January 29.2022
The story
Hundreds of years ago, during the Ming Dynasty in China, the century egg was first introduced. A farmer discovered preserved duck eggs in a muddy pool of water and slaked lime. After tasting and being awestruck, he developed a proper recipe known as “Thousand-year eggs or millennium eggs.” But don’t worry, today you won’t have to wait long to get a taste of it. The actual process of soaking duck, quail, or chicken eggs in a saline solution to transform the whites into a dark colored jelly takes only a few weeks to a month at most. Then eggs get a creamy, cheese-like texture and a dark-colored egg with a distinct, delicious flavor.
At first glance, you may be scared and give up because the eggs appear dark, ugly, and even gooey and green. But do you recall the famous blue cheese? It has a horrible appearance and smell, but no one can resist the taste! In Vietnam, it’s served for breakfast with congee (a thin soup or porridge made of rice and water) or as an appetizer with pickled ginger, curd, picked vegetables, spring onion, and tofu. Today be aware that some Asian companies use chemical processes and sometimes toxic chemicals to speed up the egg-festering process…