---------- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.02
  
       Title: THOUSAND-YEAR-OLD EGGS
  Categories: Cheese/eggs, Chinese
       Yield: 12 servings
  
       2 c  Very strong black tea
     1/3 c  Salt
       2 c  Each ashes of pine wood,
            Ashes of charcoal and ashes
            From fireplace
       1 c  Lime*
      12    Fresh duck eggs
  
       These are often called thousand-year eggs, even
   though the preserving process lasts only 100 days.
   They may be purchased individually in Oriental markets.
   
       Combine tea, salt, ashes and lime. Using about 1/2
   cup per egg, thickly coat each egg completely with
   this clay-like mix- ture. Line a large crock with
   garden soil and carefully lay coated eggs on top.
   Cover with more soil and place crock in a cool dark
   place. Allow to cure for 100 days. To remove coating,
   scrape eggs and rinse under running water to clean
   thoroughly.
    Crack lightly and remove shells. The white of the egg
   will appear a grayish, translucent color and have a
   gelatinous texture. The yolk, when sliced, will be a
   grayish-green color.
   
       To serve, cut into wedges and serve with:
   
       Sweet pickled scallions or any sweet pickled
   vegetable
   
       Sauce of 2 tablespoons each vinegar, soy sauce and
   rice wine and 1 tablespoon minced ginger root.
   
       *Available in garden stores and nurseries.
   
       The description of the whites turning grayish
   isn't quite accurate from the ones I've seen. They're
   more a dark blackish amber color-- quite attractive
   actually.
   
       From “The Regional Cooking of China” by Margret
   Gin and Alfred E. Castle, 101 Productions, San
   Francisco, 1975.
  
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