As someone who has such an interest in food history, culture, and trying new things, I'm actually a total suck. As much as I'd like to explore new flavours, I often end up being very safe about it in the process. Some is with good reason. I have no tolerance for spicy heat. I love the flavours, but what is mild or moderate heat for others leaves me in a whole lot of burning pain. There's a reason for this, but I won't regale you about the condition of my tongue. ;-)
Other foods, I just can't bring myself to eat. Like raw fish, or Eldest's favourite canned eel. The smell alone sends me running. While Eldest happily noshes away, analyzing flavours and textures, I'm off on the side with my fingers in my ears going LA-LA-LA-LA-LA and trying not to hurl.
She laughs.
One of the foods Eldest has been wanting to try for a long time is preserved duck eggs. I finally succumbed and bought a package. She tried one on rice, but I could only bring myself to taste a tiny bit of the "white" (which isn't white anymore) and that was it. I didn't really eat enough to be able to taste it. That left us with a package sitting around and no one quite knowing what to do with it.
Well, today, I finally girded my loins, did some research, brought out the camera, and did a taste test.
Here is the result. Click on the photos to see them in larger size.
First, the package. This is the type we got, and I've no idea what the brand name is. It was found at a local Asian grocery store, though I've seen the same brand available at Superstore. They come in a Styrofoam box and are not refrigerated. Visit here (pdf) to learn more about their history and how they are made.
Inside, each egg is lovingly wrapped and nestled in it's own little pocket.
Unwrapped, they look like this. They're really quite pretty!
Ah, but what do they look like inside!
I used the back of a spoon to carefully start cracking the shell. After the second hit, I heard a weird little pop, and a hole appeared. I'd hit it over the air cell and I think there had actually been a bit of a vacuum, as the broken piece of shell had got sucked right in.
Is that good? Bad? I have no idea.
The shell is quite thick, as is the inner membrane. It peeled rather easily, though, revealing this.
Again, it's really quite lovely! The branching pattern in the white is a result of the preservation.
I believe the outer layer on the shell is part of the preservation, but I'm not sure.
While a bit startling to see such a dark colour where one would normally see white, I find it quite appealing. The colour and semi-transparency, with the branching "fireworks" patterns are beautiful.
After cutting it open, however...
Uhm...
Yeah.
This is the point where I look at it and wonder, "just how hungry did someone have to be to look at this and think it's edible?"
I mean, I can still appreciate the aesthetic appeal of the colours and textures from a purely visual standpoint, but as food? No. If I were to stumble upon this by accident somewhere, as it is guessed some ancient person did, I would not think this is edible. I would think this is something that's gone rotten and might make me ill.
Quartering it didn't make it any better. That squishy, slimy middle just...
No. Uh-uh. I am definitely getting nervous at this point.
In looking up how to eat these, I really didn't find much. It's served in quarters like this with pickled ginger as an appetizer. It's cut up and eaten in congee. It seems they are mostly eaten just like this, though it's recommended the people not used to its pungent flavour eat it in small amounts or with something else. There was little to tell me what that "something else" could be.
I did find a few recipes that described serving it with pork or on rice. Well, I was making pork for supper anyhow. I'd cut up some pork loin and wrapped it in aluminum foil with olive oil, a hint of vinegar, soy sauce, and spices. After sitting overnight in the fridge, I roasted it still in the foil, opening the foil near the end to let things brown a bit. To go with the pork, I made some quinoa, cooked in half water, half home-made turkey stock.
Then I made it all pretty for the picture. There's only a small amount of quinoa and pork here, and I was afraid using an entire quarter of an egg would be too much. Cutting it into little pieces did make it seem more like something I could eat.
My first taste, I made sure to have a bit of everything. Some yolk, some white, some meat and quinoa. When I finally tried it, I was totally amazed. It was just bursting with flavour!! I couldn't believe how good it was! The egg added an earthy, mushroom-like flavour that I just loved. It was awesome.
Eldest tried it, and she enjoyed it too, but the real litmus test was Youngest. She doesn't like quinoa. She was thoroughly turned off by the appearance of the preserved duck egg's yolk. She dislikes mushrooms, too, so saying it had a mushroom-like flavour didn't exactly win points for her, either.
She tried it anyhow and even she enjoyed it! Quinoa and all! After eating she announced that yes, she liked preserved duck eggs.
The flavour was still very strong, and small amounts are recommended. It's not something I'd have often, but we're not going to have any problems figuring out what to do with the remaining four eggs!
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