Son-in-Law Eggs (Khai luk khoei)

Khai luk khoei or son-in-law eggs is a traditional dish from Thailand. It's made with a combination of hard-boiled eggs, sugar, fish sauce, shallots, chili peppers, tamarind pulp, and cilantro sprigs for garnish. The peeled, hard-boiled eggs are fried in hot oil, then taken out to cool down.

A sauce consisting of shallot oil, fish sauce, tamarind pulp, water, and sugar is then prepared in the same pan until it develops a slightly thick consistency. The eggs are then sliced in half, arranged on a platter, and drizzled over with the sauce.

Before serving, this sweet and sour dish is garnished with cilantro sprigs, chili peppers, and fried shallots. The name of the dish can mean one or two things: some believe that the golden eggs act as a symbol of wealth (apparently a son-in-law wanted to impress his mother-in-law so he prepared this dish), while others claim that the eggs stand for the son-in-law's testicles - if he doesn't act properly with his wife, his mother-in-law would come and cook this dish the first time, but next time she'd threaten to use his testicles in the dish instead of the eggs.