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    Home » Recipes » Pantry

    Salted Duck Egg

    Last Modified: May 6, 2022 by Elaine| 40 Comments

    Jump to Recipe

    Salted duck egg is a very famous Chinese traditional food across the entire country. My grandma used to usually make this duck eggs with preserved eggs together. It has been a long family tradition and memory.

    In summer days, eggs can't keep for a long time and thus we developed several ways to keep them longer. If you visit Cantonese restaurants and order a congee, pickled vegetable, fresh lettuce and pickled duck egg are always the matches.  

    salted duck egg|chinasichuanfood.com

    Salted egg is with a long history

    Salted duck egg is widely used in lots of traditional Chinese holiday food like moon cakes for Mid autumn day and Zongzi for Dragon Boat Festival. It can bring a super unique texture and flavor in filling.  There are around several ways to make salted duck egg, the method I introduce today is dry method using wine and salt only. Some of the traditional ways are not feasible since we cannot find the tools and materials needed like yellow sands or red soil. But there is another way popular among housewives—pickled duck eggs. 

    It is all about balance 

    When the salted eggs are well pickled, the white remains still liquid but the yolk in center turns solid.  The sodium and chloride ions separate the proteins from each other, which further presents as agglomerated proteins. That's the oil sandy texture. The fat really around 8% comes out along with the agglomerating process. So as long as the pickling time is enough, you get oily yolks. 

    The actual time needed is very much depending on how salty you want the eggs to be and on the room temperature. A perfect well salted duck egg has an oily egg yolk and acceptable saltiness in egg white.  But in most cases, we need to find a balance.

    salted duck egg|chinasichuanfood.com
    duck egg pickled 20 days

    In warm days, we need to start testing for around 3 weeks (in shadow places). Start testing the saltiness of the egg after 3 weeks fermentation. Just boil one and cut in halves for testing.  Wash the eggs carefully  when they are appropriately salted. and place them in the refrigerator.  However in winter days, one or two more weeks might be needed.

    salted duck egg|chinasichuanfood.com
    Salted egg pickled for 1 month.

    Steps

     Carefully wash the eggs until clean.  Then place under sunshine for 6 hours (depending on the room temperature). In summer days,  shorten the time to 1 hour in soft morning sunshine. This process helps to open the pores and fasten the process. 

    salted duck egg|chinasichuanfood.com

    Then soak the eggs with lard liquid or you can use a small amount of the liquid and soak them in batches. 

    salted duck egg|chinasichuanfood.com

    In the mean time, add salt and water in a completely clean pot, heat until boiling. Turn off the fire and wait until cool down.

    salted duck egg|chinasichuanfood.com

    Wait for 25 to 45 days, also depending on the room temperature. 

    salted duck egg|chinasichuanfood.com

    When the egg is well pickled, hard boil them before serving.

    salted duck egg|chinasichuanfood.com

    🧾Recipe

    salted duck egg|chinasichuanfood.com

    Salted Duck Egg

    Elaine
    Homemade Salted Duck Egg is a famous Chinese side dish especially for breakfast. The egg white can be matched with congee directly while the yolk can be used in steamed recipes, stir fry dishes and traditional Chinese moon cake.
    5 from 4 votes
    Print Recipe
    Course pantry
    Cuisine Chinese
    Servings 10 Making 10 salted duck egg.
    Calories 152 kcal

    Ingredients
      

    • 10 fresh duck eggs
    • 500 ml hard liquor , or 100ml to soak in batches
    • 500 ml water
    • 175g salt

    Instructions

    • Carefully wash the eggs until clean.  Then place under sunshine for 6 hours (depending on the room temperature) in winter. In summer days,  shorten the time to 1 hour, morning sun please. Or at least 4 hours in other seasons.
    • Then soak the eggs with lard liquid or you can use a small amount of the liquid and soak them in batches.
    • In the mean time, add salt and water in a completely clean pot, heat until boiling. Turn off the fire and wait until cool down.
    • Wait for 25 to 45 days, also depending on the room temperature.
    • When the egg is well pickled, hard boil them before serving.

    Notes

    Exposure under sunshine can help the salt permeating the shells and further make sure the high quality of the egg yolk.
     
    The Nutrition Facts is based on each single egg.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 152kcalCarbohydrates: 1gProtein: 8gFat: 9gSaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 618mgSodium: 4753mgPotassium: 155mgVitamin A: 470IUCalcium: 48mgIron: 2.7mg
    Keyword egg, salt
    Tried this recipe?Mention @ChinaSichuanFood

    salted duck egg|chinasichuanfood.com

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Nagi {RecipeTin Eats}

      November 30, 2014 at 2:56 pm

      Never in a million years would I have thought to make this myself. My brother loves curing and salting things himself, he is going to love this recipe! Thank you for sharing - sending it to him now!

      Reply
      • Elaine Luo

        December 01, 2014 at 9:16 am

        Haha Nagi,
        We seldom buy from store. From generations, we made salted duck egg and persevered egg at home. It is really easy and much fresher than store bough version. You should try it yourself.

        Reply
    2. Margaret

      December 01, 2014 at 12:36 am

      Do you have to use duck eggs? What about chicken eggs found at a grocery store?

      Reply
      • Elaine Luo

        December 01, 2014 at 9:17 am

        Duck eggs are perfect for salted eggs. However you can use chicken eggs too. Make sure your eggs are fresh and you need to shorten the time slightly since chicken eggs are smaller than duck eggs, usually.

