Century Egg

A century egg is a Chinese preserved egg made from duck, chicken or quail eggs, known also as a hundred-year egg or thousand-year egg despite not actually being aged anywhere near that long. The eggs are preserved for several weeks to several months in a mixture of clay, ash, salt, quicklime and rice hulls, an alkaline treatment that raises the egg's pH to roughly 9 to 12 and chemically transforms its contents into smaller, flavorful compounds. The result is visually striking, with a dark greenish-grey, smooth yolk and a dark brown, translucent, jelly-like white, and a flavor carrying notes of hydrogen sulfide and ammonia alongside salty, umami taste. Century eggs originated in Hunan, China, and have been recorded in Chinese cuisine since at least the 17th century; a higher-quality version called the Songhua egg shows delicate, pine-like crystalline patterns, and century eggs commonly appear with vinegar, in dim sum congee, and on special-occasion platters.