A friend requested this recipe for LU-DAN/LOH-NUNG/braised soy sauce eggs, and I didn’t know where to post it, so hi old Tumblr!
You can pretty much make these eggs with any sort of stock (beef or chicken is usual, you could even use dashi), 5 spice, and soy sauce. The great thing about peasant food is that you can throw in whatever you have… beef, chicken wings, tofu and mushrooms are popular ingredients. This time I added beef, Chinese sausage, canned bamboo and baked tofu to the mix.
Hardboil a dozen eggs or so. Put eggs in cold water. Bring to a boil for 1 minute, cut the heat and leave on stove for 10 minutes. Dump hot water, rinse with cold, then let it sit in another cold water bath for a few minutes, until cool enough to crack and peel eggs.
Braise your meat if you’re using it. For this, I used stewing beef in sesame oil, seasoned with salt and black pepper, then deglazed the pan and added soy sauce (maybe 1/4 cup for the whole batch?), a splash of mirin (Xiao Xing cooking wine also works well), and a couple teaspoons of sugar. My grandma usually adds sugar to the oil and caramelizes the eggs a bit first which gives them a nice color, but I forgot, and also there was meat in the way.
Once meat is browned, add peeled eggs, bamboo, Chinese sausage, and tofu (dofugan, but you can substitute regular firm tofu if you can’t get the baked kind). I sometimes add mushrooms (shiitake, white or crimini), or even daikon, but we didn’t have any in the house today. Add just enough water to cover, toss in a Spice for Spiced Food packet or 5 spice, bring to a boil. After the meat seems cooked, taste to make sure it’s salty and sweet enough. It should smell heavenly. Reduce heat to low or transfer to a slow cooker. I actually use a thermal cooker these days and let it go overnight if possible. It’ll be delicious within 1-2 hours of simmering, but really, the longer the better.
