Talk:Century egg/Archive 1

Archive 1

Category: Fermented foods?

I don't think century eggs shall belong to the fermented foods category. Correct me if I am wrong. I think the egg is hardened by the infused OH^- ion and its smell comes from released SO₂. -- Toytoy 14:47, 9 November 2005 (UTC)

Characterization of pidan as a "delicacy"

Pidan (a.k.a. thousand year old egg) is neither rare nor prized. It should not be described as a delicacy. --71.123.61.112 18:54, 2 September 2006 (UTC)

I agree, and I have changed it to say "ethnic food", to reflect that is regarded by most westerners as being strange or unappetizing. It is not expensive nor difficult to obtain, so words like "exotic" and "delicacy" don't really fit. Ham Pastrami (talk) 13:21, 17 December 2007 (UTC)

Literal translation of the Chinese term for pidan

The Chinese term for pidan (a.k.a. thousand year old egg) is "皮蛋". "皮" (pí in Pinyin) literally means skin, and "蛋" (dàn in Pinyin) literally means egg. Leather (processed hide) in Chinese is "皮革". "皮" is also used attributively as an adjective for items made of leather.

In the absence of reliable etymological evidence, translating "皮" as "leather" is unsupported.

"Skin egg", as a literal translation, is not meaningful in English.

For these reasons, I think the literal meaning of pidan is best explained in terms of the meaning of the constituent characters in the Chinese name, e.g. phrased as "skin (pí) + egg (dàn)".

It avoids relying on particular (possibly incorrect) interpretation of the semantic structure of the Chinese name. It also does not make any unsupported etymological suggestions. --71.123.61.112 19:35, 2 September 2006 (UTC)

[1] -- G.S.K.Lee 23:29, 7 September 2006 (UTC)

The article doesn’t say where the English name “century egg” comes from. That would be interesting to know. I once saw an episode of Fear Factor where the contestants were to eat “one-hundred-year-old eggs.” They looked just like century eggs. I think the show must have made a bad assumption because of the name. 64.66.67.161 20:07, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure that "century egg" was originally used to tease children, who are (like anyone unfamiliar with the eggs) naturally curious about how the eggs are made. Adults tell them a fictional story about the eggs being a hundred years old. This isn't done out of malice, they just think it is cute (and it's easier to explain than the process by which the eggs are cured, which a small child may not understand anyway). Ham Pastrami (talk) 04:56, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

Is the snow flake pattern result of diffusion-limited aggregation?

It would be very interesting if someone can provide anwers to this quesiotn.WingkeeLEE 07:53, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

While two of the pictures talk about the snow-flake pattern there is nothing in the text explaining it. 10:03, 26-oct-2007 (CET) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.166.155.28 (talk) 20:04, 26 October 2007 (UTC)

Perhaps less intelligent question than the above

Do they really last 100 years?

I don't think anyone has been brave enough to find out, but my guess is no. Ham Pastrami (talk) 04:57, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

I'm quite sure they don't last 100 years, but how long do they last? --::Slomox:: >< 01:57, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

If you leave them unopened and unpeeled, they pretty much last "forever". I've eaten ones that were forgotten in the back of the pantry for almost 5 years that were still okay in taste, though they were a bit tough. Sjschen (talk) 04:13, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

Raw or cooked?

Are the eggs used in this process raw or cooked before they're coated and put away? --StarChaser Tyger 05:48, 25 July 2007 (UTC)

I believe they are partially cooked during the process (boiling in tea). The final product has a consistency comparable to a soft-boiled egg. Ham Pastrami (talk) 05:01, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

Raw. They become cured via the mentioned chemical process. Temperature is kept normal throughout the process. Vicaya (talk) 08:50, 3 January 2008 (UTC)

Unexplained text removal re: breaded in Hong Kong

I've reverted a possible vandalism [2] by an anonymous user (75.153.124.95), but I thought I should bring it up here. The edit summary was "The white man does not know what he is talking about" and the text removed was this:

A popular street food in Hong Kong consists of whole century eggs coated in fish meal, breaded, and deepfried, producing a snack analogous to the ubiquitious Scotch egg in the United Kingdom.

