Alex Rushmer of Just Cook It! Blog wrote an eye-popping account on eating the Asian delicacy (read: gross!) thousand year egg or century egg for breakfast:
What we know as the white is not white at all. It is a translucent brown colour reminiscent of recycled glass. The yolk, far from being an appetising yellow, is grey. And hard. Depending on how old the egg in question is, the smell can be no more than a tickle of ammonia to an eye-wateringly sulphurous tang. Century eggs tend to be milder whereas the millennial counterparts really are a force to be reckoned with. Governments in need of an alternative fuel source need look no further than these potent little ova.
They are made by wrapping regular eggs (that taste so very good fried or poached or boiled or scrambled) in a mixture of salt, lime, mud, clay and straw and then leaving them. For ages. Occasionally they are even buried in the ground for several months before they are deemed edible. And here they were staring me plainly in the face, at breakfast.
Now, even though I'm Chinese and have eaten my share of weird food, I have to say that I've never had century egg and after reading Alex's account, probably never will: Link
They're actually pretty good. Yes, the color is weird the first time you try it... The texture is definitely different. Thing is, it's fermented food, so you're not meant to eat a lot of it at once. In small bits in congee, they're actually very flavorful and they do NOT taste of sulfur or rotten egg, as the blog author implies.
The best way to eat it is chopped to small pieces, on soft white tofu, and Chinese vinegar, with some garlic and cilantro. It's simply heavenly.
Century egg is amazing in congee. It does not taste or smell rotten, sulfurous, or foul in any way. The texture is odd, and if you have food color issues, seeing it as purple or brown can throw you for a loop.
It's just fermented food. Like any other fermented food.
Also, while the eggs definitely have a strong flavor, I wouldn't characterize it as ammonia-like. When I think ammonia, I think chem lab and urine, which I assure the culinarily curious among us, these do NOT taste like. The yolks aren't really hard either; they have the consistency of regular soft-boiled egg. Try some! You might be surprised. If your local dim sum place serves congee, they probably have the preserved egg/pork kind I mentioned.
Its great to eat in porridges
and when used in soups
like 3 egg soup (using a normal egg, salted eggs and Century eggs)
The "egg white" is like Jelly
where as the Yolk is smooth and somewhat sweetish or slightly salty
Kit: Stinky Tofu is definitely less, ah, Westerner-friendly... I dunno, though, I got used to it, and ended up loving it. Maybe it's because I'm French Canadian and I'm used to smelly French cheese... Stinky Tofu is just that, fermented protein.
Anyway, in Hangzhou, my spouse and I used to walk around playing 'Is it stinky tofu or an open-air toilet?' The smell is that bad. But the taste is fine... With some spicy sauce, I find it to be quite a treat.
I've noticed that these "weird food" reviews always have one thing in common: They tend to eat just one sample preparation from one source and call it the definitive opinion.
Heck, if I got food poisoning the first time I tried a Subway sandwich I'd start to think it was horrible all the time too...
WHATTT?
I've been eating that stuff since I was a little kid, especially with porridge and pork. YUM!
Bleh.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balut
again, although it doesn't look pretty is also very tasty
That's because I don't like congee! I like salted duck eggs, but I can't say I've ever tried preserved or fermented egg like the century egg.
Anyway, you get used to it once its over some congee and thin, fatless meat. It might be funky to the taste, but it's impressive nonetheless.
In fact, I love eating it, even though the process sounds disgusting.
It's not made in 1000 years -- it's ridiculous to think so, seriously -- how many century eggs could people a millenium ago bury? Anyway, it's merely made from highly alkaline materials including sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide and other naturally occuring alkalis. I made this in high school when I was in 15 with a bunch of chemicals. The whites couldn't solidify though, while the yolk was the right appearance.
Other urban myths include that it was made from horse urine, but it isn't. Horse urine doesn't contain enough alkalis. It's the smell of the chemical reaction between the sulphur in the eggs and the alkaline solution which produces the 'urine' smell.
It is also named Pi Dan (literally "skin egg") or in Cantonese dialect, Pei Dan. Song Hua Dan is another name for it.
http://www.thingsjkeats.com/index.php?itemid=56
He videotaped himself eating one for a blog he writes. It's a riot. And does not look very appetizing.
That's false advertising.
These things are delicious!!!
How are you chinese if you haven't had these?
The writer clearly doesn't know anything about these things:
1) They're not nearly that bad
2) He doesn't describe the taste
I LOVE them!!!
They're not THAT bad if you're used to the taste,
I mean like, I've eaten some pretty odd things in my life,
but fermented duck eggs is the LEAST of my worries!