Homemade Salted Eggs (鹹蛋) - Christine's Recipes

Maybe your like

Home
My Instagram
My Chinese Food Blog
Contact Us

Home
Recipe Index
Recipes by Photo
Asian
Chinese
Western
Japanese
Pressure Cooker
Measurements
My Cookbooks

Menu Homemade Salted Eggs (鹹蛋) by Christine Ho · 6:00:00 PM · 61 comments Salted eggs are normally brined duck eggs. Chinese people use them to make moon cakes（月餅）, glutinous rice dumplings (粽子) and many other dishes. Some families I know, like to steam salted eggs that go with congee for breakfast. Homemade Salted Eggs01

In my good old days, salted duck eggs are often sold covered in a thick layer of salted charcoal paste. Nowadays, the producers might know how to do marketing and give the humble salted eggs a nicer presentation. The salted duck eggs I come across here recently almost have the salted paste removed, wrapped in plastic, or vacuum packed. The best salted eggs should have a briny aroma, translucent egg white, with the yolk bright orange-red in colour. The yolk that releases oil after being cooked is considered as a high quality product. Sadly, here in Australia, it’s quite hard to find fresh duck eggs, yet it’s much easier to get some cooked ones. Weird, isn’t it? If any fresh duck eggs put on rack for sale in any Asian grocery stores, they would be gone very quickly. As I have been missing and craving this homey food very much, I brined a dozen and then cooked several traditional Chinese dishes with the salted eggs. Would you like to know what dishes I cooked? I'll post them in a series later on. International Incident Eggs Party

I was glad to hear that Penny of Addictive and Consuming and Trix of Tasty Trix would host an International Egg Incident Party. Lucky enough I can manage myself to participate this time. Here in this post, I share an easy way to make salted eggs at home. This time I used chicken eggs. If you can find fresh duck eggs, that’s even better. But I found the end result of using chicken eggs was very satisfied. This recipe was tested for many times. Not long before, I shared this recipe with my Chinese readers, all salted egg lovers were fascinated and many of them tried it on the next day they read my recipe with satisfied outcomes. Here’s a picture of my fan's salted egg. She shared her joy with me when she successfully made some delicious salted eggs. Homemade Salted Eggs Recipe (Printable recipe) By Christine’s Recipes Course: Eggs Cuisine: Chinese Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 20 mins + 30 to 40 brining days Yield: 2 to 3 serves Homemade Salted Eggs02

Ingredients:

12 duck eggs (or chicken eggs)
1 cup sea salt (or rock salt)
4 cups water
1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
1 star anise
2 tsp Sichuan peppercorns
Sichuan Pepper & Star Anise

Sichuan Pepper & Star Anise

Method:

Rinse the eggs and drain well. Set aside.
Put water and salt in a saucepan. Add star anise and Szechwan peppercorns. Bring it to a boil. Once the salt completely dissolves, turn off the heat. Let cool completely.
Pour in the wine and stir well.
Use a clean glass container, carefully arrange the eggs in the container. (Note: check every egg to make sure there are no cracks on it.) Pour salted water into the container and cover the eggs. You’ll notice some eggs above would float to the surface, so place something, like a little sauce plate on top of the eggs. The basic idea is to get all eggs submerse completely in the brine. Tightly cover the container and place at room temperature. The brining process normally takes 30 to 40 days. Label the start and finish dates on the container to remind yourself. (I used google calendar to set an email alert to myself.) After 30 days, take one egg out to cook and see if its taste is salty enough. If not, let the rest to brine for a few days more. If you’re satisfied, drain all eggs out and wipe dry. Keep them in an egg carton and place in fridge. The salted eggs can be kept for a few weeks in fridge.

Notes：

Before placing the eggs in the container, do make sure all the eggs are not broken or have any cracks.
If you don’t have star anise and Sichuan peppercorns, you can replace with any tea leaves you like when cooking the salted water. The egg shells would look darker, infused by the fragrance of the tea you used.
The egg yolks would turn orange-red beautifully because of the effect of adding Shaoxing wine.

***If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #christinesrecipes — We love to see your creations on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter!!!

