Telur pindang
Unpeeled telur pindang, hard boiled eggs in spices
|
|
| Place of origin | Indonesia and Malaysia |
|---|---|
| Region or state | Nationwide |
| Created by | Indonesian cuisine / Malaysian cuisine |
| Main ingredients | eggs boiled in salt, soy sauce, shallot skins, and teak leaf |
 |
|
Telur pindang or pindang eggs are hard boiled eggs common in Indonesia and Malaysia, boiled slowly in water mixed with salt, soy sauce, shallot skins, teak leaf and other spices. Due to its origins, it bears striking similarities with Chinese tea eggs. However, instead of black tea, this version uses leftover shallot skins, teak leaves or guava leaves as dark brownish coloring agents.
The term pindang refer to the cooking process of boiling the ingredients in salt together with certain spices that contains tannin, usually soy sauce, shallot skin, guava leaves, teak leaves, tea or other spices common in Southeast Asia. This gives the food a dark brown color and lasts longer compared to plainly boiled eggs, thus pindang is an Indonesian traditional method to preserve food, usually employed for fish and eggs. The technique is native to Java and Sumatra. Other preserving method includes asin or cured and dried in salt, and dendeng which is cured and dried in sugar, acar (pickling), and also asap (smoked).
Today, the telur pindang is widely spread throughout Indonesian archipelago, however it is found more prevalent in Javanese cuisine of Central and East Java, and also South Sumatra. Despite sharing similarities with Chinese tea eggs that employs tea leaves, this Indonesian version favours the use of teak leaves, guava leaves or spared shallots skin instead. The use of teak leaf as coloring agent might suggest its Javanese origin, since Java is famous for its teak wood for centuries. The teak leaf is also used to give reddish color in Yogyakarta's gudeg, or even as dyeing material in traditional Javanese batik-making. Indonesian cuisine favour the use of shallots than common onion, and subsequently the peeled shallot skins are usually collected and spared as key ingredient to make pindang eggs later.
...
Wikipedia