Chinese black eggs recipe. Centennial Eggs: Chinese Recipes

There are many names for this culinary Chinese egg dish: imperial eggs, Chinese black, hundred-day, centenary eggs - among foreign tourists are known as "Rotten eggs".
Chinese culinary egg dish does not look very presentable when cleaned.

The correct name in Russian is sunhuadan. In direct translation from Chinese, "songhua" means "pine flowers" ("tribute" - "eggs"), because. after being shelled, hardened and translucent, they show mesh patterns resembling pine needles. The richer the pattern, the higher the quality of the eggs. And even in displaying patterns on rotten material, the Chinese were able to use the quality of the dish as an additional factor.
In cooking, only duck eggs are used to prepare real songhuadan. By folk recipe they are soaked in a mixture of quicklime, salt and water. Duck eggs are stored for a couple of months in clay, salt and sand, until the proteins turn into jelly, and the yolks, in turn, turn dark green. Usually served with noodles and rice.
In a modern recipe, eggs are left to cook for 40-60 days in a liquid consisting of caustic soda, salt, and tea leaves.
There are many recipes for how to "kill" eggs. But the essence is the same - sunhuadan.
Some foreigners are squeamish about trying this wonderful Chinese dish.
Ready-made canned eggs are on sale. The eggs are soft, smooth, but at the same time elastic, the yolk is dark and gelatinous. Due to the sodium hydroxide and ammonia released by eggs during the cooking process, songhuadan can have a slight alkaline odor and be viscous in taste.
A small amount of a mixture of vinegar, ground ginger root and soy sauce will help to slightly soften odors and improve the taste of the dish. A traditional recipe for "imperial eggs".
Eggs are coated with a three-centimeter layer of mixed on tea infusion thick paste from the ashes of mulberry trees with lime, soda and salt, rolled in rice husks and kept in large tightly closed vats or in the ground for exactly 100 days. After this treatment, they do not deteriorate at normal room temperature for several years. The yolk becomes dark green and the white turns amber. Their taste also becomes quite specific - very spicy, slightly similar to baked cheese.
Another recipe for making centennial eggs.
From the ashes of mulberry trees, pea stalks, raw lime, baking soda, salt and tea leaf juice, a thick mass is prepared. Washed duck eggs are coated with this mass with a layer of 2-3 cm. Then the eggs are rolled in rice husks, placed in a vat, tightly closed with a lid and stored for 80-100 days. Hence the name - "centennial". Canned eggs can be stored for several years if the integrity of the coating and shell is not broken.
Sunhuadan - imperial eggs.
Smudge raw eggs a mixture of earth, salt, lime and soy sauce and bury in the ground. After 60 days, dig it out and make sure that the yolk has turned dark green and the white has turned black and transparent. Now you can serve.

Canned eggs are the decoration of the Chinese table. Fresh duck and chicken eggs are placed in an earthenware vat on wheat straw and covered with bamboo dust. Then a decoction is made from soda, tea, salt, pine needles, which is mixed with clay, ash and lime. Eggs are poured with a chilled broth and kept warm for more than a month.
For the Chinese, this dish is a delicacy, as for the French, blue cheese. Foreigners sometimes consider these eggs to be rotten, but this tasty, nutritious dish with blue-black protein is one of the delicacies. Chinese food.
In a good way, the eggs should be duck, but if there are no Chinese nearby, a slightly corrected recipe and prepare a dish of quail or chicken eggs won't offend anyone.
But I still have not had a desire to try such exotic eggs, although I really love various delicacies. I haven't been to China yet, but even if I do, I won't be able to "step over" my traditional culinary habits.
There is an equally strange dish in Chinese cuisine - Bird's Nest Soup.

This post is about food, but I would not call it appetizing :)
I want to talk about the "centenary eggs" (or, as they are also called, "millennium eggs"). I have heard about one of the strangest delicacies. Or "delicacies", because, according to CNN, such eggs top the list of the most disgusting dishes. But to hear this is one thing ... but before I could not even think that I would try!

To begin with, I will share my impressions, and at the end I will add material from Wikipedia about “Centenary Eggs”.

