Braised Brown Eggs Thai Palow Style

Recipe for every Thai child's favorite dish - one of my best childhood memory.


Every child in Thailand is familiar with two famous dishes; one is rice with platoo - fried mackerel with a dash of nampla or Maggie sauce- and the other is braised brown eggs, or kaipalow, with the aromatic jasmine rice.



At this time, I'll be talking about braised brown eggs -kaipalow. This dish has been around in Thai cuisine since - something like - forever! I don't know which dynasty created this sweet and salty dish perfumed with the aroma of Indian spices, but I do know that it was created for children who were choosy eaters.


I also know that ALL my adult foreign friends who have tried Thai braised brown eggs once or twice vouch for it, and will invite themselves over to my house to eat kaipalow and hot jasmine rice whenever I make the dish.


I remember the days when my mother used to beg me to eat, then she started bribing me with kaipalow. My happiness would heighten when she offered me 'Baby' kaipalow, which is braised quail eggs instead of the usual chicken or duck eggs - when I was a little girl, anything that came in a size small enough for all my dolls to 'eat' was automatically good for me. Thai braised brown eggs -or kaipalow -is usually made with cubes of pork tenderloin (cooked long enough to melt in my mouth), tender pork cartilage, or, my most favorite, chicken drumsticks. Although not a rule, often tofu skin is also used.


And the tradition continues.. Now, I often make kaipalow, the braised brown eggs, for my children, but I stick with chicken eggs and never attempt the dangerously high cholestorol quail eggs, which makes the taste utterly divine, if you must know. I don't use tofu skin. As you may remember on my Chef-Me-NOT!!! introduction, I mentioned to you that I am unorthodox. Today, I will perform my unorthoox act on one ingredient that I will add in my braised brown eggs, and that is bamboo shoots. I know, my mother and all the 'real' chefs out there are laughing already. Kaipalow, or braised brown eggs, is the kind of dish that tastes great, but even with the help from the spices it can sit in your system for a long time. This is why I don't make it worse by adding tofu skin which is a soy product. Instead, I choose to help the body's digestive system by adding good fiber, and bamboo happens to be the perfect choice. (And it sure tastes a lot better and is more economy-friendly than those gas pain relief tablets.)


Ready? Open your mind, you've got to try this at least once :-)

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Preparation

Kaipalow- braised brown eggs is one of the dishes that is usually made in larger quantity because the prepatation process involves quite a bit of details. This recipe serves at least 10 people and I only have five in my famly at the moment. I save a large portion in a few freezer bags and keep them in the freezer for my "lazy" days - those days that I don't feel like cooking!


18-24 hard boiled eggs - Fresh farm eggs are recommended. We had eighteen eggs left and I use all. Let the boiled eggs sit in cold water for ten minutes, or until you can get around to peeling them. Peel as gently as you can so you have good looking eggs. A hint - I often call my available troop, aka, my children. It's time to practice focus, patience, and attention-paying to details. Or, should I call it "peel-man-ship"?








1 bag of 16 oz palm sugar - Ah, yes, we will use the whole thing.


Nampla - the ratio between salty and sweet taste is 3:4 Make sure you have enough nampla, we'll do our tasting test at the end. And please, don't do the math - just because you put in 16 oz of palm sugar doesn't mean that you will put in 12 oz of nampla!! NO!!!!!! We will apply our senses, include common sense and cooking instinct to perfect the taste of our braised brown eggs!





Your ground-mixed-blended GPC - 3/4 clove of garlic, 1 teaspoon of black peppercorn if you have small children (As for me, I put in as much as black peppercorn as I can get away with before my whole family threatens to divorce me.), and 10 tiny roots of cilantro, 4-5 if your clantro roots are slightly larger.



















Spices* - "As many Indian spices as possible," was how my mother put it. I have to add, "But without yellow curry, cumin, pepprika or chili pepper." In this particular pot I use 4-5 star anises, about a teaspoon of cloves, less than a teaspoon of coriander seeds, and one cinnamon stick.

*You can opt out from the spices and your kaipalow would still be delicious. You will only be missing the aroma and an ability to aid the digestive system, but it really isn't a big deal. I usually skip cinnamon because it bothers my breathing.





2 cans of sliced bamboo shoots, rinse the liquid, soak in water and drain.


One family size packs of chicken drumsticks - about 12-14 drumsticks, maybe?


Sometimes, I garnish with cilantro leaves, but not today.


Oh, you'll need a little bit of cooking oil. Extra virgin olive oil is my choice, and has been, for the last several years.

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