Century Egg Salad

Who here loves century eggs? Anyone? I must say that I am a big fan of century eggs, especially century duck eggs. I know, I know. The detractors are screwing up their faces and pinching their noses in disgust. How could anyone eat black eggs that smell of ammonia? I would have done the same thing if anyone asked if I liked blue cheese or any kind of runny cheese. It's an acquired taste.

The small ones are century quail eggs.

I love century eggs so much that sometimes I eat them neat. Just peel off the shell and eat it. Century eggs are usually eaten with porridge and sometimes I see it in spinach soup at the restaurant. It is also served as appetizers with pickled ginger. 

Don't they look like gemstones?

I also discovered century duck eggs and these I love a lot. The duck egg yolk is a lot richer and creamier and the black gooey  yolk is disgusting to some but a yum, yum to me. And there is also century quail eggs and they are so cute.

When I came up with the idea of a Century Egg Salad, I did some research I learnt that there are a few versions one being the Burmese Century Egg Salad. Apparently the Burmese century eggs are not black but a beautiful golden amber and the yolks are a deep ochre. Check it out, they are beautiful. The dressing used in the Burmese version is lime/lemon juice and fish sauce. I decided to try my own spin using  brown rice vinegar with ginger, garlic, Thai chilli sauce and soya sauce. For the vegetables, I used carrots, daikon, cucumbers and coriander. 

I liked the taste of the dressing and I think it would go pretty well with any other kinds of salads. Try roasted duck or char siew or even better, siew yoke! This century egg version won't go down well with everyone, but for me I like it a lot. I remember watching an episode of a travel channel and the  British presenter tried a century egg. It did not end up well for her, she was clearly suffering, the poor girl. If there was a challenge Fear Factor style to eat century eggs, I will win hands down :)

Century Egg Salad
Recipe source : Phong Hong

Ingredients :

For salad :
- 4 century chicken or duck eggs, each sliced into quarters
- 10 century quail eggs
- Daikon, grated
- Carrots, grated
- Cucumbers, cut into fine strips
- Cherry tomatoes, sliced into rounds
- Coriander leaves, roughly chopped
- Toasted sesame seeds

For dressing :
- 4 tablespoons rice vinegar (more or less according to your taste)
- 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 2 teaspoons finely minced ginger
- 1 tablespoon light soya sauce
- 1 tablespoon Thai chilli sauce or sweet chilli sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil or any neutral tasting oil
- some finely minced coriander leaves

Method :
1. To make the dressing, put all ingredients into a bowl and stir to combine. Set aside.
2. Put all vegetables into a mixing bowl and pour in the dressing. Toss well.
3. Place tossed vegetable onto a serving platter and layer it with the century eggs.
4. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds and serve.

Note : Don't toss the sliced century eggs or else the yolks will be dislodged and won't look nice for presentation.

I am submitting this post to Chinese New Year Delights 2013 hosted by Sonia aka Nasi Lemak Lover.