The shell seemed to me a little rough, and the color is less uniform than that of a normal raw egg. I began to break it - it breaks more difficult, and the feeling that you hit a rubber ball on the table, the egg springs a little. But it was not difficult to remove the shell, it leaves easily. The protein itself was slightly moist, a beautiful tea color. In general, I would compare the protein in appearance with black tea jelly! I sniffed - there is no smell, took a knife and cut it. The smell of ammonia hit my nose ... only the yolk smells, does it come out?

I looked at him for about 10 minutes. Beautiful! But here's the smell and the realization of the fact that the egg is "not the first freshness" interfered with trying the "delicacy".

Exhaling, she pinched her nose with one hand or the other, threw a slice into her mouth ... and nothing! I chew and NOTHING! Like tasteless jelly….the first couple of seconds! And then a sharp, bright taste of mold (?) hit my nose, I don’t know what to compare it with. And the taste began to be felt in the mouth ... whee! No, I couldn't swallow. So I have to share CNN's opinion.
But it's beautiful, isn't it? :)

And some from wikipedia:
"Centenary Egg" (pídàn)- a popular snack of Chinese cuisine; is an egg aged for several months in a special mixture without air access. There are a number of options for their preparation, but they all come down to immersing the eggs in a highly alkaline environment and completely isolating from air.
As a result of chemical processes, the egg white and yolk become strongly alkaline - their pH rises to 9 and even 12 (this is approximately the same as for soap). The process of preparing eggs takes approximately 15-20 days depending on the season, but often the eggs are kept for 3-4 months.
On the surface of a shelled ready egg, one can often notice patterns resembling frost on a window, which are formed by microscopic crystals of substances released from the egg. Eggs have good storage stability - if they are left in a coating, they can be stored for up to several years.
Centenary Eggs are a common snack food in China and countries with historically strong Chinese cultural influence. Usually "centennial eggs" are eaten without further cooking. Most often they are served as an independent snack, cut into slices. They can be seasoned with soy or oyster sauce. Sometimes "centenary eggs" are used as a component of salads and other complex dishes. So, finely chopped eggs are often added to rice porridge.

Centennial eggs are an extravagant food from China, specific, unlike anything else, with a bizarre spicy taste. To the average European, this food is not a delicacy at all, like, say, a fried tarantula from Cambodia, ant larvae floating in broth from Mexico, the beating heart of a snake just killed (Vietnam), raw Korean octopus (tentacles wriggle straight in a plate). On the the globe there are many incomprehensible (sometimes terrible, sometimes beautiful) dishes for the look and taste. How can you cook an egg? Boil, fry, eat raw, shake for an omelette - that's how traditional. And how do the Celestial Empire approach this issue?

Chinese century eggs: what is it?

This is a canned product with a long shelf life. The cooking process is as follows: a fresh egg (traditionally duck, but it can be chicken, goose, quail, turkey) must be aged for a sufficiently long time (naturally, not a hundred, and even more so not a thousand years) in a specially created highly alkaline environment without air access. This process can be carried out in many ways, but the result is always the same - dark, almost black eggs with a gel-like (often transparent) protein structure and a greenish (sometimes gray) yolk in a creamy state.

As a result of a complex of biochemical reactions, Chinese canned delicacies are obtained - century-old eggs, the taste of which changes radically in the process of preparation (preservation), additionally filling with a specific, as the Europeans say, rotten smell. The yolk begins to smell of hydrogen sulfide and ammonia, and the black protein becomes almost transparent and salty in taste.

Traditional names for centennial eggs from China

In the country, this delicacy is called 皮蛋 in pinyin (transmission of sound in English - pidan, i.e. pidan), canned eggs, century eggs, thousand year eggs, millennium egg.

In the process of canning (this is done using special techniques), small crystalline patterns appear on the black squirrel, generally resembling a pine branch, which gave birth to another name - sunhuadan (songhua - translated from traditional Chinese "pine flowers", tribute - translated " egg"), a pine-patterned egg. These eggs are also called imperial or Ming eggs.