Labels: Chinese , Egg , How-to

61 comments :

AnonymousSeptember 25, 2010 at 7:08 PM
Yay, thanks for sharing the recipe. Recently I have been looking for salted egg recipes so I can make some in the future. However, I was always confused about whether or not you were supposed to leave them outside at room temperature or keep them in the fridge. So thanks for the clarification. Also one more thing. How do the eggs keep from spoiling? Is it because of the salt? Can you keep them in direct sunlight or no? Thanks again.
ReplyDeleteReplies
AnonymousSeptember 25, 2010 at 7:19 PM
I would love to try these unique salted eggs! This is a new one for me!
ReplyDeleteReplies
WendySeptember 25, 2010 at 7:25 PM
I saw some big duck eggs at a Chinese grocery store and bought a couple. The next day I went back to buy some more and discovered that what I bought had a little duck inside! That's not what I want. I cracked one open and the little duck has feather on it. No way!. I threw away all of them. I found regular duck eggs at another market. Costs U.S. $0.89 each. Too pricey. I'd love to try your recipe using chicken eggs.
ReplyDeleteReplies
Jo - SecondHelpingSeptember 25, 2010 at 7:40 PM
That orange red egg yolk looks amazing - what a vivid colour!
ReplyDeleteReplies
Xiaolu @ 6 BittersweetsSeptember 25, 2010 at 9:45 PM
I love salted eggs and these look delicious. The yolk is brilliant!
ReplyDeleteReplies
Christine HoSeptember 25, 2010 at 9:50 PM
To x3baking,When the eggs are still in the brining process, I often keep them at room temperature, not in a place that is hot, such as avoiding from direct sunshine light, just a cool place. Once the eggs have been successfully brined, all should be drained out, and keep them in fridge so that they can be kept longer.To 5 Star Foodie,I think you'd love it if you like salted eggs.To Wendy,Yikes! Duck with feathers inside the duck egg!Duck eggs are much more expensive than chicken eggs. The worst thing is that it's very hard to find fresh ones here.To Jo - SecondHelping,The salted egg yolk is my most favourite part.To Xiaolu @ 6 Bittersweets,Thank you.
ReplyDeleteReplies
TrissaSeptember 25, 2010 at 9:50 PM
I've been waiting for this post ever since you tweeted it. I always had this impression it was difficult to make salted eggs - turns out it isn't that hard! Thanks for the tips and secrets. BTW, if there a David Jones in Brisbane? If yes, I usually get fresh duck eggs from there.
ReplyDeleteReplies
Christine HoSeptember 25, 2010 at 10:01 PM
To Trissa,Thanks for the heads up. We do have David Jones in Brisbane. But they don't have any grocery departments or whatsoever that sell eggs. Too bad.
ReplyDeleteReplies
WendySeptember 25, 2010 at 10:30 PM
Someone told me the boiled balut duck eggs is a Vietnamese delicacy. I found a recipe in Kiki Rice recipe blog. These eggs were very big and I thought I was going to have really big duck egg yolk!
ReplyDeleteReplies
penny aka jeroxieSeptember 25, 2010 at 11:29 PM
Im going to make my own salted duck eggs. The colour of the yolk is amazing! There is a egg stall here that sells fresh duck eggs. I usually just buy and poached them... rich and googey!Thanks for joining the party!
ReplyDeleteReplies
Conor @ Hold the BeefSeptember 26, 2010 at 12:05 AM
That yolk colour is really quite stunning, like a jewel! I haven't eaten salted egg very often, and not for a long time, so you've inspired me to hunt some down soon (or maybe even make some.. we'll see!).
ReplyDeleteReplies
tigerfishSeptember 26, 2010 at 12:31 AM
I never knew this is how they make salted eggs.
ReplyDeleteReplies
Cooking GallerySeptember 26, 2010 at 1:40 AM
I still buy my salted eggs, but I think I really should give it a try - to make salted eggs at home I mean, especially because it doesn't sound so hard...Thanks for sharing Christine...! Btw, the picture of the egg yolk above, is it after cooking? If not, how long do you need to cook the salted egg before you can eat it?
ReplyDeleteReplies
Michelle HsuSeptember 26, 2010 at 4:58 AM
Hi Christine,I don't have Shaoxing wine handy. Can I substitute it with anything else or it is a key ingredient? Thank you!
ReplyDeleteReplies
Tasty TrixSeptember 26, 2010 at 5:02 AM
Thanks for sharing something from your past - I'm so glad to have learned how to make this!!
ReplyDeleteReplies
Christine HoSeptember 26, 2010 at 5:17 AM
To Michelle Hsu,The Shaoxing wine is the key ingredient to make the yolk turn oily and orange-red in colour. If you don't have Shaoxing wine, you can replace with other good quality white rice wine.You might omit the wine and still can make salted eggs. But the egg yolk won't be as good as we expect.
ReplyDeleteReplies
Emma @CakeMistressSeptember 26, 2010 at 5:51 AM
