A couple of months ago I was perusing an Asian market when much to my delight I found the innocuously named Preserved Duck Eggs whose label is shown above. These eggs were preserved using salt and lye. Other names for eggs preserved using this and similar methods are century eggs, 100 year eggs, and thousand year eggs. I had been curious about this Chinese delicacy for some time and, much to my detriment, pounced at the chance to try them.
When I opened the styrofoam package I found six pleasantly speckled gray eggs. Their smell, however was less than pleasant. The uncracked eggs exuded a faint sent reminiscent of a urinal that had gone a few days without being flushed. When I cracked my first egg open, the membrane between the shell and the egg white showed another interesting speckle pattern. The fully unshelled egg looked much like it does on the label with a dark amberish white and a dark greenish yolk.
Without the protective shell, the mild smell of aged urine gave way to the pungent scent of ammonia. The texture of the now ebon egg white was rubbery and slightly sticky, much like jello. The yolk’s texture was firm and creamy.
It looked remarkable and smelled terrible, but what of the taste? The white was surprisingly bland and mildly salty. The yolk had a fairly noticeable sulfur flavor, but was also somewhat bland. While it was not wholly unpleasant to eat, it had a distinct, if subtle gag-inducing quality. After a few bites I had had plenty…at least for a couple months.
Today, for your reading pleasure, I tried my second century egg. The flavor seemed better. The yolk lacked the sulfur taste it had previously had, tasting fairly similar to unpreserved egg yolk. Whether due to being aged (ignored in a pantry) or my pallet having adapted I found the egg approaching enjoyability. However, the yolk did have a somewhat bitter aftertaste and the egg as a whole still had the same gag-inducing quality. I was still unable to finish the whole egg.
For you culinary adventurers, century eggs are certainly an unusual experience (provided you’re not Chinese or familiar with Chinese cuisine.) You should beware though that some manufactures supposedly use the highly toxic lead oxide to speed the curing process that preserves the eggs.
For a more palatable but still unusual adventure, check out candy raisins.
For more on century eggs:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Century_egg
http://nookandpantry.blogspot.com/2007/05/century-eggs.html
http://www.iwalku2.com/2009/02/do-you-love-century-egg.html
These eggs are often used as an ingredient for congee or porridge. They taste better that way. However, I’m trying to look for information about health issues with these eggs. Lye is said to be harmful if swallowed. I wonder what’s the effect here.