Asian food is another favorite of mine.

I was very happy to get my hands on a new cookbook, Burma, rivers of flavor, from Naomi Duguid. I know nothing about Burmese cuisine and this book is a great place to start. The first two recipes I made, this one and the everyday cabbage-shallot refresher were very easy to make and quite satisfying. You can play with the amount of chilies depending on how hot you like your food. This curry turned out to be mildly to moderately spicy I would say. The original recipe called for chili powder instead of a whole chili, but I did not have time to get around to making it. I will, I will, but I have been so busy lately…

I am very happy with this book to date and I suggest you all get it.

Ingredients: (for two people)

4 hard-boiled eggs
1/3 cup peanut oil
1/8 teaspoon turmeric
2 shallots, minced
1 dry hot chili pepper, crushed
2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
2 teaspoons fish sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste
2 to 3 fresh hot cayenne peppers or to taste

Method:

1. First, fill a small saucepan with cold water, drop the eggs in, bring to boil and cook for 8 minutes. Drain, rinse with cold water and remove the shells.
2. In a small skillet, heat the oil along with the turmeric over medium-high heat, then fry the eggs, turning them once in a while until golden brown all over. Drain on paper towels. Cut them in half lengthwise and set aside.
3. Discard most of the oil from the pan except for 2 tablespoons. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the shallots, garlic and the dry chili pepper and cook over medium heat until soft.
4. Add the tomatoes and cook for about 10 minutes, or until the tomatoes look like a purée.
5. Add the fish sauce, salt, the cayenne peppers and the eggs and stir gently. Be careful not to break the eggs. Add salt to taste and serve at once.

I will take this opportunity to introduce you to my oldest Burmese cat: Jacob will be 17 years old next December. He is a little angel and we love him dearly.