい。
Half-ripe bananas are sour.
He's still an immature engineer, but his future looks promising.

Common collocations

Usage

The most frequent use is for eggs. In everyday Japanese, 半熟(はんじゅく) almost always refers to the degree of cooking for eggs — runny or soft rather than hard-boiled (固茹(かたゆ)). The sense 2 meaning (half-ripe fruit, immature person) is less common but appears in literary or descriptive contexts.