Yet another egg post: Century Eggs
Yes it’s yet another egg post, but you can’t say you’ve discussed the eggs of Asian cuisine but left out the famous Century egg! This egg even ‘starred’ in Fear Factor! How can we at EAF not pay tribute to it?
The Century Egg is also known as the hundred year old egg or the thousand year old egg. I can understand how the term a hundred years came about as one century is equivalent to 100 years but 1000 years? Seriously does the egg smell so bad?
But the real irony of it is that whist its name makes the egg seem so aged, it actually only takes a preserving process that lasts no more than 30 days to make one.
- Century Eggs - The stars of Fear Factor!
Traditionally, you just need eggs (chicken, duck or quail) tea, quicklime, sea-salt, oakwood ash and rice chaff/husk and a curing period of about 3 months to make some good century eggs. Of course with the introduction of modern chemistry, they’ve managed to simplify that recipe and speed up the process. After all, it is really the alkaline agent that is the transforming factor to making these unique eggs.
After the curing process, you will find that the yolk has turned a dark green to almost black , cream-like substance drenched with the strong odor of sulphur and ammonia and the egg white has become a dark brown transparent gelatinous like with little flavour.
The surface of the egg white may be covered with what some describe as beautiful crystalline frost or pine-tree patterns but I always thought they looked like impressions of cracked glass or ice and for a while I thought they occurred because I had cracked the shell too hard.
There are many Chinese recipes that call for the use of a century egg, but it can also be taken as it is (no further cooking required, just gently crack the shell and slice the jellied egg) with sweet pickled ginger. I suppose it is an acquired taste but perhaps if you can just get past the smell, you might learn that it’s quite likeable.
You might want to be a bit weary about what was used in the curing process because some manufacturers in China have been caught using the illegal substance of Lead Oxide which speeds up the curing process but is also poisonous.
Again if these eggs like the salted duck eggs are available at markets, but if you just have to try making one of your own, then I think the Food & Fertilizer Technology Center for the Asian and Pacific Region (FFTC ASPAC) has an article in their library that will interest you.
Image Source: Shing Fat Hing International Trading
Originally posted 2008-11-07 15:01:15. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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