Century egg
| Century egg |
| Chinese name |
| Chinese |
|
| Literal meaning |
leather/skin egg |
|
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| Alternative Chinese name |
| Chinese |
|
| Literal meaning |
pine-patterned egg |
|
|
| Second alternative Chinese name |
| Chinese |
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|
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| Vietnamese name |
| Vietnamese |
trứng bách thảo |
| Thai name |
| Thai |
(Khai Yiao Ma) |
| Japanese name |
| Kanji |
世紀の卵 |
| Kana |
セイキのたまご |
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Century egg or pidan (Chinese: ; pinyin: pídàn), also known as preserved egg, hundred-year egg, thousand-year egg, thousand-year-old egg, and millennium egg, is a Chinese preserved food product and delicacy made by preserving duck, chicken or quail eggs in a mixture of clay, ash, salt, quicklime, and rice hulls for several weeks to several months, depending on the method of processing.
Through the process, the yolk becomes a dark green to grey color, with a creamy consistency and strong flavor due to the hydrogen sulfide and ammonia present, while the white becomes a dark brown, translucent jelly with a salty flavor. The transforming agent in the century egg is an alkaline salt, which gradually raises the pH of the egg to around 9–12, during the curing process. This chemical process breaks down some of the complex, flavorless proteins and fats, which produces a variety of smaller flavorful compounds.
Some eggs have patterns near the surface of the egg white that are likened to pine branches, and that gives rise to one of its Chinese names, the pine-patterned egg.
The method for creating century eggs likely came about through the need to preserve eggs in times of plenty by coating them in alkaline clay, which is similar to methods of egg preservation in some Western cultures. The clay hardens around the egg and results in the curing and creation of century eggs instead of spoiled eggs.
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Wikipedia
