How do they make CENTURY EGGS? Are they really a hundred-year-old?

Question

I visited lately a Chinese resto and my friend let me taste a century egg. I wonder how they make such eggs. The inner color is balck. How do they prepare such eggs? Are they really a hundred-year-old?

Answer 1

no, but wasn't it hard to take the first bite?

Answer 2

They're usually duck eggs rather than hen's eggs, and not 100 years old ... they're prepared by coating the eggshell with a mixture of highly alkaline compounds which 'cook' the egg. Oddly enough there was an item on the BBC's Food Programme last week about exactly how this is done, which you can access by going to www.bbc.co.uk/radio and following the link to Food Programme (I think they stay on for about a week) or, just in case it wasn't the food programme just try the Radio Four search engine. It didn't make me want to experiment, I must say.

Answer 3

Along with alkaline coating, the next step is the eggs are packed tightly into a barrel of ash. It takes about 6 months for the eggs to cure. Though they are essentially rotten this method seems to reduce the more harmful bacteria and thus making it an ideal method of preserving the eggs. Throughout Asia and The Philippines the egg type and curing methods vary but that's the basics.

Answer 4

The century egg, also known as preserved egg, hundred-year egg, thousand-year egg, thousand-year-old egg, (Chinese: 皮蛋; pinyin: pídàn; literally "springy egg", or, Chinese: 松花蛋; pinyin: sōnghuādàn; literally "pine-patterned egg") ; (ไข่เยี่ยวม้า khai-yiew-ma (in Thai)) is a Chinese food made by preserving duck, chicken or quail eggs in a mixture of clay, ash, salt, lime, and rice straw for several weeks to several months, depending on the method of processing. The yolk of the egg is concentrically variegated in pale and dark green colors while the egg white is dark brown and transparent, like cola. The yolk is creamy with a strong aroma and an almost cheese-like flavor. The egg white has a gelatinous texture similar to cooked egg white, but has very little taste. Some eggs have patterns near the surface of the egg white which are likened to pine branches.

Answer 5

It's called a century egg because it's cured in a brine mixture for 100 days. It is usually coated in a salty mud mixture and rolled in husks, maybe rice or wheat, and left to “cook” for 100 days. But as to a recipe, I don't have one. I think it's best to buy it from a reputable Chinese store. It is quite inexpensive here in the Philippines.

Answer 6

They are not really a hundred-year-old, I like to have pie dan with ginger pickle as appitizer

From wikipedia

The origin of the method for creating century eggs likely came about through placing eggs in mud made from alkaline clay and water in order to preserve eggs in times of plenty. The clay hardens around the egg and likely resulted in the curing and creation of century eggs instead of spoiled eggs.

Traditional
The traditional method for producing century eggs is a development and improvement from the aforementioned primitive process. Instead of using just clay, a mixture of wood ash, quicklime, and salt is included in the plastering mixture, thereby increasing the pH and sodium content of the clay mixture. This addition of natural alkaline compounds improved the odds of creating century eggs instead of spoilage and also increased the speed of the process. A recipe for creating century eggs through this process starts with the infusion of three pounds of tea in boiling water. To the tea, three pounds of quicklime (or seven pounds when the operation is performed in winter), nine pounds of sea-salt, and seven pounds of wood ash from burning oak is mixed together into a smooth paste. Each egg is then individually covered by hand, with gloves being worn to prevent the corrosive action of the lime on skin. Each egg is then rolled in a mass of rice chaff to keep the eggs from adhering to one another before they are placed in cloth-covered jars or tightly woven baskets. In about three months, the mud slowly dries and hardens into a crust, and then the eggs are ready to eat. The recipe makes around 100 to 150 century eggs.

Modern
Even though the traditional method is still widely practiced, modern understanding of the chemistry behind the formation of century eggs has led to many simplifications in the recipe. For instance soaking the eggs in a brine of salt and lye for 10 days followed by several weeks of aging while wrapped in plastic is said to achieve the same effect as the traditional method. This is true to the extent that egg curing in both new and traditional methods is accomplished by introducing alkali hydroxide ions and sodium into the egg. Connoisseurs, however, argue that the use of different tea, wood ashes and local clay gives the century eggs a more delectable taste and a characteristic terroir.

Answer 7

they are acutally called thousand year old eggs. in china they boil them in some chemicals.

Answer 8

not really that old

they bury them in the ground I think

many cultures bury food in the ground

kim chee, sauerkraut, shark meat, etc.

with no refrigeration, it makes sense to do that

Answer 9

u stupid 2 think they r a century year old

Answer 10

they have special procedures, which are mentioned already above