Saturday, September 25, 2010

Pickled Ginger Serve with Century Eggs

When I think of century eggs or hard-boiled eggs, pickled ginger would come to mind.  When I think of pickled ginger, century eggs or hard-boiled eggs would come to mind.  Am I making any sense?  I do? Great!  Yup, you got it right!  They are made for each other!  Ever tried pickled ginger before?  Pickled ginger is made by using the young ginger, the old ginger are too fibrous and extremely hot, sometimes even bitter.  The young ginger are sliced very  thinly, marinate with some salt and then soaked in the vinegar and sugar solution.  This is usually left for at least 5 days in the refrigerator for the flavours to develop. There will be a light delicious crunch.


Pickled ginger can be eaten as it is, as garnishing, in stir-fries and very delicious served with roasted meat.  Try it in sandwiches, burgers or chop it to smaller pieces and mix into salads.  

Sliced young ginger marinated with salt.


It will naturally turn to a nice light pinkish shade due to the reaction of the hot vinegar and the young ginger.  


Yummy, fresh from the fridge, cool, crunchy with a tinge of sourness from the vinegar, sweetness from the sugar and a little heat from the ginger!

It's time to serve with some hard-boiled eggs and century eggs.  I do not think that the hard-boiled eggs need any introduction!  As for  the century eggs, this is interesting! 

Have you eaten century eggs before, seen or smell it?  Century eggs are usually made from duck eggs, sometimes chicken eggs or quail eggs. Century eggs are also known as preserved egg, hundred-year egg, thousand-year egg and millennium egg. Wow, it does sounds old, doesn't it?   It is a Chinese cuisine and is preserved in a mixture of clay, ash, salt, lime and rice hulls. This may take from several weeks to several months depends on the method of preservation.  I know what you must be thinking! Yulks!  I thought so too when I was small, but I have learn to appreciate and love it as I get older! It is really an acquired taste. The yolks are  dark greenish-brown creamy-like texture with a strong odour of sulphur and ammonia.  I used to cover my nose when my mum ate this when I was a little girl! The whites will be dark-brown, jelly-like texture and has very little flavour.  It can be eaten as it is, usually it is served in quarters, with a few slices of pickled ginger on each slice.  It can also be used in cooking Chinese congee, stir-fries and as an additional ingredients in some soups.  My daughter seems to like this. My son has a rather interesting description when he ate this, he says  "the white is like tasteless jelly, while the yolk is like putting an oyster in the mouth, creamy and soft"! 


Century eggs, bought from the market


After cleaning off the coating of the rice hulls, the eggs with shells still intact


This is how the eggs look like, willing to try, anyone??


Served together with some hard-boiled eggs, with the pickled ginger


Yummy!

Pickle Ginger
(about 2 of 500ml sized jars)
Ingredients :
500gm young ginger
2 tbsp salt
800ml rice vinegar
400gm sugar

Method :
  1. Wash ginger and scrape skin off.  Slice the ginger into very thin slices.  You may want to wear a pair of  kitchen gloves as the ginger can get very hot. Put the slices in a bowl and mixed with 2 tablespoons of salt evenly and keep covered for about 1 hour, stir once after half an hour.
  2. Wash the salted ginger with cooled boiled water and drain in a colander.
  3. Put the ginger slices in sterilized jars.
  4. Meanwhile, boil the vinegar together with the sugar until sugar melts and mixture starts to boil.
  5. Pour the hot mixture into the jars over the ginger slices.
  6. Cover loosely and when cool, close tightly and store in the refrigerator. You may notice that the ginger has turned to a nice pink. 
  7. Let pickle stand for at least 5 days for the flavour to develop.  Can keep for months if stored in refrigerator.


"Would YOU dare to try the century egg, maybe just a slice?"


There will be a  "Culinary Smackdown Battle Chile October 2010" at "At Home With Rebecka". Go on, get some hot stuff smoking and head on down to Rebecka's.  Please do drop by her wonderful blog for more info.  Have fun!

