Century Eggs (Fried Rice) is a traditional Chinese recipe for eggs preserved in sodium hydroxide (lye) that are coloured with black tea. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Chinese version of: Century Eggs.
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Century eggs (Chinese: 皮蛋; pinyin: pídàn) were most likely invented out of the need to preserve eggs for long periods of time. The first instance of this method of preserving eggs was most likely around 600 years ago during the Ming Dynasty in China. There are many stories about how the century egg originated, including a tale of a man in Hunan, China, who found preserved duck eggs in the slaked lime clay used in the construction of his house; or another story, about a man who left duck eggs outside for a woman he wanted to court that weren’t found until many months later.
Ingredients:
12 duck or chicken eggs or 24 quail eggs
1l of water
10 tea bags or 8 teaspoons of black tea
50g rock salt
50g food-grade or edible sodium hydroxide or lye
0.1g food-grade zinc
Method:
Prepare the black tea mixture by bringing the water to a boil in a small pan. Turn off the heat and add the black tea bags and salt. Allow the water to cool down to room temperature and then remove the tea bags.
Add the sodium hydroxide and zinc. Be sure you are wearing protective gloves and that you are in a well-ventilated area as sodium hydroxide is dangerous if touched or ingested. With your gloves on, slowly pour the sodium hydroxide and the zinc into the black tea mixture. Use a stainless steel spoon or utensil to stir the mixture.
Using your gloves or a stainless steel spoon, carefully lower each egg into the tea mixture. Once all of the eggs are in the pot, cover it with a lid and seal the pot with tape. Write the date on the pot so you know when you made them.
You’ll want to store the pot in a cool and dark location where it won’t be disturbed. Leave the pot for roughly 21 days.
After three weeks, open the container and check the progress by tapping one egg to see how much it has firmed up. If the egg white is solid, remove it and rinse it, then place it back in the container with the others for one more week.
Using your protective gloves, uncover the pot and remove the eggs. Rinse the brine off of the eggs and then let them dry for one hour.
Place the eggs into a plastic, sealable bag. Then place them in a light-proof container, such as a pot with a lid.
To use, remove the eggs from your container. Bring a medium-sized pot of water to a boil and then place the eggs in the boiling water for one minute. After one minute transfer them to a bowl of ice water.
Gently tap the eggs against a hard surface to crack the shell and then peel off the entire shell. Your century eggs should be dark green or black and are now ready to eat. You can serve them with sliced or pickled ginger root, soy sauce, Sichuan sauce, or sesame oil.
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