Thursday, January 12 - Century eggs

Here's a shot of the food court. I really liked the ambience - hanging lights, music, a light breeze... It's probably my favorite place to eat so far.
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Tonight merits mention, because tonight I got to try century eggs. You've never heard of them, you say? Well, there's probably a reason for that. They're really quite a delicacy here, but I wouldn't say they're particularly appetizing when described...

My student's brother (who has become a tour guide of sorts) took me, one of my students, and two of her brothers to the outdoor Ming Tien Food Court in Taman Megah. The way the food court works is pretty cool. We sat down at a table, and our drink orders were taken by the drink server. Then we were able to wander around the food court and choose whatever we wanted from one or more of many vendors surrounding the dining area. We told each vendor our table number, and when the food was ready, they brought it to us and we paid them. What a cool idea!

This isn't the most flattering shot of century eggs, but it's kind of hard to find one that is...
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Well, my tour guide decided to be bold and order century eggs for the table. (And I was so content with my sushi!) He brought them back and said that we had to try them before he would tell us how they're made. So I did...and, to my surprise, they tasted fairly normal. Then I heard how they're made. Basically, raw eggs are buried in wood shavings, dirt, and cow urine, and they're left there for a hundred days. Then they're unearthed and peeled. The white has turned to a gelatinous reddish brown and the yolk is a greenish gray. They are now ready to be eaten! Yes, it's all quite appetizing , I know...

Now, Wikipedia says that they're not really made that way, which I'm much more inclined to believe since I'd prefer not to be eating an egg that sat in cow urine for three months. But hey, it's the far East. Anything's possible, right? ;)

You can read the Wikipedia article about century eggs at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Century_eggs.