三味蒸蛋 3-Flavoured Steam Egg

Steam egg is an egg dish usually categorized as a soup dish.  

The basic ingredient are : eggs and water, seasoned with a bit of salt.  A wide variation of steam egg can be derived by adding different additional ingredients to it, 三味蒸蛋 3-flavoured steam egg is one of many variation of it.

First, hard-boil a salted egg.  Cut into small pieces.

Century egg need not to be cooked.  Cut it into small pieces too.

Then, beat 2 egg with 400ml of water, in a big bowl, preferable metal or ceramic made.  Too much water may prolonged cooking time, and the egg turns out watery.

Put in the chopped salted egg, and century egg.  Add in a bit of salt to taste.

Steam for about 30 minutes, until the egg hardened into a tofu-like substance.  

Century Egg 之 松花纹

皮蛋, supposedly ‘leathered egg’, yet named as ‘century egg’ by the Westerners.  During the Ming Dynasty, it was known as 混沌子, which is beyond translation, even for Google translate.

Century egg also known as pine-patterned egg, a more accurate-translation from alternative Mandarin name 松花蛋. 

Some century egg have patterns on the surface of the yolk, which resemblance pine branches.  The pattern is believed to be crystal salts of amino-acids.

Century eggs are coated with a mixture of quicklime (calcium hydroxide 石灰), soda ash (sodium carbonate 碱面) and salt (sodium chloride盐).  Quicklime reacted with soda ash, and forms sodium hydroxides.... Sodium hydroxides then seep through the egg shell and reacted with the amino acids in the yolk, forming amino-acid salts.  It’s the crystallization of the amino-acid salts that form the pattern on the yolk surface.     

皮蛋瘦肉粥 #2 Lean Meat Porridge with Century Egg #2

This is again a porridge of century egg. 

Yet, this time, I incorporated the 2 century eggs into the rice for simmering from the beginning.  The century eggs were cut into 4 quarters, together with some minced lean meat.  I expected the porridge to be murky and darker coloured, because of the century eggs.   Yet, it turned out quite fair !  And it doesn't smells unpleasant too.

A little bit of salt and msg, and its another mouth-watering dinner !

p.s.

I checked the century eggs sold in Jusco Taman Equine.  Its RM3.90 for 4 piece, i.e. RM0.975/piece.

The Singapore's century eggs cost S$7 for 20 pieces, i.e S$0.35.  Convert to Malaysian Ringgit @ rate of 2.4, its RM0.84/piece. 

OMG !  Singapore's century eggs are really cheaper than Malaysian's

How can that be ? 

Well, I believe our government will surely compare the price with other development countries, and concluded that our century eggs are among the cheapest !

( OMG ! = Oh My Government ! )

Century Egg 皮蛋

Century egg ( 皮蛋 ), or alkalized egg is a Chinese cuisine ingredient made by preserving duck, chicken or quail eggs in a mixture of clay, ash, salt, lime, and rice hulls for several weeks to several months.

When the Westerners first reached China, they were puzzled with this preserved egg, assumed that it took very long time for it to become dark coloured, thus named it ‘century egg’ or ‘thousand-year egg’.   It is also called ‘pine-branch egg’ ( 松花蛋 ) for the snow-flake pattern on its white.   

Through the process, the yoke becomes a dark grey colour, with a creamy consistency and an odor of sulphur and ammonia.  The egg white become a dark brown, translucent jelly with little flavour.  

Century egg was said to be in existence some 600 hundred years ago during Ming Dynasty in Hunan, when some duck eggs were discovered in a pool of slake lime.

《益阳县志》:“皮蛋于明朝初年在湖南省益阳县在一个偶然的机会下发现。当时有一家人所养的鸭在家里的一个灰卤里下蛋。这些蛋在两个月后被发现，录皮而看，蛋白蛋黄皆已凝固”。明代称之为‘混沌子’。

Traditionally duck eggs are coated in a mixture of alkaline clay ( 3 tea : 3 quick lime : 7 oak ash : 9 sea salt ), then covered in rice husk to avoid the eggs from adhering to one another.

方以智《物理小识》: “池州出变蛋，以五种树灰盐之，大约以荞麦谷灰则黄白杂糅，加炉炭石灰，则绿而坚韧”。

In modern production , duck eggs were soaked for 10 days if solution of calcium hydroxide, and sodium carbonate, then followed by several weeks of aging.

Lead oxide is also known to shortened the curing period.  But its highly poisonous, thus very unlikely is used.   On other side, zinc oxide is a safer alternative.  But excessive zinc consumption  can lead to copper deficiency.

There are some misconception that century eggs are soaked in horse urine, due to its pungent ammonia odour.  Horse urine, however, is only slightly basic, ranging from pH 7.5 – 7.9, not enough to raise the eggs’ pH to >9.

皮蛋瘦肉粥 Lean Meat Porridge with Century Egg

Lean meat porridge is best served with century egg. 

But, in a real century egg porridge, the century egg is simmered with lean pork meat and rice until the rice become porridge.   

I have bought a box of century egg during my recent trip to Singapore.  A box of it contains 20 pieces of this preserved duck egg coated in mud-rice husk mixture. 

Century eggs from Singapore ?   Well, the century eggs are actually imported from China, but apparently they are more fresh than those in Malaysian market, and cheaper too ( S$7 for 20 pieces )
Seems like there will be more recipies of century eggs ......