When my mother was a young girl in school, she was always delighted to see the soy sauce egg in her lunch box. They made for a great snack. The Chinese also believe that eggs symbolize a round, smooth year so they are an ideal treat for a birthday or Chinese New Year!

12 large eggs
4 cups water
1 teaspoon salt to boil the eggs
2 scallions, including the green top
1 oz. fresh ginger root
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup soy sauce (kikkoman brand)
1 tablespoon rice or cooking sherry wine
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons red hot chili oil

To Cook:
Place eggs in a medium size pot with 4 cups of water and salt over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium, cover the pot and boil for approximately 10 minutes. Drain the hot water from the pot, rinse the eggs with cold water and peel off the egg shells. Wash and trim the green onions, slice them in half. Use a heavy knife to crush 1 oz. fresh ginger root. Place the peeled hard-boiled eggs back into the empty pot. Add green onions, crushed ginger root, water, soy sauce, wine, sugar and chili oil. Cover pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Lower the heat to medium-low and cook for approximately 25 minutes while stirring the eggs occasionally. When all the liquid is nearly absorbed, the eggs will become reddish brown in color. Remove pot from heat. Discard the green onions and ginger root. Let the eggs cool for 20 minutes. Cut each egg lengthwise in half and then into quarters. Serve the eggs room temperature or cold. If any sauce remains, just spoon some on top of the cut eggs for additional flavor. Refrigerate the eggs. They taste even better the next day.

Makes 12 soy sauce eggs
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: Total about 40 minutes

Tags: Birthday, Chinese New Year, Egg