Chapter 1 : China and the Century Egg

To start off this blog about world cuisine, snacks, and the occasional murder mystery we decided the best place to start was China, famous for Fortune Cookies, Chop Suey, and Sweet and Sour Chicken. These delectable delights invade our dreams and distract our lunchtimes, so there was clearly no better place to begin exploring the world as we packed our bags and headed off to the west side markets of Indianapolis only to discover...

Not one of these is from China. In fact, Chinese cooking, as we know it, was apparently invented in California and New York by bachelor immigrant railroad workers, or so Katrina tells me. Or maybe we're mixing up five or so different stories, but they only resemble Chinese food in that a wok might be involved, and you might try to unsuccessfully eat them with chopsticks.

Actual Chinese food, as in the kind they may or may not eat in China, isn't entirely dissimilar (they both use soy sauce) but oil isn't the main focus. In fact, deep frying is fairly rare in Chinese cooking. There is also less meat, and more vegetables. And there's a lot of rice. At least one sterotype is true, right?

I usually find trying new foods fun and exciting, so when wandering through Mr. Lee's Great Hong Kong (Supermarket) finding one of China's more infamous foods, I felt it was important for us to try these. After all, eating Cactus, raw fish, or rotten spicy cabbage sounds terrifying, yet they are delightful. And that blueish speckled eggshell really didn't look all that unappetizing, even with the picture of a yellow-black egg white and purplish yolk on the packaging.

Legend has it, once upon a time there was a terrible chemical spill in a Chinese farmers yard, leaving a pool of soda ash and lime in it. When the pool drained, the farmer discovered these black, preserved eggs beneath and, sicne he was starving, he ate it. Stranger yet, he liked it, and set about reproducing the rotten, sulfuric horror he found inside. Even more incredibly, it's become a Chinese staple, and every day Chinese people force themselves to consume these, because they believe they should, after all. It's similar to Star Trek fans defending Voyager. They consume it because they believe they must. After all, it's their heritage. Nobody would knowingly put themselves through that flavor and aroma otherwise, right?

I might never do enough pennance for what I unleashed. Inside the slimy egg was unpleasant to touch, and smelled faintly of death. The first bite into the egg white wasn't actually bad, just flavorless, so we chewed unsuspectingly not realized what the yolk would bring. Apparently the point of the Century Egg-making process is to raise the pH of the inside of the egg to preserve it, and this breaks up the flavorless compounds in the yolk into smaller, flavorful compounds.

Don't make the mistake of assuming these smaller, flavorful, compounds taste good. I've never quite smelled or tasted anything quite like the fermented, sulfury innards of this beast, and cannot do the experience justice. We made no attempt at a third bite, but quickly whisked the eggs off to the trash, shaking the plate in horror as the eggs gripped the plate, clinging to their place in our meal and lives. Strangely, the kitten seemed to enjoy the smell, but we protected her from her own delusions. Some quick thinking, and MacGuyver-ish use of a fork scraped the horrors away, and we continued on our journey...

Next time:

Watch as Sean and Katrina wander into the Dynasty of Ming and take on the creations of Li Shizhen!