Century Eggs: The Chinese Delicacy That Misleads People
NEWS
By TIM FORSTER
Century eggs are a delicacy in China and countries in East and Southeast Asia. However, contrary to their name, they are not 100 years old.
They've even been called "millennium" or "thousand-year" eggs, unsurprisingly implying that they've been preserved for 1,000 years.
This is not even close to the truth — in reality, century eggs are preserved for at least a few weeks and, at most, a few months.
The process involves soaking eggs in a saline solution, hence their relatively salty taste. They are then coated in ash, clay, quicklime, and sometimes rice hulls to cure.
Century eggs are usually duck eggs, and the preservation process gives them a pungent flavor, described as being similar to blue cheese, with a creamy texture to match.
