Thank you Hanna for the Simple Thai Food cook book ! As I was flipping through the recipes, one that jumps out at me is the dish called ‘Son-in-law Eggs’. Firstly, the name is so unusual, and secondly, I wonder why I never see them on the menu in the Thai restaurants? Leela has an interesting explanation on the origin of this dish in the book 🙂 One of my favorite Indonesian dish is Sambal Telur, deep fried hard-boiled eggs in sambal sauce; I’ve captured the recipe in the Nasi Lemak post. This looks just like a close cousin of Sambal Telur! I tried this recipe today, Hanna gave thumbs up. Next time when I have hard-boiled eggs on-hand, we have two options, Thai or Indonesian?

• Prep time: 1 hours
• Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 8 hard-boiled eggs, peeled
• Oil for deep-frying
• 1/2 cup of fried shallots
• 1 Tbsp oil (use shallot oil if you are preparing the shallots as part of this dish)
• 8 Tbsp palm sugar
• 1/4 cup fish sauce
• 2 Tbsp tamarind pulp
• 3 Tbsp water
• 1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and slivered lengthwise for garnish
• fresh cilantro leaves for garnish

Direction

1. To prepare hard-boiled egg, bring the eggs to room temperature, and slowly immerse them in a pot of boiling water over medium heat for 9 minutes. Remove from heat and add cold water to bring the eggs back to room temperature again. Peel the eggs when cooled. Dry thoroughly with a paper towel.
2. Heat oil in wok over medium-high heat until bubbles rise from the tip of a wooden chopstick immersed in the oil. Deep fry the eggs until browned all over, turning the eggs to ensure they are evenly browned. Approximately 10 minutes. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel. Cool completely before slicing them them in halves. Arrange on a serving dish, cut side up.
3. Prepare the sauce by combining 1 Tbsp of shallot oil, sugar, fish sauce, water, and tamarind pulp in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly.  The sauce is ready when it resembles the consistency of warm maple syrup.
4. Drizzle the sauce over the eggs.
5. Sprinkle the fried shallots over the eggs and garnish with red pepper and cilantro.