When my Thai Hubby bit into the son-in-law egg I had made for dinner, immediately he said, “Whoa! I feel like I’m in Ratatouille when he eats the ratatouille and flashes back to his childhood!”
After a long day of school, my Thai Hubby’s grandma would make him son-in-law eggs (aka Kai Look Keuy aka เนเธเนเธฅเธนเธเนเธเธข) often, which are hard boiled eggs that are fried, sliced and then a lip-smacking, tangy, tamarind sauce is ladled on top and sprinkled with fried shallots and Thai dried chilis!!! Soooo good!!
Every time I make them, it feels like I’m doing an intense form of dying Easter eggs as I roll the egg into the oil, which gently splatters and splutters while making the eggs magically transform from pearly white to crispy gold.
I love how creative, beautiful, and flavorful Thai food is even with something as simple as a plain ol’ egg!
The tamarind sauce that is zig-zagged on top is sweet and tangy, and even works on regular fried eggs too. And keep in mind, you usually wont see Kai Look Keuy on a table solo, but instead they are served on a table laden with many other Thai dishes and jasmine rice.
But the Thai eating police don’t come by often, so feel free to eat your son-in-law eggs as a snack, for breakfast, or of course alongside your other favorite Thai dishes!
And don’t forget to take a pic and show me on Instagram and tag me @thaifoodie! I wanna see!
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Son-in-Law Eggs | Thai Fried Hard Boiled Eggs
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
If you thought fried eggs were good, try hard-boiled fried eggs with a tangy, tamarind sweet Thai sauce? Eggs don’t get much better than this!
Ingredients
Tamarind Sauce
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup fish sauce
- 1/4 cup tamarind paste
- 3 tbsp water
Frying the Shallots
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced shallots
- 3–4 Thai dried red chilies
Frying the Boiled Eggs
- 1 quart vegetable oil
- 8 hard-boiled eggs
- Handful roughly chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Add the sugar, fish sauce, tamarind paste and water to a small pot over medium heat. Bring to a low boil, and let it simmer a few minutes until sugar has dissolved, and it’s thick enough to cling to the back of the spoon.
- Feel free to add more fish sauce, sugar or tamarind to taste, or more water if you want the sauce a thinner consistency, and then remove from heat.
- Prepare a baking sheet with paper towels on top to place the fried shallots, chilies and eggs on.
- Add the oil for the shallots and chilies to a wok or saucepan over low heat. Add the shallots, and stir constantly until golden brown. Be careful to keep your eye on them since they can burn quickly. Remove the shallots from the oil with a wire mesh strainer or slotted spoon and place on the paper-towel lined sheet.
- Then add the red dried Thai chiles to the same oil, and fry until crisp and have changed to a darker color and remove with a wire mesh strainer or slotted spoon onto the same sheet with the shallots. Discard the oil.
- Add the oil to fry the eggs to a wok or a deep fryer over medium heat. Warm to 375 degrees, or until the oil bubbles up once you put an unvarnished chopstick in it.
- Add the eggs 4 at a time (if you try to do them all at once, they take forever to fry, trust me!), and fry, stirring at times, until the whole egg is a beautiful golden brown, just takes a few minutes.
- Place eggs onto the paper-towel lined sheet to drain.
- Cut eggs in half and drizzle sauce, fried shallots, fried chilies and cilantro on top. Serve with jasmine rice and other Thai dishes.
- Enjoy!!
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Cuisine: Thai
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 3-4
I imagine myself having that ratatouille moments while eating this egg. hehe Aside from the fact that it’s really taste and filling, this food is also aesthetically pleasing to the eye.
That’s awesome! Thanks so much for your kind words! Hope you enjoy them as much as we do!