Instructions

Start by making the rice; 1/2 cup dry rice yields about 2 cups cooked rice. Appetites vary. I can’t finish this much in a sitting, but leftover rice never lasts in my house.

Measure the water into a measuring cup–a 2 cup measure or larger is useful for later steps–and heat the water in a microwave for one minute. Drop the tamarind in. The amount of tamarind doesn’t need to be exactly one tablespoon; you want a lump about the size of a large strawberry. Allow to soak for 20 minutes.

Hard boil the eggs for 6-7 minutes. Cool, shell, and set aside while you make the sauce.

Lift the tamarind out of the water. Place a small sieve over the water–don’t discard it–and rub the pulp through, leaving the seeds and membrane behind. If pulp collects on the underside of the sieve, dip it carefully into the water. Or scrape gently with a spatula and dip into the tamarind water.

Pour about one tablespoon peanut oil in small, heavy sauté pan. I used a seven-inch All-Clad. Fry the shallots until golden brown but not dry; give them about four minutes. Remove half the shallots to a dish.

Now add the tamarind water and brown or palm sugar to the pan and bring it to a boil for three minutes, stirring. Watch the pan: you might need to turn the heat down slightly. Fish sauce smells strong while reducing, and this will reduce a great deal.

To serve: place the eggs in a bowl. Slice them in half. Add the rice, then spoon the sauce over. Add the reserved shallots. Sprinkle the sliced scallion over, crack open the hot peppers, and add the seeds–how many depends on how much of a heat freak you are. Wolf down.

Notes:  Henry’s recipe calls for tamarind paste, which is sold in jars. It can taste tinny, so I prefer to buy tamarind in block form. Break off what you need and wrap the remainder in plastic. Refrigerated, tamarind keeps forever. If you can only find paste, or prefer it, use one tablespoon for this recipe, undiluted, and add one cup of water to the pan when adding the tamarind paste and sugar.

Palm sugar is sold in small bags in the International Food aisles or Asian food sections of good markets, Asian markets, or online. Henry’s recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of brown sugar for 8 eggs; I used a tiny amount of palm sugar–about a 1/4 teaspoon. This is personal preference; Thai cuisine balances hot, sour, salty, and sweet tastes, so taste and balance to your liking. Palm sugar is easily broken with a sharp knife, just be careful.

This seems like a lot of fried shallot for one person–until you taste it. Then it seems like not enough.

The original recipe also calls for fresh hot red peppers and sprinkling fresh chopped cilantro. If you have these ingredients to hand, by all means use them.

Hardboiled eggs keep, refrigerated, up to one week. Cooked rice keeps two days, refrigerated. Fried shallots keep up to one week, refrigerated.

The sauce will keep overnight, refrigerated, but is best eaten immediately.