Salted eggs is one of the many things that you don't need to DIY in Hong Kong because you can buy them at a very reasonable price. Not so in the UK: a box of 6 costs about £3.8 in Chinese supermarkets. Ever since the first successful attempt, I have stopped buying from Chinese supermarkets, coz DIY ones taste much better and have much nicer yolks! You should be able to see from the picture that the yolk is very shiny with oil (the No.1 quality of a good salted egg).
Every time I make this, it reminds me of the Integrated Science lesson that I had in Form 1. The teacher was demonstrating the theory of 'saturation point' by putting salt in boiling water until the water reaches the point where it cannot dissolve any more salt. This is exactly what we are doing here.
Ingredients:
- Salt
- Duck eggs or large hen eggs
- Water
Method:
- In a pot, heat some water until it comes to the boil. Add a liberal amount of salt to the pot. Stir to dissolve. Keep adding salt and stirring until the water reaches the saturation point and could not dissolve any more salt. Let the salted water to cool completely.
- Wash the eggs carefully under running tap and use paper towel to dry. Double check the eggs are not cracked or dented.
- In a clean jar, put in the eggs carefully and pour in the cooled salted water. Make sure the eggs are fully submerged in the salt water. If the eggs floats, put a saucer or some heavy small objects (like a ceramic mug lid) to weigh the eggs down.
- Keep the jar in a cool dry place for a month. It should be ready in a month. Hard boil one and taste if it's salty enough. If so, take out all the salted eggs and wipe them dry with paper towels and store in the fridge.
Note: Salt water can be used again to make another batch of salted eggs.
