' CONGEE with PRESERVED DUCK EGG .'

Congee with Pork & shallots , Preserved Duck egg ( century egg ) yolk , white & soft centre garnished with micro tea leaves & green shallots.

          During the break while holidaying on the Gold Coast I went on a mission to find a good asian grocery store to buy ingredients for the sharks fin soup and what ever else caught my eyes. In a fridge section they had an array of duck eggs, there was fresh ones, salted ones, pickled ones and the century eggs or preserved duck eggs. They came washed and ready to peel or like the ones I purchased, still coated in the salt, calcium and tea leave mixture. I know a couple of ladies at work that preserve their own eggs and love the whole experience, but myself and I'm probably speaking for a high percentage of westerners preserved eggs are best sampled sparing and accompanied. As you would not eat a whole garlic or truffle as you probably shouldn't eat a whole egg. These eggs aren't really century old eggs but rather eggs that have been preserving for a few months, long enough to change the colour and textures of the duck eggs. Over time the white of the egg becomes jelly like and a translucent amber colour as the the yolk turns a greenish black and looks like rotten egg with a sulphur smell. In this asian breakfast taster I've paired the egg with congee which is a rice porridge dish served at breakfast or late supper or particularly when ill.                                                                                                                                      
          To make this taster spoon I first made the congee by soaking white rice in water for an hour before bringing to the boil with 18 times water in weight. To this I added pieces of shredded ham, ginger, green shallots, salt, pepper and a little sesame oil this was then boiled until the grains of rice had  become soft and largely disintegrated. The preserved egg was washed to remove the tea leaves and salt mixture and then shelled revealing the amber, greenish black jelly like egg. This was then sliced to be presented in three forms the white, the hardened yolk and the soft centre of the yolk . These were arranged on top of a spoonful of congee and garnished with micro tea leaves and green shallots.