Egg-cellent Nosh! A Rundown of China’s Many Egg-based Snacks

Chinese cuisine is famed for its many offerings – including both regional delicacies and seasonal dishes. Among the myriad options, eggs are a centerpiece of many delicious dishes. Whether beaten, boiled, poached, or baked, here’s a quick rundown of some ways you can enjoy this oblong protein.

Tea Eggs

茶叶蛋 cháyè dàn are the classic on the go snack for the nibble consumer. This savory snack is a favorite for street vendors and convenience stores throughout China. To make them, the eggs are first hard-boiled, gently tapped so the shell cracks, and then simmered in an aromatic mixture of black tea, soy, and spices. The eggs are traditionally cooked twice – once to be hard-boiled and a second time to fully marinate. Double cooking serves two purposes – it both infuses the flavor of the sauce and preserves it for sale without refrigeration. Once the shell is removed, the eggs retain a distinctive marbled pattern. The lazy edition requires pre-peeling, saving prep time but sacrificing the marble texture.

Egg Drop Soup

China’s equivalent to chicken noodle soup, 蛋花汤 dànhuātāng offers reliable comfort. Essentially chicken broth with beaten eggs and spring onion, this basic recipe serves as a nice base for a variety of other additions, depending on your tolerance for experimentation. Some prefer a blander broth, which better highlights the egg flavor, while others add cornstarch for a thicker consistency. Either option can be prepped within about 30 minutes and served as a tasty appetizer for the egg-obsessed.

Oyster Omelet

Looking to make a meal of your egg-based snack? For a tasty mix of seafood, egg, and spice, look no further than 蚵仔煎 hézǐ jiān. This dish consists small oysters added to a mixture of potato starch and egg. Depending on the region, some also add a chili sauce and lime juice for a little extra kick. It’s also common to serve the omelet with a mix of sweet and spicy tomato sauce on the side. The oyster omelet originated in Fujian and Guangdong provinces and is a signature dish of the Hokkien people.

Century Egg

For egg enthusiasts with more adventurous palates, try an egg dish perfect for youngsters and centagenarians alike! The 皮蛋pídàn is a Chinese delicacy made of preserved duck, quail, or chicken eggs in a saline solution comprised of salt, clay, and sometimes ash, quicklime, or rice hulls. The saline solution gives the egg yolk a creamy texture and a dark-colored, jelly-like consistency. The so-called century egg reportedly dates back to Hunan during the Ming dynasty, when a farmer stumbled upon duck eggs that had been naturally preserved and thought he’d give them a nibble.

Egg Tart

Finally – a sweet egg treat to finish the roundup! The 蛋挞 dàntàis a type of egg custard with a flakey crust and creamy, rich egg filling. While typical in Cantonese cuisine, the egg tart is now found at most bakeries and even KFCs nationwide. This globe-trotting pastry is influenced by the English custard tart and the Portuguese pastel de nata. Pastel de nata was reportedly invented in the 13th century by monks in Lisbon’s Jeronimos Monastery who were looking for a productive way to use leftover egg yolks produced when starching clothing.

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Images: nichiiro (via UNSPLASH), Wikiwand, TBOCC, Common Health, Sina