Salted eggs 咸蛋

Salted eggs (咸蛋)

I caught a cold a few weeks ago and have no appetite. All I wanted was just plain porridge with salted eggs. Unfortunately, salted eggs were inaccessible so I have decided to make it myself. It is really simple but you have to brine it for at least 4 to 5 weeks before consumption. I did not manage to find duck eggs so I use chicken eggs instead. Duck eggs tend to have a larger yolk but the end result is the same.






Ingredients

10 large eggs

1 cup of coarse sea salt

4 cups of water

1 tablespoon of Chinese cooking wine (shaoxing wine)

2 teaspoons of peppercorn

1 teaspoon of cloves/anise







Method

Rinse the eggs and pat dry. Set aside.

Bring water to a boil in a saucepan and add in the sea salt. Stir in the sea salt until it dissolves completely. Let it cool down completely.

Add in Chinese cooking wine , peppercorns and cloves.

Place all the eggs into a large glass container. Slowly pour in salted solution and make sure that the eggs are fully submerged to the solution. You may use a small saucer to push and cover the eggs as some may float.

Label the start and end dates and leave the container in a cool place. The brining process takes about 4-5 weeks. Take one egg to try the saltiness, if it is not to your satisfaction, leave it for another 1 to 2 weeks.