Eggs…a strange form of food if you think about it: An oval shaped thing that pops out of a hen and either hatches into a chicken or becomes a nutritious ingredient in the human’s diet.  But most of us don’t give the egg a second thought despite the rather startling fact that the average person in China consumes 122.2 kg of eggs per year, adding up to approximately 40 billion eggs consumed by the nation in total.

rabbit and eggs. Source: toponday.com

Actually this whopping figure shouldn’t come as that much of a surprise. Eggs are regarded as one of the most nourishing foods in China and are integrated into countless dishes and in ways most of us never imagined before coming here. But rather than delving into the more sinister side of mass egg production—which trust me, may put you off eating eggs forever— we’ve decided to stick to the sunny-side (up) of things. Below, we teach you basic Chinese vocab for ordering eggs just the way you like them, discuss several of the more interesting egg dishes in China and tell you how to make your own egg dye for Easter.

How to order eggs in Chinese

Chinese textbooks seem to largely overlook egg-related vocab, which may seem like a minor problem in the world to most people, but not to those who are very particular about how their eggs are prepared. To avoid any future frustrations, study the table below, or better yet, get it printed into a wallet sized card to carry around with you wherever you go!

English	Pinyin	Chinese
Scrambled	Chǎo jīdàn	炒鸡蛋
Sunny side up	Dān miàn jiān jīdàn	单面煎鸡蛋
Over easy	Shuāng miàn jiān jīdàn	双面煎鸡蛋
Boiled egg	Zhǔ jīdàn	煮鸡蛋
Poached egg	Shuǐ zhǔ jīdàn/shuǐ zhǔ hébāodàn	水煮鸡蛋/水煮荷包蛋

The many ways you’ll see eggs on the dinner table

Let’s admit it: the Western approach to egg cooking can be pretty boring, at least when compared to the varieties available in China. Let’s take the ever-popular thousand-year eggs (a.k.a. 皮蛋, 松花蛋or preserved eggs) for example. Easily recognizable due to their transparent black color, these surprisingly tasty treats only take about 100 days to produce and are readily used in congee and various cold dishes. And despite conjuring up images of giant egg-filled vats filled with mysterious dark gunk, the production process of thousand-year eggs is actually quite harmless and simple: combine black tea, salt, ashes and lime, coat the eggs with the clay-like mixture, and let them cure in a cool dark place for about three months. (Don’t worry, the eggs are thoroughly rinsed, cleaned, peeled and sliced before they’re sold).

Another popular way of serving eggs in China is on the skewer. Quail eggs are well represented in China’s diverse culinary culture, and one of the most common ways of seeing them served is roasted and sprinkled with chili and spices on a wooden skewer served as street food. Alternatively, try them boiled in spicy malatang broth, in hot pot or malaxiangguo. Salted duck eggs are another popular choice. Soaked in salt brine, these sodium bombs are often used as fillings in mooncakes (yolk only) or stir-fried with vegetables. Eggs are also a popular breakfast choice, with eggs in sesame buns (烧饼加鸡蛋) and Jianbing (egg pancake with a crispy filling) being particularly popular and delicious choices in northern China.

How to make your own egg dye

If after reading all about the “eggciting” stuff above, you get a burst of energy, why not channel it into something creative, like making your own egg dye?! A common Easter tradition abroad is to dye and paint eggs, either hard-boiled ones for eating or hollowed out shells for hanging on decorative Easter “trees” (for our German readers). In China, some import supermarkets are starting to sell pricy egg dye kits, but you can get similar results for far cheaper if you make your own dye – it’s really easy!

What you need:

1. Hard boiled eggs
2. Glass dish or mug for each color
3. Spoon for each container
4. White vinegar
5. Food coloring (or canned beet juice for pink, boiled ground turmeric or cumin for yellow, boiled spinach leaves for green, red cabbage leaves for blue, grape juice for purple or coffee for brown)
6. Paper towels

Preparation:

1) Place 1/2 cup of room temperature water (not cold) into each mug or dish.
2) Add 1 teaspoon of white vinegar and 10 drops of food coloring to each container. You can use more food coloring if colors are not dark enough.
3) Stir well.
4) Using a spoon, dip egg into dye. (Use one spoon for each color to avoid mixing colors.)
5) Make sure to rotate the egg if the dye does not completely cover it.
6) The longer the egg sits in the dye, the darker the color will be.
7) Remove egg using a spoon and blot it on a paper towel.
8) Allow to dry.
 

Related links
Land of the Healthy: 5 Chinese Super Foods
'Strange' and 'Normal' Foods: Culinary Discoveries in China
Tastes like the West: Popular Foreign Foods in China

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Keywords: Eggs in China eggcitement Egg dishes in China