The Nan Shi Zaos look incredible, but I was very pleasantly surprised by a new to me brand sold at Asia Mekong opposite Hackescher Markt, name eludes me, but all the eggs were individually shrink wrapped. They looked a lot closer to yours than anything I’ve seen here and tasted great, too.
Oh thank you for posting this cos it brings back so many memories! Mum loved pidan - she had them very simply, just wrapped in thin slivers of ginger that she pickled herself.
When I was a kid, I was fascinated by the crystal-like patterns scattered across the translucent skin of the 松花皮蛋. To me, they looked like a tiny constellation of stars, and each egg was different, so I'd peel off all the whites and leave the yolks for mum 😝.
They only seem to sell the "plain" ones these days, but we still enjoy them with porridge. Sometimes we do the Japanese riff on pidan tofu - blending the yolks with mirin and neri goma (sesame paste), then topping the tofu with that and tobiko (flying fish roe).
Thanks for your story, I loved the pattern too, it look so delicate! Still one of the most popular type of pidan in China. And...the Japanese riff on pidan sounds so good! I would give it a try next time.
Haha some people think I made it up cos they've never seen the patterns 🙄.
Yes, do try the Japanese version - it's such a lovely symphony of flavours and we love it when the tobiko goes "pop".
It's quite simple to make actually, but we rarely make it ourselves these days cos one of our fave sushi bars does it so well that we just have it there.
The Nan Shi Zaos look incredible, but I was very pleasantly surprised by a new to me brand sold at Asia Mekong opposite Hackescher Markt, name eludes me, but all the eggs were individually shrink wrapped. They looked a lot closer to yours than anything I’ve seen here and tasted great, too.
Thanks for sharing: I used to go to that Asian grocery stores a few years back, need to check the century eggs next time!
Those artisanal Nan Shi Zao eggs are so pretty - must try to find some.
Oh thank you for posting this cos it brings back so many memories! Mum loved pidan - she had them very simply, just wrapped in thin slivers of ginger that she pickled herself.
When I was a kid, I was fascinated by the crystal-like patterns scattered across the translucent skin of the 松花皮蛋. To me, they looked like a tiny constellation of stars, and each egg was different, so I'd peel off all the whites and leave the yolks for mum 😝.
They only seem to sell the "plain" ones these days, but we still enjoy them with porridge. Sometimes we do the Japanese riff on pidan tofu - blending the yolks with mirin and neri goma (sesame paste), then topping the tofu with that and tobiko (flying fish roe).
Thanks for your story, I loved the pattern too, it look so delicate! Still one of the most popular type of pidan in China. And...the Japanese riff on pidan sounds so good! I would give it a try next time.
Haha some people think I made it up cos they've never seen the patterns 🙄.
Yes, do try the Japanese version - it's such a lovely symphony of flavours and we love it when the tobiko goes "pop".
It's quite simple to make actually, but we rarely make it ourselves these days cos one of our fave sushi bars does it so well that we just have it there.