I can’t pinpoint my first expertise with century eggs, however I’ve been consuming them my entire life. Bouncy, black, and semi-transparent, they’re a dependable addition to congee, rice bowls, and stir-fries, and I typically crave their pungent, creamy flavors. I all the time took their identify at face worth, believing they had been created eons in the past, maybe earlier than our nation existed; I used to be captivated by the egg’s gripping, seemingly irrefutable lore. However that phantasm shattered a couple of months in the past, after I discovered that century eggs take not more than two months, not tons of of years, to kind.
Century eggs go by many names — preserved eggs, alkalized eggs, pi dan, bian dian, or perhaps a thousand-year-old egg — however at their core, they’re merely cured eggs. Eggs of all sizes may be cured on this model, the most well-liked being duck and quail, and produce a spectrum of textures, colours, and flavors. When halved, century eggs look just like banded gem stones, besides with gelatinous, squishy “whites” and wealthy creamy “yolks.” With a touch of minerality and sulfur, and a style harking back to blue cheese, century eggs are the key ingredient in my favourite dishes.
Thought-about extra of an on a regular basis staple than a luxurious, century eggs are consumed throughout China, Hong Kong, and components of southeast Asia. Xueci Cheng, a recipe developer who grew up in Chengdu, Sichuan, prefers them in a chilly appetizer, whether or not splashed with chile oil and black vinegar or blended with tofu and inexperienced peppers. Additionally they present up in traditional dishes: Cantonese century egg and pork congee, Hunanese lei laojiao or smashed chiles with century egg and eggplant, and Thai basil stir-fries. At extra avant garde eating places, cooks may even form the bouncy eggs into jiggly cubes or smear slices with seasonal fruit jam, as in the event that they had been blue cheese.
Lots of of recipes incorporate century eggs into each conventional and ingenious dishes, lots of which I’ve made at residence. Few recipes in English, nevertheless, present the meticulous strategy of crafting the proper egg from scratch. I lately stumbled upon movies that showcase the egg’s manufacturing with conventional components like ash, quicklime, clay, and rice hulls. However what residence prepare dinner has a pound of ash mendacity round?
I by no means imagined making them myself till I discovered chef Corey Lee’s six-ingredient thousand-year-old egg recipe in Benu. I additionally sought recommendation from others who’ve efficiently made century eggs: Thomas Etheve, a former Benu line prepare dinner and present kitchen supervisor at San Francisco’s San Ho Gained, and Polly Yim, the founder of the Berlin-based Qu Fermentation Studio. With the reassurance that I needn’t wait a thousand years to see outcomes, and an hermetic, abbreviated recipe from a three-star Michelin kitchen, I lastly felt emboldened to do this recipe at residence.
The primary a part of making century eggs is to domesticate a strong, pungent brine. Simply 4 components will do the trick: lye or sodium hydroxide, zinc oxide, salt, and water. In lieu of quickline and ash, this sturdy alkaline mixture raises the pH of the egg and helps denaturize its proteins. (Primarily, the clear egg whites will agency up and darken in shade.) Don’t fret if these components sound too scientific. With just some calls and internet searches, I simply procured sodium hydroxide from a close-by spice store and meals grade zinc oxide from a web based retailer. Right here, Yim recommends beginning with quail eggs, moderately than bigger duck or rooster eggs, for extra constant outcomes. Including dried tangerine peels, cinnamon, or earthy pu’erh tea can improve the brine much more however these components will not be important.
I shortly understood that making century eggs from scratch was not a newbie venture. From the beginning, you’ll be dealing with corrosive components, similar to lye, so I extremely suggest utilizing gloves and a protecting face masks or glasses. The method additionally extends over a number of weeks, although it’s largely downtime. It begins merely sufficient: First, you boil a pot of water and steep any spices or tea leaves earlier than straining. (I added pu’erh, following Etheve’s recommendation.) Then, you mix the combination with chilly water and exact measurements of sodium hydroxide and zinc in a sanitized jar. The following day, I positioned the quail eggs within the brine and saved the jar away from daylight for 12 days.
