Personally, I first tried them, and then found out that it was them.
And only then I saw that they are freely sold in any Chinese supermarket, next to ordinary eggs. The same box with eggs. Only the eggs inside are dark in color and each is wrapped in a pouch. Oh, for the preservation of taste, or for what else, I do not know. The eggs that I ate in restaurants, they don’t smell, it’s just the name they have so smelly. And they themselves are not even smelly at all. But the egg is different.
Songhua egg: a delicacy not for the squeamish.
The “Songhua” egg is translated from Chinese as “pine flower egg” - because the egg has a natural pattern, after peeling, hardened and translucent, they show mesh patterns resembling pine needles. The richer the pattern, the higher the quality of the eggs.
This is a Chinese delicacy, the recipe of which is more than 600 years old.
The appearance of this dish is discouraging, and some cause slight nausea, because the eggs are black. What was protein turns into a clear dark brown jelly, and the yolk becomes malachite.
Foreigners have several names for this dish: imperial (since the songhua were one of the dishes that decorated the imperial table), one-day (in terms of seasoning), or rotten (because of appearance).
What makes an egg mutate like that?
Eggs (chicken or duck) are pickled in a mixture of lime, water salt, tea leaves and other ingredients. Then they are placed in a large container, covered with lime and dug in the ground, in the absence of sunlight and air, and wait until they reach the desired consistency. After a few weeks or months, the eggs are taken out, the shell removed, specially processed before they get to the table, and used in the preparation of various Chinese folk dishes.
So, when you come to China, just try for fun what it is. Do not be poisoned - that’s absolutely certain. 💥😍😎🙄👍✌