History of appearance

In spite of unusual view(how archaeological find from distant antiquity) of such a delicacy as black eggs, their appearance does not apply to ancient times(like almost everything in China). The method of preparation (preservation for long-term storage), which has come down to our time, was first recorded about six centuries ago, in the era of Chinese

It happened in Hunan province. One homeowner found some duck eggs in a dried puddle. They had lain there for about two months, from the beginning of construction, when the lime was still liquid. He tried them and came to the conclusion that the product turned out to be unusual, most importantly - edible, but the cooking process requires the addition of salt to improve the taste. Residents of the country believe that canned century-old eggs appeared that way.

Cooking Methods

The most traditional and most ancient in China is the following: lime is poured into a hot infusion of strong black tea, then table salt and fresh wood ash. Everything is thoroughly mixed to a paste-like state. The mixture is left to cool overnight. Eggs are carefully coated with this paste in several layers, rolled in rice chaff (husk) so that the layer is dense and thick, and left for five months.

Naturally, the process of preparing such a “Chinese-style” delicacy as century-old eggs was constantly updated over the next six centuries.

What is pidan and songhuadan today

The Celestial Empire has accumulated a lot of experience in preparing this product under production conditions, with all the documents confirming the nutritional authenticity of pidan and sunhuadan eggs. Although in the markets of any city, traditionally, right under the rays of the burning sun, centennial eggs are sold in large special baskets, covered with rice chaff, handmade according to the traditional method.

In Chinese stores, this product is sold in foam containers, the eggs there are already peeled from the outer layer, it remains only to wash them and remove the shell.

In the recent past, the content of lead in these products was limited at the legislative level in the country. Where is the lead from? It turns out that in modern conditions Eggs don't need to be so long "aged" if they come into contact with lead oxide during cooking at the right time.

Experienced tourists already know that you need to buy pidan and songhuadan only if there is a special symbol (without lead). Although experts say that the amount of lead contained in one egg will not harm health - after all, no one eats this delicacy in dozens and does not feed (fortunately) the younger generation with such exotics in large quantities.

How to eat and with what to serve these unusual products?

Washed under clean water and having cleared the rather hard shell, after making sure that it is all whole (without cracks and chips), while the egg does not need to be held in hands for a long time (if possible), give a little (although some experts advise up to fifteen minutes) to lie down for him to the smell of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide was less strong, then cut into quarters.

Songhuadan eggs will be with beautiful pattern, they are usually presented as surprises and gifts. In this case, it is useful to know that the more beautiful and more patterns on the egg, the traditionally higher its quality.

Chinese restaurants (as well as restaurants in most Asian countries) never serve pure form century eggs. Recipe for home cooking it can be as simple as pouring spicy soy sauce with grated ginger over the cut product or mixing it with rice porridge. In these cases, both the sharpness of taste sensations and the aftertaste will not be so strong (and unpleasant if you try them for the first time).

Shanghai homemade recipe

Ingredients:

1. Pidan eggs - 2 pcs.
2. Sugar - 0.5 tbsp. spoons.
3. Soy sauce (gentle) - 2 tbsp. spoons.

Cooking process:

1. Wash the eggs, remove the shell. Carefully transfer the pidan to a flat plate, cut into eight pieces (the thinner, the easier it is for Europeans to eat), arrange beautifully. You need to cut with a very thin knife, since the consistency of the yolk is oily-creamy and sticks to the knife.
2. Drizzle eggs with soy sauce and sprinkle with sugar.

The dish is served cold, but can also be warmed up with rice.

Recipe for home cooking in northern (almost European) style

Ingredients:

1. Pidan eggs - 3 or 4 pieces.
2. Bean curd (cheese) tofu - 0.5 kg (traditional bar packing).
3. Sesame oil - 1 teaspoon.
4. Soy sauce - 1 tbsp. a spoon.
5. Monosodium glutamate - optional and to taste.

Cooking process:

1. Thoroughly wash the pidan eggs, remove the shell. Transfer them carefully to a flat plate, cut into eight pieces (as already mentioned, the thinner, the easier this dish is to eat).
2. Drain the brine from the tofu by transferring it to a strainer. Cut into neat cubes, centimeter in size, rinse in cold water, wait for the brine to drain.
3. Carefully transfer the cut eggs into a shallow bowl, combine (mix very gently) with tofu cubes of soybean curd, pour over soy sauce and sesame oil.

"Song Hua Dan" or "centenary egg"(English) Century egg; name variant - "thousand year egg" ) - a popular spicy snack in Chinese cuisine and countries with historically strong Chinese cultural influence (Southeast Asia, to a certain extent Japan and Korea); is an egg aged for several months in a special mixture without air access.

"Sun Hua" in Chinese means "pine needles" - and indeed, crystal patterns appear on the surface of the eggs during the cooking process, which to a Russian person is more reminiscent of frost on glass. Well, the poetic Chinese - pine branches. It is believed that the more such patterns on the egg, the higher its quality.

Probably, the prototype of the "centenary eggs" was the eggs, which, for the purpose of long-term storage, were covered with alkaline clay.

It is believed that the consumption of "centenary eggs" treats high blood pressure and relieves poor appetite.

Recipe

For the preparation of "centenary eggs", as a rule, duck eggs are used, but goose, chicken, turkey and quail eggs can be used as an alternative.

There are a number of options for preparing them, but they all come down to immersing the eggs in a highly alkaline environment and completely isolating them from air. Fresh duck, chicken or quail eggs are smeared with a mixture of tea, lime, salt, ash and clay, then rolled into rice husks and straw, placed in baskets and buried in the ground. In domestic conditions, for the preparation of an alkaline coating, it is recommended to use alkali - sodium hydroxide, and for insulation from air - a polymer film.

As a result of chemical processes, the protein and yolk of the egg acquire a strongly alkaline reaction - their pH rises to 9 and even 12 (this is approximately the same as for soap). The process of preparing eggs takes about 15-20 days depending on the season (longer in winter), but often the eggs are kept for 3-4 months.

In properly cooked eggs, the protein turns into a jelly-like elastic translucent substance and becomes a dark brown color. The yolk becomes creamy dark color(from light gray to almost black with a greenish tinge) and emits a strong ammonia smell. On the surface of a shelled ready egg, one can often notice patterns resembling frost on a window, which are formed by microscopic crystals of substances released from the egg. This was the reason for a different name for this snack in Chinese- “pine eggs”, or “pine needle eggs”.

"Centenary Eggs" are distinguished by good storage stability - if they are left in a coating, they can be stored for up to several years.

Traditional cooking method:

Ingredients:

• fresh duck eggs - 12 pcs.;
• strong decoction of black tea - 500 ml;
• salt - 85 ml;
• coniferous ash - 500 ml;
• wood ash - 500 ml;
• fireplace or stove ash - 500 ml;
• lime (calcium oxide) - 250 ml;
• rice husk - 350 ml.

Cooking method:

1. Mix tea, salt, all ash and lime.
2. Cover the eggs tightly with the mixture to block air (about 125 ml of the mixture is used per egg).
3. Then roll each egg in rice husks.
4. Pour garden soil or clay into a clay pot (preferably use red soil).
5. Lay out the eggs and cover tightly with the same soil on top.
6. Leave the pot in a dark, cool place for 100 days.
7. After 100 days, take out the eggs and rinse well with water.

Fast cooking method:
This method allows you to reduce the cooking time of eggs by four times.

Cooking method:

1. For 1 liter of water, 72 g of sodium chloride (NaCl) and 42 g of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) are used.
2. The mixture is brought to a boil and then cooled to room temperature.
3. Fresh duck eggs are immersed in the liquid mixture and stored at 15-20°C for 10 days.
4. After 10 days, the eggs are removed from the solution, washed with water and allowed to dry.
5. Then, the eggs must be tightly wrapped with an airtight material, such as PVA (polyvinyl acetate) or covered with red earth mixed with the solution in which the eggs were located.
6. Roll the eggs in rice husks and leave for another 2 weeks in a dark place.
7. After 2 weeks the eggs are ready to eat.

Note: the difference between centennial eggs aged traditional way and accelerated, can often be determined by the presence on the egg itself beautiful patterns, reminiscent of frost on the window. Patterns are formed during the preparation of the traditional method.

Use

Usually "centenary eggs" are eaten without further cooking, i.e. as a standalone dish. Most often they are served sliced ​​as a separate snack. Before serving, they are poured with soy, fish or oyster sauce and sesame oil. A few petals of pickled ginger are placed on the edge of the plate.

Sometimes "centennial eggs" are used as a component of salads, vegetable snacks and other complex dishes. So, finely chopped eggs in China and countries South-East Asia often added to rice porridge.

Photos of "centennial (millennium) eggs":

• trinixy.ru — 10 photos;
• altfast.ru — 6 photos;
• hrenovina.net — 1 photo.

Sources of information:

• cookownfood.blogspot.ru - article "Century Eggs", a recipe for their preparation;
• podrujka.com - how to cook "centennial eggs";
• bolshoyvopros.ru - how to cook a Chinese delicacy: "thousand-year-old egg";
• otvet.mail.ru — [email protected]: solved question “Have you ever tried a “centenary egg”?”;

Centenary eggs, also known as millennium eggs, are a Chinese canned food item that is a delicacy these days. These are duck, chicken or quail eggs that have been kept wrapped in a mixture of clay, salt, ash, quicklime and rice husks for a long time (from several weeks to several months).

How do they look?

Due to this, the yolk becomes dark green or gray color and has a creamy texture and a strong aroma, due to the presence of hydrogen sulfide and ammonia, and the protein acquires dark brown color and looks like a translucent jelly with a salty taste. The transforming agent in the centennial egg is an alkaline salt, which gradually raises the pH of the egg to about 9-12. This chemical process breaks down some of the complex, tasteless proteins and fats, and this process creates many smaller, flavorful compounds.

Some century eggs have patterns near the surface. egg white, which are similar to the branches of a pine tree, and this gives rise to one of its Chinese names - "pine egg".

Story

The way this product was created probably arose from the need to preserve eggs during periods of abundance by coating them with alkaline clay. This is similar to the save methods in some Western cultures. The clay hardens around the egg and results in canning instead of spoilage.

According to some researchers, Chinese century eggs have more than five centuries of history behind them. Their discovery is said to have taken place about 600 years ago in Hunan during the Ming Dynasty.

Legend has it that one of the homeowners discovered duck eggs in a shallow pool of slaked lime that had been used for mortar during the construction of his house two months earlier. After tasting these eggs, he decided to make another batch, this time with salt added to improve the taste, and this subsequently led to the recipe for this dish.

Oddly enough, but not only in antiquity, a century-old egg was common. Gourmet reviews indicate that this product is in high demand today, and many tourists, once in China, try to try this particular delicacy.

Methods

The traditional method of producing century eggs is the aforementioned primitive process, which has been developed and improved. Instead of using clay alone, a mixture of wood ash, calcium oxide, and salt is added to the preservative mixture, thereby raising the pH and sodium content. The addition of calcium oxide and wood ash to the mixture reduces the risk of spoilage and also increases the speed of the fermentation process.

The recipe for creating a centennial egg begins with pouring one and a half liters of tea into boiling water. To this is added 1.5 kg of calcium oxide, 3 kg of sea salt and 3 kg of burnt oak ash, which are mixed to a thick paste. Gloves are then put on (so that chemicals do not get on the skin) and each egg is individually covered with this mass by hand, after which it is rolled in rice husks.

After that, the blanks are placed in cloth-covered jars or tightly woven baskets. The mixture dries slowly and turns into a crust over several months, at which point the eggs are ready to eat.

Modern technique

Although the traditional method is still widely practiced, modern achievements in chemistry allowed many simplifications in the recipe. For example, in order to achieve the same effect as before, you can soak raw eggs in a solution of sodium chloride, calcium hydroxide and sodium carbonate for 10 days, followed by aging for several weeks, wrapped in plastic wrap.

This is because the reaction required to produce a fermented product is carried out by introducing hydroxide and sodium ions into the egg, regardless of the method used.

Possible danger

The extremely toxic lead oxide accelerates the reaction that produces this product, which has led some unscrupulous manufacturers to use it. Zinc oxide is currently the recommended alternative, although not the safest.

