Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Boilog* (for Biolog*)

Years ago I had a coworker who delighted us one time by bringing in Chinese tea eggs, or what I believe she called "twice-boiled eggs." They were regular boiled eggs that had then been reboiled in a blend of black tea, soy sauce, and the various flavoring agents in "five-spice powder": i.e., cinnamon, fennel seeds, star anise, cloves, and Szechuan peppercorns. These traditional Asian snacks are both delicious to eat and beautiful to look at: some resemble chocolate Easter eggs and others display a sort of marbled effect, depending on whether you remove the shell completely, or simply "crackle" it before reboiling. As long as you have eggs on hand, access to a Chinese grocery, and a modicum of patience (the eggs have to steep in the liquid for several hours or more to maximize the taste and color), these festive treats are easily made in your own kitchen. So don't just sit there like an egg on a log; let's get cracking! There was one instance of today's typo found in OhioLINK, and 26 in WorldCat.

(Kinesiske tea egg, April 28, 2012, from Wikimedia Commons.)

Carol Reid

No comments: