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Century eggs are also known as preserved eggs, thousand-year eggs, millennium eggs, and Chinese-based eggs. The Chinese introduced this egg preservation technique, although many are not accepting the idea of eating preserved eggs. They are probably not comfortable with the preparation process, the color it turns out to be, the pungent smell of sulfides and ammonia, or maybe even the taste itself.
Century eggs can be chicken, quails, or most popular, duck eggs. The traditional way of making century eggs uses a mixture of clay ash, quick lime, salt, rice and hulls to make a paste or clay and coat the eggs for some time. The essential requirement for preserving the eggs is salt.
Eggs with a purplish-green color or darker ones contain lead material, edible lye as commonly used. These are the ones responsible for blocking the pores of the eggshells and preventing oxidation from happening.
They also prevent the coagulation of the proteins in the eggs, making them produce a strong odor and turning the inside darker. If you do not want this discoloration and intense aroma, try simply preserving them with the brine solution.
New Method of Preserving Eggs
Preppers and survivalists will greatly love this way to preserve eggs. The saying never gets old: “If emergencies can happen anytime, then it’s wise to be prepared.” It would be great if everyone were into the practice of emergency preparedness at all times.
Aside from the basic kit, emergency food preparation may be necessary to save you and your family’s lives. There is definitely an edge for those who have an oversupply of eggs, and you can simply preserve them for emergency purposes as well for use during low production periods on the farm.
In this case, since we are just prepping for home consumption, it doesn’t matter if the eggs purplish-green or dark. We don’t need lead oxide either to seal the pores of the eggs.
The aim is to preserve the eggs for a more extended period and for them to be safe for consumption later on. When not used properly the edible lead can cause food processing.
Traditional Century Eggs
Just as with the traditional century eggs, the inside will have a creamy consistency, and it will be salty and aromatic to many if you twist it on its preparation.
We could discuss the details of how the chemical process occurs in the eggs, but this article simply aims to let you know the other way of preserving eggs using the most straightforward method, plus you will be able to improve its taste and aroma to your preference.
Main Ingredients
- Eggs (from chicken, quails, or ducks)
- Table salt (1 cup of salt for every liter of water)
- Water
Optional
- ½ kg red chili pepper
- ½ kg ginger
- 500 grams garlic
- 100 grams black pepper
- 100 grams star anise
Tools
For Checking the Eggs:
For Boiling the Mixture:
- Basin
- Clean cloth/towel
- Big pot (enough to contain the saline mixture)
- Ladle
During Preservation/Curing
- Container with lid
- Tape to seal the lid
- Clean net bag to keep all the eggs intact below the suspension
(You can use anything that could help the eggs sink below the suspension during curing.)
How to Prepare?
1. In this case, I am making one egg tray (30 pieces) of chicken eggs. The eggs are medium to extra-large in size. I’ve decided to use three liters of water to avoid having a problem soaking the eggs fully later on.
2. Wash all the eggs gently to remove the impurities attached to the shells. I used running water to clean the eggs faster.
3. Manually check to see if there are cracks on the eggs and automatically discard the eggs with cracked shells.
4. After washing, dry the eggs gently by patting them with a clean cloth or towel.
5. Prepare a box or a carton with a small hole for the egg to stand in.
6. Turn the light on underneath the box and aim it at the eggs. You can turn off your overhead light to get a better view of the eggs and to see whether they have cracks that were overlooked during washing.
The top photos are okay, and the ones at the bottom of the table have slight cracks.
7. Do not use eggs with cracks. You can use these up now in another recipe.
8. After checking the eggs, set them aside carefully while preparing the brine solution.
9. Add three liters of water to a pot. You can adjust the volume of the water depending on the number of eggs you will cure or preserve.
10. Bring the water to a boil, and then add three cups of salt to it. Stir the water until all the salt is dissolved.
11. Add the remaining optional herbs and spices in any order to the boiling mixture. 
I let it sit there until all the spices produce a spicy aroma, about eight minutes.
12. Remove from the heat and let it cool for about an hour.
13. Securely place the net bag inside the container. Slowly put all the usable eggs into the net bag. You can tie the end to make the eggs more stable and to make sure they are fully submerged while curing.
14. Add the cooled mixture slowly over the eggs inside the preservation container. Make necessary adjustments to ensure that all eggs are fully submerged during the entire curing duration.
15. Close the lid of the container. Seal the top to lessen the oxidation process of the eggs.
16. Securely place the container in an undisturbed, cool, and dry place.
Related: How do You Keep Your Pantry Dry to Prevent Your Food from Spoiling?
17. Wait for 28-30 days before opening and testing a few of the eggs. If you are using small eggs, the egg yolks have probably firmed up by this time.
18. Open and check one to two eggs at a time to avoid wasting the eggs. Check if the yolks have firmly solidified. Don’t be bothered by the liquid state of the egg whites. These sample eggs you open can be utilized in other recipes. Don’t throw them away; they are perfectly fine to use.
The Duration of The Curing
If you are using larger eggs, you will need to extend the curing for another month to make sure the egg whites are firm enough. If the egg whites have not firmed up, extend the preservation time. It will not affect the preservation process.
The size of the eggs and the thickness of the eggshells affects the duration of the curing.
Related: What You Should Do With Your Eggshells
Important reminder, you can adjust the salt a little bit during prepping if you use large eggs because you will need longer curing time, and the salt will fully penetrate the entirety of the preserved eggs.
You can also tweak this if you want your eggs to taste less salty.
At 35 days, the medium eggs will already be good. The larger ones will need an extended curing time since their egg whites will still be 60% runny after one month.
Storing Century Eggs
19. Remove the eggs from the brine mixture.
20. Get a casserole filled with one liter of water and bring it to a boil. Add the eggs gently.
21. Take out all the eggs and drain the water. Pat them dry and place inside sealed cellophane or a dry container for storing.
22. Do not refrigerate. Keep the eggs at room temperature but in a cool, dry area. These eggs will last for 3-5 months without a change in flavor if you follow the procedures closely.
The shelf life may extend more than six months if you keep them in a vacuum sealed container.
Output
The output of this preparation will give you preserved salty eggs that are flavorful and delightfully aromatic because of the herbs and spices. The egg yolks are yellow to bright orange with firm whites.
Before storing them, why not try a few? Try to complement these eggs with your favorite recipes that you think perfectly blend the taste.
Final Words
This procedure will not give you darker century eggs as we did not use any lead-containing coating like the traditional ones do. These will provide us with delicious and aromatic century eggs with bright yellow-orange egg yolks and firm whites.
Enjoy exploring Asian recipes that perfectly go with our easy-to-produce, homemade, spicy cured eggs!
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