21 comments:

  1. Just one slice? Are you kidding?! I could eat the whole plate!

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  2. I absolutely would try a slice. Or two. I've never had pickled ginger but I love trying food I haven't tried before. Too bad you don't live closer! :o)

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  3. The pickled ginger sounds great! I would even like to try making it if I could find young ginger. The century eggs - you bet I'd try them, especially after your son described them tasting like an oyster. Very interesting with the history of it. This is a great post, I really enjoyed reading it!

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  4. I've had pickled ginger and hard boiled eggs but not century eggs. I have read about them, but have never seen or tried them. I'm usually an adventurous person when it comes to food, and would probably try one if offered. Interesting!

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  5. Very catchy dish, pickled ginger sounds awesome..

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  6. This dish is completely exotic for our kitchen. :)
    It looks very tasty!
    The century eggs, I knew but I haven't ever tasted them.
    Too bad you don't live closer!
    Ζ.

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  7. I love your pickled ginger and, yes, I try a slice of the hundred year old eggs. Your presentation of them is wonderful and I'm always up to trying something new. I hope you are having a great day. Blessings...Mary.

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  8. Thanks for the pickled ginger recipe! I've always wondered how it was done. My friend Cathy comes from China and eats pickled ginger by the spoonful...I think it would be nice to surprise her with this.

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  9. Wow!!!This is my favourite dish!!!Its super extremly delicious!!!can you please make for me again???XD

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  10. I like the oyster portion. Your son is smart!

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  11. Hi Angie,
    That's the way! It gets better at every slice, isn't it? LOL!

    Hi Brenda,
    You are right, if you love closer, I would gladly share them with you! Have a nice day!

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  12. Hi Pam,
    Hi scrambledhenfruit,
    Hi Kitchen Stories,
    Hi Mary,
    Thanks you gals. Yes, if all of you live closer, I would gladly share the century eggs with you, and it would indeed be fun watching your reactions to this exotic delicacy! LOL! Have a lovely day!

    Hi Priya,
    Pickled ginger is really awesome..If you have not tasted it before, hope you have the chance to do so, I think you will enjoy it. Have a nice day!

    Hi Brittany,
    Great! It's a good idea to surprise your friend! And I think that you will enjoy it too!

    Hi TWY,
    OK, Will do just that!

    Hi One,
    I think he gave a pretty close description of it! But he did not really fancy this. In time, I think he will!

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  13. I've never heard of centuary eggs before. But I'm not an egg person so I don't investigate them like I do other foods. Not sure I could bring myself to try them, but the pickled ginger however..... I could eat the whole jar. Yum, yum, yum!

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  14. Wow, I have never seen century eggs! So interesting - thanks for the photos. I'm so curious now! I'll have to find them to try!

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  15. Hi Alice,
    I must say, not everyone will like century eggs. You might even run of the room when you smell it! And pickle ginger is indeed yummy!

    Hi Katie,
    Nice of you to drop by. Hope you do find the century eggs and enjoy trying it out! Let me know if you do!

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  16. You know me...I'll eat just about anything but century eggs look a little scary!! However, I would take a bite and then slam down some pickled ginger!!

    So happy you added this recipe to your blog! You're a woman after my own heart♥

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  17. Hi Rebecka,
    You are right! It does look a bit scary, I would too if I were you! Eat lots of pickled ginger with a slice of this is definitely a very good idea!!! It's a pleasure to post this recipe. Seeing that you like pickles, I'm sure that you will enjoy this!

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  18. I love pickled ginger. I like it with apples! I have never heard of century eggs. The jury is still out on whether I would try them...

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  19. I have not tried picked gingers with apples! This is very interesting. I should give this a try. Century egg sure is an acquired taste. You may like it only after a few tries... if you can get through the first one!

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  20. Pickled ginger tastes fabulous. It has a very refreshing flavour to it. I don't know how to make them so I resort to buying the bottled ones imported from China. Hee...hee..that's my short cut to my fave food.

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