They may be called century eggs or even 1,000 year eggs, but it only takes between ten and 30 days to preserve them. Great Big Story explains how century eggs are made in the traditional way. The comments at YouTube confirmed that they are delicious, with a salty flavor in the jellied "white" and a creamy yolk. After watching this video, I had a couple of questions, which Wikipedia answered.
Do you need to cook these eggs? No, they can be eaten as is, but many folks cut them up and add them to congee.
If there are so few producers using the traditional process, how are century eggs so widely available? Modern manufacturers get the same effect by soaking the eggs in the "active ingredients" of the traditional preservation method, skipping the clay and reproducing the same chemical reactions.
-via Digg