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Preserved Eggs, Chinese Style
Fall Volume: 2018 Issue: 25(3) pages: 23 to 26
Eggs with physical and chemical
changes to both the whites or
their yolks or both can have
changes in color, texture, flavor,
or all of these. They look and
taste differently. Recorded during
the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644 CE),
Wang Zizhen made his with strong
black tea, lots of lime, salt, and
wood ashes. His eggs were those
of ducks, and they took six months
stored under rice hulls to achieve
the changes he wanted. They did
not need cooking before one could
eat them. The next written item
found about preserving eggs was
from 1918 by Blunt and Wang. Their
technique was almost identical.
There may be others, but our
searching only turned up these
two. If you know of any others, we
would appreciate hearing about them. 
Preserved Eggs Before the above well-spaced
references, we did read about eggs preserved,
but not how they were preserved other than putting
them in a strong brine, some with sodium carbonate
and/or lead oxide. Made these ways, the eggs needed
some thirty days to change their albumin or yolk
textures and tastes. They are different from the ones written about and
discussed. They need cooking before one could or
should eat them. One other technique was to put eggs
in concentrated salt water. Some had red tea leaves in
their liquid. These also needed cooking before eating.
Many were kept for long times under rice hulls before
cooking them. In general, the Chinese called most
preserved eggs pidan. Preserved eggs are desired most when they do not
need cooking. Most often, they have semi-solid or firm
yolks and whites, with or without a somewhat pungent
flavor and aroma. These can depend upon how long
they are stored. They are somewhat salty and can have
an aftertaste. Those with very firm yolks can be made
with lead oxide, soaked or coated with wax, and include
storage with some oleic acid, ammonia water, and/
or boiled water used when cool. Some will need up to
two hundred days before they can be cooked and eaten.
Any pungent aroma and/or taste often goes away with
storage. There are some made with tea
leaves that benefit from the tannins
in them as do those made at higher
temperatures. Most of these are
best prepared between twenty
and thirty degrees Celsius, the
higher the temperature, the faster
the preservation process, and the
coagulation. Salted Eggs the Chinese
call xian dan. They are most often
sold from jars of salt water or they
can be coated with a paste of mud
and salt. Made these ways, the
eggs usually have more protein,
fat, calcium, and iron than those
not similarly prepared and coated.
They need about one month in
a covered container for textural
change. Made this way, they also need cooking before
eating. Another way to make salted eggs is to put them in
cool previously boiled water sealing their container for
about twenty-five days before they change textures; and
they also need cooking before eating. Eggs made this
way have lots of sodium from the salt in the brine. Pickled Eggs the Chinese call zaodan,
and when making them, they are stored in layers of
fermented grain mash. Often, their shells are cracked
but the membranes under them left intact. When
stored, they are sprinkled with salt between the egg
layers. More mash is added and extra salt put on the
top layer. They are kept for about five months, some
of that time in hot weather if it exists, it does speed the
process. Pickled eggs can be eaten cooked or not. They
have a pleasant aroma and nice taste. Overall, egg sellers years ago came to the
door with their wares in baskets on a shoulder pole.
They could be carrying these eggs preserved one way
or another, or they might be hard-cooked, or selling
freshly laid eggs. Most were duck eggs, a few could be
from pigeons or those of other birds; a few might even
be turtle eggs or the eggs of other animals. Pages 24 to 26 have recipes for one or another preserved
egg type. Most of them can be made with any type of
cooked preserved eggs. Enjoy using and eating them. Duck Egg, Pork and Mustard Green Soup |
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Ingredients:
¼ pound lean pork slices
2 teaspoons Chinese rice wine
1 Tablespoon thin soy sauce
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/4 pound thinly slivered mustard green
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
2 salted duck eggs, peeled and mashed
Preparation:
1. Marinate pork in rice wine and soy sauce for half an
hour.
2. Then, heat a wok or stock pot, add the oil, and when
hot, add the pork mixture and stir-fry it for one minute
before adding the cornstarch and mustard green slivers.
Stir-fry this for one minute.
3. Now, add the ginger and mashed eggs and six cups
of water. Stir and heat this almost to the boil stirring
well, then pour it into a pre-heated soup tureen or in
individual pre-heated soup bowls; and serve.
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Steamed Salted Eggs |
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Ingredients:
4 raw duck eggs, separated
¼ pound chopped pork
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
¼ teaspoon coarse salt
2 salted duck eggs
Preparation:
1. Beat raw duck eggs with the pork, three tablespoons of
cool water, and the salt and soy sauce.
2. Crack and put the salty duck eggs in the middle of
this egg mixture, and put it in a pan of boiled water.
Bring this to the boil, and simmer for twelve minutes;
then serve.
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Steamed Egg Whites |
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Ingredients:
10 large egg whites
2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon coarse salt
2/3 cup Chinese rice wine
1¼ cups of honey
Preparation:
1. Strain raw egg whites into a medium bowl removing
and discarding any membranes or chalaza.
2. Add sugar, salt, one cup of water, the wine, and
the honey, and divide this into individual heat-proof
ceramic bowls that come with covers. Do pierce any
bubbles seen before covering each bowl with wax paper
and a rubber band, then the cover of its ceramic bowl.
Steam them over simmering water for twenty minutes,
remove them from the steamer, and keep them warm
until serving; and before doing that, remove and discard
the wax paper coverings.
