A.P.P.L.E

Egg from centuries ago? A century is a hundred years. Now, if you are given an egg from many hundred years ago, will you dare to give it a bite? Okay, that was a joke. The term century egg is used for a Chinese cuisine, it is also known as preserved egg. It has alternative names such as hundred-year egg, thousand-year egg and thousand-year-old egg.

Orange loves to eat century egg and I always love to tease him by saying that part of the ingredients of making century egg is by using the horse’s urine. It’s more like a myth though.

Century Egg with Tofu

Do you know how century eggs are made? Read on…

Here is an interesting story:
Legend follows that it was during the Ming dynasty, a teahouse owner was good in doing business, therefore his teahouse was very well known. He had to boil water everyday to make tea. After making the tea, he would throw the tea leaves and wood ash on a pile of straw just outside his teahouse. The owner raised some ducks too and what a coincidence, those ducks love to lay their eggs on that pile of straw. One day, when the teahouse owner was clearing that pile of straw, he discovered a pungent duck egg among the pile. When he shelled the egg, he found that the egg yolk and the egg white had turned black. It had a very unique aroma, when he tasted it, strangely enough, the egg was extremely delicious.

Do you know that…
Century egg is good for health and is used in traditional Chinese medical treatment? Chinese physicians believe that it can cure sore eyes, toothache, high blood pressure, tinnitus, dizzy and such.

You can buy ready made century eggs from the market. But hey, you can make your own too!

Making Century Eggs:
Rinse fresh duck eggs clean, pat dry and smear 1 cm layer of mud over the shell. Coat with a layer of rice husks and pack tightly. Leave the eggs for 3-4 months.

Yellow mud is best for preserving duck eggs because of its alkaline properties and high mineral content. Minerals seep through the shells, which coagulates the egg white before turning it into a dark gray, translucent and gelatinous texture. The yolk, however, turns yellowish green or grayish green.

Besides cold dishes, preserved eggs can also be cooked or stir-fried with other ingredients.

Century eggs are best served with hot congee. Another great combination will be century egg with tofu (refer to the photo above).

There’s many ways of making the century egg tofu, I found a simple and great recipe from Nook & Pantry. Head over to learn how.

I personally do not favor century eggs.

Tags: egg

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