American · Pennsylvania Dutch · appetizer

Red Beet Eggs

Red Beet Eggs reads sweetness 5.9, sourness 5.5 and warm spice 4.9 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a American · Pennsylvania Dutch appetizer, about 49 hr 11 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

The measured notes (of 18)

Sweetness 5.9 · Sourness 5.5 · Warm Spice 4.9 · Allium 4.3 · Salinity 4.0 · Floral 3.5 · Earthy 2.9 · Richness 2.5 · Umami 2.5 · Funk & Ferment 1.8 · Bitterness 1.3 · Nutty 0.6 · Herbaceous 0.6

What's in it (10)

Time & effort: about 49 hr 11 min (1 hr 11 min active) · effort: medium

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 113.1 kcal, 3.9 g protein, 4.3 g fat, 19.9 g carbs

Dietary: Vegetarian · Contains egg — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (7 steps)

  1. Red beet eggs belong to the seven sweets and seven sours, the Pennsylvania Dutch convention of setting out a range of pickles and preserves alongside a meal so that every mouthful of rich food has something sharp to answer it. Whether there were ever literally seven of each is doubtful — Weaver treats the phrase as a later marketing formula — but the practice behind it is real and old, and this is the most recognisable item on that table.
  2. Leave 2 cm of stem on the beets and do not cut the root tip. A cut beet bleeds out into the water and you lose both the colour and the earthy sweetness that is supposed to end up in the eggs.
  3. Simmer the beets in the 700 ml of water, covered, 40 minutes, until a skewer slides through the largest one. Lift them out, keeping every drop of the cooking water, and rub the skins off under cold running water with your thumbs. Slice them 5 mm thick.
  4. Boil the eggs: lower them into simmering water and cook 11 minutes, then plunge them into iced water for 5 minutes and peel them. Eleven minutes gives a fully set but still tender yolk; a longer boil gives the grey ring and a chalky centre that will only get worse over two days in brine.
  5. Measure the reserved beet water back into a non-reactive pan and add the cider vinegar, sugar, pickling salt, cloves, cinnamon stick and mustard seed. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar, and simmer 5 minutes.
  6. Layer the peeled eggs, sliced beets and sliced onion into a large jar or crock and pour the hot brine over to cover completely. Cool, then refrigerate.
  7. Wait at least 48 hours before eating. The colour penetrates from the outside in and the timing is a matter of taste: at one day the white is stained 3 mm deep with a white centre, at three days it is magenta right to the yolk. They keep two weeks and get progressively firmer and more sour. Cut in halves and served with the beets, they go on the table beside chow chow and pickled cabbage.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.