A salted duck egg is an

East Asian East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...

preserved food product made by soaking

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the ...

s in

brine Brine (or briny water) is a high-concentration solution of salt (typically sodium chloride or calcium chloride) in water. In diverse contexts, ''brine'' may refer to the salt solutions ranging from about 3.5% (a typical concentration of seawat ...

or packing each egg in damp, salted

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, ca ...

. In

Asian supermarket In non-Asian countries, an Asian supermarket largely describes a category of grocery stores that focuses and stocks items and products imported from countries located in the Far East (e.g. East Asia, East, Southeast Asia, Southeast and South Asia ...

s across the Western world, these eggs are sometimes sold covered in a thick layer of salted charcoal paste. The eggs may also be sold with the salted paste removed, wrapped in plastic, and vacuum-packed. From the salt curing process, the salted duck eggs have a briny aroma, a gelatin-like egg white, and a firm-textured, round yolk that is bright orange-red. Salted duck eggs are normally boiled or steamed before being peeled and eaten as a condiment to ''

congee Congee ( , derived from Tamil language, Tamil ), is a form of savoury rice porridge made by boiling rice in a large amount of water until the rice softens. Depending on rice–water ratio, the thickness of congee varies from a Western oatmeal ...

'' or cooked with other foods as a flavoring. The egg white has a sharp, salty taste. The orange-red yolk is rich, fatty, and less salty. The yolk is prized and is used in Chinese

mooncake A mooncake () is a Chinese bakery product traditionally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋節). The festival is primarily about the harvest while a legend connects it to moon watching, and mooncakes are regarded as a delicacy. ...

s to symbolize the

moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

. Salted eggs can also be made from

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

eggs, though the taste and texture will be somewhat different, and the egg yolk will be less rich. Salted eggs sold in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

undergo a similar curing process, with some variation in ingredients used. They are dyed red (hence called ''itlog na pula'' or ‘red eggs' in English) to distinguish them from fresh duck eggs.

Production

Pateros method

A popular method for processing salted eggs in the Philippines is the Pateros method. The salted egg is prepared "Pateros style" by mixing clay (from ant hills or termite mounds), table salt, and water in a ratio of 1:1:2 until the mixture becomes smooth and forms a thick texture similar to the cake batter. The fresh, uncooked eggs are individually dipped in the admixture, and packed in 150-egg batches in newspaper-lined wooden boxes (often residual boxes of

dried fish Fresh fish rapidly deteriorates unless some way can be found to preserve it. Drying (food), Drying is a method of food preservation that works by removing water from the food, which inhibits the growth of microorganisms. Open air drying using sun ...

packing). The whole batch is then lightly wrapped in newspapers to slow down the dehydration process. The eggs are then stored indoors at room temperature over the next 12 to 14 days to cure, the salt equilibrating in the batch by

osmosis Osmosis (, ) is the spontaneous net movement or diffusion of solvent molecules through a selectively permeable membrane, selectively-permeable membrane from a region of high water potential (region of lower solute concentration) to a region of ...

. Curing can last up to 18 days, resulting in very long-lasting red eggs that can have a 40-day shelf life, but this is largely unnecessary, as the eggs are stocked and replenished biweekly. After the two-week curing period, the eggs are hand-cleaned with water and a brush and prepared to be boiled in low heat for 30 minutes. Time is measured from the first moment the water boils and the eggs are immersed. A 50-egg batch is then wrapped in fish nets for ease of removal from the cookware, which must be large enough to accommodate the batch with a covering of water. Chicken eggs may be processed the same way, although up to 10% of the batch can break during the process.

References

{{Reflist * Sandra Leong, 2008
Salted egg hunt
Mar 23, 2008, The Sunday Times Raw egg dishes Animal-based fermented foods Chinese cuisine Filipino cuisine Thai cuisine

Production

Pateros method

See also

References