One of my favourite quick pick-me-ups is tie dan, literally "iron eggs". The Taiwanese snack doesn't look appealing: it's shiny, firm and jet black. My favourite tie dan is made from quail eggs, which are bite size, but you can also buy chicken-egg versions.
Iron eggs are made by simmering eggs with soy sauce and other flavourings such as tea, chilli, garlic and maltose, before cooling them. This cooking and cooling process is repeated over several days, which shrinks the eggs and makes them hard, dense and chewy. They're usually packed into bags then vacuum-sealed, which makes the eggs misshapen, before being sold.
The exterior is black but once you bite into the egg, you'll see the white is tan-coloured, while the yolk is still orange-yellow. Because the egg is so dense and rich, just a few should satisfy any hunger pangs.