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Three Kinds of Eggs |
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Ingredients:
3 thousand year-old duck eggs
3 uncooked salted duck eggs
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1 piece of cellophane paper
3 fresh duck eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sesame oil
Preparation:
1. Shell the thousand year-old eggs, and the salted eggs,
and very coarsely dice them.
2. Beat fresh eggs and mix with the sherry, a half cup of
water, the salt, and the sesame oil.
3. Brush oil on a glass bowl or small loaf pan; and line it
with half the cellophane paper.
4. Coat it again with the oil, then pour in the egg mixture
and cover this with plastic wrap; and microwave it for
fifteen minutes on medium in a microwave oven, then
remove it from the bowl or pan, cool it somewhat, cut
it about half an inch thick, and put it on a glass platter,
and serve.
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Salted Yolks With Shrimp |
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Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon rendered chicken fat
2 large yolks, mashed
3 cloves fresh garlic, minced
1 red chili pepper, seeds discarded, the pepper minced
1 pound large shrimp, shells and veins removed and discarded
½ teaspoon coarse salt
Preparation:
1. Heat a wok, add the vegetable oil and the chicken fat,
and simmer for one minute.
2. Add the mashed yolks, and when they start to froth,
add the shrimp and stir well, add the garlic, chili pepper
pieces, and the salt, and stir-fry for one minute, then
serve in a pre-heated bowl.
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Egg Rolls in Soup |
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Ingredients:
1 pound fresh shrimp, shells and veins discarded
½ cup rendered chicken fat
2 egg whites
1 teaspoon Chinese rice wine
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon
¼ teaspoon ground white pepper
2 pieces six-inch square seaweed
5 chicken eggs
1 salted duck egg
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
6 cups chicken broth
2 pieces six-inch square seaweed
Preparation:
1. Mix shrimp and chicken fat into a paste, then add the
egg whites, rice wine, salt, and the bouillon powder.
2. Beat both eggs together.
3. Heat a wok or small fry pan, and make the eggs into
individual six-inch omelets. Then put some seaweed
on each omelet, then the shrimp mixture, and then roll
them from both outsides to the center. Cut them into
one-inch slices and set them so they show their twin
rolls as seen on page 23.
4. Heat the broth and put two rolls onto the bottom of
each soup bowl, pour on some heated broth, and serve.
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Bitter Melon, Doufu, and Salted Yolks |
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Ingredients:
3 teaspoons vegetable oil, divided
1 to 2 bitter melons, seeded and thinly sliced
4 salted egg yolks, steamed for ten minutes, then mashed
1 pound silken doufu, cut into ten or more pieces
1 red chili pepper, seeded and minced
1 teaspoon sesame oil
Preparation:
1. Heat a wok or fry pan, add one teaspoon of the
vegetable oil, then when hot, stir-fry the bitter melon
slices until almost soft. Then set them aside.
2. Add the rest of the vegetable oil, and stir-fry the
mashed salted yolks until they begin to bubble, add the
doufu and fry tor two minutes before returning the
bitter melon slices to the wok or fry pan and the chili
pepper pieces and stir well for one minute. Then stir
in the sesame oil, and serve.
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Duck Eggs With Crab Meat |
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Ingredients:
1/4 cup glutinous rice, soaked over night
1/4 cup long-grain rice, soaked for one hour
2 dried Chinese black mushrooms, soaked for half an hour, stems discarded, then chopped
½ pound crab meat, chopped
2 salted duck egg yolks, mashed
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
3 shallots, peeled and chopped
3 slices fresh ginger, chopped
1 scallion, thinly angle sliced
1 Tablespoon thin soy sauce
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon Chinese rice wine
Preparation:
1. Steam both rices for half an hour.
2. Put the lotus leaf on a steamer basket and put the
two rices mixed into it.
3. Mix the mushrooms, crab meat, and duck egg yolks
and have them ready
4. Heat a wok or fry-pan, add the oil, then fry the
shallots, ginger pieces, and the scallion for one minute,
add the mushroom mixture, stir well, then spread this
on the rice mixture.
5. Mix the soy sauce, sugar, and rice wine and pour
over the rice-mushroom mixture, and close the lotus
leaf package and steam for fifteen minutes, then open
on a plate and serve.
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Steamed Egg and Milk Custard |
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Ingredients:
2 cups whole milk
2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
2 large raw eggs
2 salted duck eggs, mashed
Preparation:
1. Heat milk and sugar until the sugar dissolves, remove
from the heat and let cool.
2. Mix raw eggs into this cooled mixture, stir well, then
add the mashed salted egg yolks, and stir well.
3. Pour into a heat-proof bowl, cover, and steam for
twenty minutes over simmering water; then serve.
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Stir-Fried Eggs and Milk |
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Ingredients:
5 egg whites
½ cup whole milk
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
dash ground white pepper
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
2 salted egg yolks, mashed
2 Tablespoons minced Yunnan ham
¼ pound crab meat
½ cup vegetable oil
3 Tablespoons pine nuts
Preparation:
1. Blend egg whites, milk, sugar, white pepper, and
cornstarch, then add the salted yolks, the minced
ham, and the crab meat, and set this aside.
2. Heat the oil, then fry the pine nuts at a low
temperature until they begin to brown, then remove
them to paper towels, and discard all but one
tablespoon of the oil.
3. Reheat reserved tablespoon of the oil until it starts
to smoke, add the set aside egg mixture, and scramble
this until it begins to coagulate. Add the pine nuts;
then serve.
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