After that preliminary interval, I used to be able to treatment my eggs. With gloves and a sanitized spoon, I eliminated the eggs from the brine, gently rinsed extra liquid from the shells, and allow them to sun-dry for an hour. Whereas it’s completely non-compulsory, you may cowl the eggs in molding clay and roll it in rice hulls or hay to copy the normal curing course of. (Go on and dig a mud pit whilst you’re at it, too.) Or do as I did: Seal the eggs in a plastic bag and enclose the bag in an hermetic container to stop publicity to oxygen. Admire your eggs for a second since you’ll be saying goodbye for the subsequent 5 weeks. I discovered a cool, dry, darkish spot in a cupboard so the eggs might treatment in peace.
As soon as 5 weeks had been up, my cravings for do-it-yourself century eggs reached a zenith. I strapped on a protecting masks and gloves, cracked open a window, and sanitized my surfaces. I gently dropped 4 eggs right into a pot of boiling water for one minute to sanitize the shells and transferred the completed ones to an ice tub. (Keep away from including all of the eggs without delay, for the reason that water could overboil at factors and launch foul vapors). Now, you may determine to peel them or wait. Peeled eggs may be consumed instantly, or sit within the fridge for 3 days. However an unpeeled, cooked century egg can hypothetically final within the fridge ceaselessly. In spite of everything, these eggs at the moment are cured.
There’s a couple of telltale indicators of a scrumptious century egg. Cheng prefers hers with jammy insides and springy exteriors. Particularly, she’s keen on golden century eggs with visually interesting layers and a smoother, milder style. Eggs with pine flowers, the spindly snowflake-like crystals that kind alongside the floor, are additionally extremely prized and the results of alkalinized amino acids.
Century eggs also can differ in shade relying on the method. “Having the ability to vacuum seal the eggs throughout the curing course of can also be actually vital for the event of the darkish shade,” Yim says. “Historically they’re encased in a combination of ash, clay, and rice bran to create a near-anaerobic atmosphere. The presence of oxygen throughout curing will result in a extra golden egg white moderately than black.”
Due to the excessive alkalinity, all century eggs may have a definite sulfuric odor, akin to ammonia. Whereas it could be initially off-putting, a faint odor is definitely a optimistic signal. “A great century egg has a success of ammonia once you open the egg,” Yim explains. “If the egg is lacking the ammonia scent, it hasn’t been ready or saved correctly as ammonia is extraordinarily risky and can dissipate shortly into the air.” That being stated, it is best to strongly keep away from and probably toss any eggs with a particularly pungent ammonia odor.
After my residence experiments, I puzzled how a three-star Michelin restaurant kitchen like Benu might constantly churn out century eggs for a tasting menu. When he joined the kitchen in 2013, Etheve recollects making ready century eggs for 500 friends each week. As the primary course of the meal, painstaking preparation was paramount. A single quail egg, constructed from domestically sourced eggs and high-quality pu’erh, was steadily paired with pickled ginger and cabbage potage to steadiness its pungent, sulfuric notes. It was unimaginable, at the very least on this context, to match do-it-yourself century eggs to store-bought ones: “It’s like making your individual french fries with natural potatoes and frying it in duck fats, after which having McDonalds,” Etheve says.
Admittedly, store-bought eggs have one profit: consistency. Within the aisle of your favourite Chinese language grocery, century eggs provide predictable colours and lovely pine flowers. However die-hard residence cooks can nonetheless discover pleasure within the venture’s roulette-like suspense. “Home made ones will differ far more within the energy of the alkalinization and textures,” Yim says. “Each egg can be a little bit of a thriller till you open it.”
Like Yim, I relished the tactile expertise of cracking every shell and peeling again the layers, all the time hoping to identify elusive pine flowers. Greater than as soon as, I had to withstand peeling all of the eggs, realizing that unopened ones may very well be saved indefinitely within the fridge. Some emerged stunningly golden, others took on a greyish-green marbling, and some fortunate ones bore delicate crystalline patterns. One, nevertheless, was nothing greater than a brittle, empty shell.
Would I make century eggs once more? Perhaps, if I miraculously discovered spare time and enthusiastic pals to share them with. However I’m not in a rush to make my subsequent batch, particularly since I should buy lovely century eggs each time the craving strikes. Within the meantime, I celebrated my do-it-yourself batch with a fast and scrumptious dinner: wedges of golden and black century eggs atop silken tofu, showered in garlic, cilantro, and soy sauce.