If anyone has any insight into this edit (hint hint, anon), please mention it here! -- Phyzome is Tim McCormack 01:13, 6 March 2008 (UTC)

I'm not the anon. but I did try to look for this food item on the net without much success after the deletion. If it really is a "popular" food item, one would assume that it should be easy to find with a simple internet search. I have also never seen or heard about this food despite eating the street food in hong kong for a while. Sjschen (talk) 06:28, 6 March 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for the note, Sjschen. I haven't been very active in Wikipedia for a couple years, so I don't know what the proper protocol is at this point: Delete the text, move the text to the talk page, or mark it as unverified? -- Phyzome is Tim McCormack 01:28, 7 March 2008 (UTC)

Not sure, but marking it as unverified in the page gives it too much credit IMO. Maybe moving it to here would not be a bad thing, still I think the contributor likely made a mistake in identifying the food that they had. Sjschen (talk) 02:55, 7 March 2008 (UTC)

(also not the anon here) I'm not sure about the Scottish Egg claim, but Hong Kong was controlled by the British for over 100 years--it's not a huge stretch of the imagination to think that this piece of culture/cuisine got imported with them (along with bespoke suits, et al.). Also, if you do a search for "century egg pastry" you'll see a version that you can get at pretty much any Chinatown (and therefore, I would assume, originates from Hong Kong). It's quite delicious...but instead of fish meal, the eggs (quartered) are encased in some kind of flaky pastry.--Bobcat (talk) 15:17, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Good enough for me! Thanks for the tip. -- Phyzome is Tim McCormack 00:43, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

All sorts of culinary events and creations can occur when cultures meet, but that does not not mean that the recipes exist automatically. As well, the presence of century egg pastry (not too common btw) does not necessitate the possible existence of a "Scotch century egg". There's not enough evidence for it existence to keep in on the main page even with the citations needed tag. Let's just blank it or remove it. Sjschen (talk) 02:53, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

Regarding Bobcat7's hypothesis, the century egg pastry is a completely different animal from the described fried century egg. Firstly, for the pastry 1/4 of a whole century egg is used, covered with lotus seed paste, and cased with pastry and then baked. It is nothing like what the scotched egg like snack is described - although I have read a lot of local HK Chinese literatures about scotched eggs. As someone who regularly eats this pastry when going to yum cha, it is too different to be called a scotched egg like dish. --JNZ (talk) 10:49, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

Perhaps this culinary treatment of the century egg is common in Chinatowns abroad, but as a Hong Kong resident of many years, I have never heard nor seen of such a dish, which is why I consider it unverified. If anyone cares to object to this, please provide a link or photo evidence of its presence in Hong Kong. Bgnuf (talk) 21:51, 28 April 2008 (UTC)

Safe to eat?

I don't want to offend anybody, but reading the article the question in the back of my mind the whole time was: is a century egg safe to eat? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.187.51.219 (talk) 02:38, 11 April 2008 (UTC)

Yes. Chinese people have it with congee all the time. --  Netsnipe  ►  07:05, 20 April 2008 (UTC)

Unless it has been illegally manufactured using lead oxide... Sjschen (talk) 17:13, 20 April 2008 (UTC)

Hi, I have a question. I read some article that in ancient times. Even horse urine is one of the ingredient of making century eggs. I don't know is it a realiable information? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.11.134.217 (talk) 04:19, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

Ugh. No. Why did Jhyee delete the "Myth" section? He claims to be incredulous that the myth exists, but if you google "century egg" or "thousand year egg" and "urine" you get enough hits, including this retarded book, to prove that at least some people buy this shit. It deserves to be refuted here, so I'm restoring the section. Echeneida (talk) 06:39, 25 July 2008 (UTC)

A friend of mine brought some back after working in China. He spun the 'horse urine' line (although he may not himself have been aware it was a myth) and we all bought it. Despite this I tried it and found them delicious! Guthrum (talk) 19:32, 23 November 2008 (UTC)

New section

How would anybody feel about a section devoted to the Western reputation of century eggs and notable trivia associated with it? Any way this can be improved?

In Western culture, century eggs are sometimes considered to be inedible and revolting. This is due partly to their unappealing appearance, ammonia taste and their name, which misleads Westerners to think they have been preserved for literally a hundred or a thousand years. This is showcased on reality shows such as Endurance UK or Fear Factor, where contestants are challenged to eat these eggs. [3]

I have heard of this. Im a Singaporean. Century eggs are a delicacy back here. I heard even durians are put inside as Fear Factor as well. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.126.93.30 (talk) 01:48, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

This is crazy!!! Century egg is a nice food. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 210.193.47.234 (talk) 09:47, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

78.133.60.132 (talk) 19:51, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Taste?

I could be wrong, but maybe a section on the taste of these eggs would be helpful? I have never eaten one and think it'd be appropriate. Maybe comparing eastern and western tastes and opinions on the egg. So far the article has info on odour, texture and the tasteless-ness of the whites but I'm curious about the yolk. How 'bout it? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Wylizzle (talk • contribs) 23:26, 12 November 2009 (UTC)