        Reply
    3. Nadia

      December 01, 2014 at 8:38 pm

      Hello,

      May I know what is the purpose of the hard liquor? Is it for sterilization? Can I skip that process?

      Reply
      • Elaine Luo

        December 04, 2014 at 3:50 am

        Hi Nadia,
        Hard liquor is used to speed up the process and make the lecithin separated from the protein, thus making a perfect salted egg yolk. It can help the permeation of salt by destroying oil layer near the egg shells.
        It should be ok to skip the process but not recommended.

        Reply
    4. Saki

      December 13, 2014 at 8:10 pm

      Hi just came across website looking for good places to eat in Changdu.

      Three questions:

      1. How long do your salted duck eggs last before the go bad, a so called shelf life?
      2. In your Ma-Po Dofu recipe, you did not use any dried red chillis, if one does, how best way to use?
      3. Do you have any recommendations for really good restaurants in Changdu?

      Really like your blog!!! Keep up the great work.

      A new fan.
      Saki

      Reply
      • Elaine Luo

        December 15, 2014 at 1:15 am

        Hi Saki,
        Thanks for stopping by and leaving me such a nice comment. For your questions
        1. I would not recommend keeping the homemade salted duck egg for more than one month because there is no antiseptic substance used in the recipe. Otherwise, you need to boil them and keep in vacuum package.
        2. If you love spicy taste very much, you can add extra dried red chili in mapo tofu, just fry them before adding doubanjiang. Or you can use some chili powders at the very last step along with fresh Sichuan peppercorn powder.
        3. I am quite sorry for this question, because I am living in Guangdong province and I have not been to Chengdu for quite a long time.
        Wish you happy eating and enjoy your time in Chengdu. It is really a great place.

        Reply
    5. Kune

      April 19, 2015 at 8:36 am

      Hi Elaine,First of all thank u so much for sharing ur recipe on how to make ur own salted eggs.I ddnt knw that d process of making it is super easy!However cld u kindly give a suggestion on what kind or brand of hard liquor I cld use?Thanks!

      Reply
      • Elaine Luo

        April 19, 2015 at 8:48 am

        Hi Kune,
        It is ok to use any brand of hard liquor, just make sure the alcohol content is around or higher than 50%. I am using Chinese 二锅头.

        Reply
    6. Xochitl Gonzalez

      May 21, 2015 at 6:22 pm

      Thank you for the recipe! Will try this week! I love congee and friends recommended I try it with salted eggs.

      Reply
      • Elaine Luo

        May 24, 2015 at 9:09 pm

        Hi Gonzalez,

        Go ahead and I am looking forward to your good news. Salted egg really matches perfectly with summer.

        Reply
    7. Lin

      October 10, 2015 at 9:30 am

      Hello Elaine, I have only used preserved duck eggs in a salt water solution. This method seems about 2x faster! Have you preserved duck eggs in salt water, and if so, Is there a difference in taste or texture?

      Thank you!!

      Reply
    8. Lin

      October 10, 2015 at 9:34 am

      Sorry for the followup comment -- I meant to say that I have preserved duck eggs in salt water solution before, but never just packed them in salt. Thank you so much!!

      Also, I plan to use these eggs for making "hom dan" the steamed ground pork dish with ginger, topped with duck eggs. My Shanghainese mother made this when I was growing up, and I'm now making it for my Children it's the ultimate comfort food!!!

      Reply
      • Elaine

        October 11, 2015 at 4:13 am

        Hi Lin,

        I used pickled method to make preserved duck egg (I believe that's the way you are referring to). I do not think there is obvious texture or taste difference. This salt wrapped method is faster but we need to be very careful about the time to washing off the salt, otherwise the duck might be over-salted. You can use either way of course.

        By the way, I love steamed pork with salted duck eggs. It has been my best memories too.

        Reply
    9. Tara

      October 23, 2015 at 2:49 pm

      Hi Elaine, thank-you so much for this recipe and your wonderful blog. It's so nice to be able to find traditional Chinese recipes that Ive eaten as a child and cook them myself in a small regional town in Australia. I have a question about the amount of time to ferment the duck eggs. I noticed you said it takes about 3 weeks in summer and only 1-2 weeks in winter. I would have thought the fermentation process would be faster in summer and slower in winter. Is there a reason why this takes longer in summer? Many thanks!

      Reply
      • Elaine

        October 23, 2015 at 9:00 pm

        Hi Tara,

        You are right. Fermentation goes faster in summer than winter. It is a typo. I mean one or two more weeks required in winter days.

        Reply
        • Tara

          October 25, 2015 at 3:39 am

          Ah ok, thanks for clarifying!

          Reply
    10. renuka

      October 27, 2015 at 12:45 am

      Hi Elaine:
      I bought fresh duck eggs two weeks ago. They were kept in the fridge. Is it ok to use them or they need to be super fresh?
      Please let me know because I want to try making these tomorrow.
      Thank you.
      Renuka

      Reply
      • Elaine

        October 27, 2015 at 8:24 am

        Hi Renuka,
        Two week duck eggs are good for this recipe. But you need to figure out whether they are fresh at the store. Fresher eggs are better of course. You can break one and see whether they are still fresh.

        Reply
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