Soy-sauce Eggs  

2 servings

Thailand and china. I remove the egg yolks after the complete process to make recipe no cholesterol.

• 4 hard boiled, peeled large egg whites
• 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• 4 cloves minced garlic
• 1/4 cup chinese dark soy sauce
• 2 Tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar

Place eggs (I cook up an extra in case of breakage) in saucepan; add enough cold water to come to at least one inch above the eggs. Heat rapidly to boiling. Remove from heat; cover; let stand 12 to 14 minutes (let stand 1 1/2 to 2 minutes for soft-boiled; 2 to 2 1/2 minutes for medium-boiled). Immediately plunge into ice-water to stop further cooking. Tap egg to crack shell; roll egg back and forth to loosen shell. Peel off eggshell.

Using a very sharp paring knife (dipped in a small amount of soy sauce so you can see where you have cut), score the eggs lengthwise in such a way that the scored lines are 1/4-inch intervals at the widest part of the egg. Do not let the lines meet anywhere. Instead, stop a 1/4-inch before you reach the top or bottom of the egg.

Put the oil in a small, 1 1/2-qt pot and heat over a medium flame. Put in the garlic, stir and fry until it browns lightly. Now add the soy sauce and sugar, bring to a simmer and mix. Turn heat to low. Add the eggs and continue to simmer and cook over low heat. As you do this, turn the eggs around again and again. As you do this, use baster to pour sauce over them. Make sure they pickup the soy-sauce color evenly. Keep doing this until the soy-sauce is reduced to a thick syrup. Remove the eggs from the syrup.

Cut eggs in half and discard yolks (for those of us who want no cholesterol). The eggs should either be eaten as soon as they are made or else put into a tightly covered container so they do not harden.

Bon appetit!