Although zinc has great importance for the body, its excessive consumption can lead to a deficiency of copper, so its excess can also be harmful.

How are they used?

What does a century egg taste like? Those who have tried this delicacy claim that it has a specific spicy taste. A century egg can be eaten without further preparation - on its own or as a side dish. The following snack is popular: the cut product is wrapped in pieces of pickled ginger and served on a stick. The combination of a fermented egg with chilled tofu is also widely known.

In Taiwan, it is customary to eat century-old eggs by cutting them open and placing cold tofu with katsuobushi, soy sauce and sesame oil on top. Another variant of this recipe, common in Northern China, calls for diced eggs and tossed with chunks of soft tofu, a small amount of minced baby ginger and green onions, then drizzle a mixture of soy sauce and sesame oil over the top.

This product is also used in a dish called "Old and fresh eggs”, where crushed fermented blanks are mixed with chopped fresh omelet. They may also be cut into pieces and mixed with vegetables, which is most common in Taiwanese cuisine. Some Chinese housewives cut century-old eggs into small pieces and boil them with rice porridge.

Dim Sum is a popular dish in Chinese restaurants. Boiled rice, lean pork and fermented egg are the main ingredients of this dish. Peeled centennial eggs are cut into four or eight pieces and boiled with seasoned marinated pork slices until both ingredients are cooked to a porridge, after which they are mixed with rice.

Fried dough sticks known as etiao are commonly eaten with this fermented product.

At special events, such as wedding banquets or birthday parties, a special dish is served in China. It consists of grilled pork, pickled leeks, spicy carrots, daikon radish and quartered century-old eggs. This dish is called lahng-poon in Cantonese, which means "cold dish".

The myth of using urine

A common misconception is that centennial eggs are sometimes prepared by dipping them in horse urine. The myth may have originated from the urinary odor of ammonia and other amines caused by chemical reaction used for fermentation. However, this myth is unfounded, as horse urine has a pH of 7.5 to 7.9 and is therefore not suitable for this process.

How to cook it yourself?

There is absolutely no need to go to China or another Asian country to try this delicacy. You can try to make them yourself by choosing modern method to achieve a positive result. You will need a pickling solution using salt and lye and then wrapping the eggs in plastic clay. In about a month, you will receive the original product - century eggs, the photo of which is presented in this article.

What you need:

• 100% alkali/caustic soda (NaOH - sodium hydroxide);
• salt (NaCl - sodium chloride);
• chicken egg (or duck, or quail);
• plastic film;
• clay (polymer for crafts);
• glass jar with a lid.

Centenary Egg: Cooking Recipe

From the point of view of chemistry, alkali is a corrosive substance, not a poison. Therefore, its danger is that it can cause severe burns upon contact with the skin or inhalation. Use gloves and a respirator to avoid this.

Use pure 100% lye (sodium hydroxide). Prepare the necessary components in the following quantities:

• 1 liter of water;
• 42 g sodium hydroxide (NaOH, alkali);
• 72 g sodium chloride (NaCl, salt).

At low temperature, completely dissolve salt and alkali in water. Bring the solution to a boil and let it cool before using.

Place raw eggs in a glass jar and pour chilled pickling solution over them. Make sure they are all completely submerged in water.

Label the jar and store it in a safe place so that no one accidentally opens it. Leave the eggs at 15-20°C for about 10 days. Keep an eye on them so that they do not float in the solution.

After this time, carefully pour out the solution and select the eggs, rinse them with water, then dry with a towel. The shell should remain firm but slightly discolored.

Then wrap the eggs in several layers of clear plastic wrap and cover them thickly. polymer clay. This prevents oxygen from reaching them during fermentation.

Be careful when gluing with clay - you must not damage the eggs. After wrapping, put the eggs in any container with a lid and leave for 2 weeks. During this time, you should get ready centennial eggs. The recipe with a photo contained in this article assumes the complete readiness of the product within the specified time.

After that, carefully remove the clay shell and unfold the plastic film, then lightly press the egg to break the shell.

You can see that the white of the egg has become jelly-like and has a translucent amber color, while the yolks are dark green and have a texture similar to a hard-boiled egg.