In Japan, they boil eggs in a volcano. Because volcanic eggs over green eggs n ham, right?
Boiled eggs confound me. Maybe its because I missed out on the cooking gene, but every time I’ve tried to boil an egg it has always turned out orange for some reason. In an only somewhat-related note, if you have never had a boiled egg with soy sauce, you are missing out on one of life’s greatest delicacies (I can thank my half Asian heritage for knowing this gem of culinary wisdom).
Speaking of delicacies, in Japan, they eat black eggs boiled in a volcano. Owakudani, AKA the ‘Great Boiling Valley’ is a big 3,000 year-old volcanic caldera that originally formed when Mount Hakone erupted. The explosion was so powerful that there are still active boiling pools of water and huge vents that expel steam and volcanic fumes. Every year, tourists flock to the area to eat the mystical black boiled volcanic eggs called ‘Kuro Tamango.’
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Technically the eggs are just regular ole’ chicken eggs, but the strange black color comes from boiling them in sulfur-rich hot water pools. The sulfur reacts with the eggshells, turning them black and giving them a sulfur-like flavor and odor. Because volcanic eggs are the new whiskey, says the foodie movement.
Legend has it that eating a black boiled egg from the waters of Owakudani can prolong a person’s life by seven years. If eating strange foods from foreign lands, or adding a few extra years to your life sounds like something you are into, these black volcanic eggs may need to make their way onto your breakfast plate right next to the fruit salad and toast.
