A fantastic and eyecatching recipe posted by Tobuchan today really stands out! Most foods are not naturally blue or blue-based, there's only a handful including blueberries, purple potatoes, purple grapes and the Okinawan sweet potato or purple yam. Although containing anthocyanins (antioxidants that benefit brain function and heart health), it's fair to say that diners tend to shun blue foods. If you go one step further, blue plates are also seldom used to serve food, except by determined dieters who eat less off blue plates. Popular thinking shows that the colour blue suppresses appetites - some suggest to have a blue light in the fridge to stop snacking tendencies. I have to agree that a purple potato really doesn't enhance a gourmet dish and is just a bit of a fad, hopefully a passing one. Blue cheese, on the other hand...
Back to the blue egg. It's so simple! Just boil up red cabbage and soak hard boiled eggs in the hot water left behind after boiling. A scientific explanation is that the acids of the red cabbage evaporate away during the boiling process, leaving the vegetable and the water it's boiled in more alkaline and therefore blue. To bring back the redness, you just need to reintroduce acid in the form of lemon juice or vinegar. A similar effect occurs with cherries when cooked. It will be interesting to see what else you can soak in the red cabbage liquid, maybe Tobuchan can try some other ingredients? Just as magical - see this recipe for lilac tofu!