I'm loving this egg party. Am being introduced to so many new ways to prepare eggs. Salted eggs are very new to me, but i love the bright orange hue of the yolk. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteReplies
Nancy September 26, 2010 at 10:08 AM
This is a new egg recipe for me. I've never had the pleasure of trying them but they sound tasty. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteReplies
Whats Cookin Italian Style CuisineSeptember 26, 2010 at 2:32 PM
very unique for me amazing !bravo to you!
ReplyDeleteReplies
Honey @ honeyandsoySeptember 26, 2010 at 4:25 PM
Thanks for the recipe, Christine. I always thought making salted eggs would be more complicated. Love the colour of that egg yolk! I didn't know it's shaoxing that makes it that colour!
ReplyDeleteReplies
Iron Chef ShellieSeptember 26, 2010 at 8:25 PM
Great tutorial!
ReplyDeleteReplies
BakericiousSeptember 26, 2010 at 10:16 PM
I should share this with my mil since she likes salted egg so that she can make herself :). Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteReplies
Ju (The Little Teochew)September 26, 2010 at 10:22 PM
I would never have known it was shaoxing wine. I LOVE an orangey, oily yolk. Gorgeous!!!
ReplyDeleteReplies
MaryMohSeptember 27, 2010 at 12:32 AM
Ooooh...I love this. My mom used to make lots of salted duck eggs...so good with porridge. I used to make when I first came to Scotland. I can get fresh duck eggs easily here...lucky me :D I have to make again. I will add wine next time. Thanks very much for the tip.
ReplyDeleteReplies
Noob CookSeptember 27, 2010 at 1:06 AM
I didn't know it's possible to make your own salted eggs at home. looks great!
ReplyDeleteReplies
zmmSeptember 27, 2010 at 2:31 AM
I used to make them myself too. And it's quite easy to get duck eggs here. I didn't put any wine nor star anise though. Have to try again next time and add wine..Your egg yolk is extremely glossy and red, nice..Btw, you know how to make your own century egg? I'm trying to find a recipe, especially one that doesn't need lab chemical.
ReplyDeleteReplies
AnhSeptember 27, 2010 at 5:09 PM
omg! That yolk looks so pretty!
ReplyDeleteReplies
mysimplefoodSeptember 27, 2010 at 8:01 PM
Thanks so much for this recipe. I am been meaning to make my own salted eggs. I love salted eggs and have been so disappointed that I cant find any salted eggs here in USA. They are all ready boiled and packed.
ReplyDeleteReplies
Food For TotsSeptember 28, 2010 at 9:25 AM
Wow! Your salted eggs look even better than the ones I bought in the wet market. Somemore you used chicken eggs instead of duck eggs. It's amazing!!! ;)
ReplyDeleteReplies
Angie's RecipesSeptember 29, 2010 at 5:55 AM
Can't find the duck eggs here either...so I also used chicken eggs...well, I can live with that.
ReplyDeleteReplies
JaySeptember 29, 2010 at 10:06 PM
Would it be possible to use red wine instead of Shaoxing wine or rice wine with same effect? What is the purpose of Shaoxing wine? Is it acidity or added colour or alcohol? Thank you.
ReplyDeleteReplies
AnonymousOctober 14, 2010 at 6:08 PM
Wow! Salted Chicken eggs looked fantastic! Glad I stumbled on your blog today! Will try this out soon.
ReplyDeleteReplies
itepOctober 16, 2010 at 4:20 AM
Hi! Just seeing the colour of the salted egg yolk makes me feel like cooking a bowl of porridge to go with it...Btw, what is the purpose of the star anise and sichuan peppercorns or tea leaves?
ReplyDeleteReplies
Christine HoOctober 20, 2010 at 3:19 PM
To itep,the purpose of the star anise and sichuan peppercorns is to add fragrance. :)
ReplyDeleteReplies
cindyNovember 20, 2010 at 2:37 AM
Hi,my jar only allow 5 chicken eggs ,so do i add half of the ingredient.Thanks
ReplyDeleteReplies
AnonymousNovember 20, 2010 at 1:23 PM
Hello Christine, i just want to ask if Shaohsing wine is same as Shaoxing wine? i went to chinese store and i can't find it, i can only see Shaohsing cooking wine. Thanks a lot!
ReplyDeleteReplies
AnonymousNovember 20, 2010 at 6:58 PM
Hi,my jar can only contain 5 eggs,how much of each ingredient do you think i should use.Thanks
ReplyDeleteReplies
Christine HoNovember 20, 2010 at 7:31 PM
To Anonymous,Yes, they are the same. It's the spelling different.
ReplyDeleteReplies
Christine HoNovember 20, 2010 at 7:38 PM
To Cindy,If your container is not big enough, scale all ingredients down by half then. The basic principle is to get all your eggs completely soaked and covered by salted water.
ReplyDeleteReplies
UnknownJanuary 15, 2011 at 12:57 PM
Hi Christine.. Thank you very much for sharing the Salted Egg recipe. i tried it with chicken eggs and added a small cinnamon stick to the brine solution as well, it was a success.. the yolk were just as red and though it is smaller than duck eggs, it tastes just as good. This is the first time i tried making salted egg.. and all turn out very nice and fragrant too. I will certainly make it again. Best regards, Pat
ReplyDeleteReplies
AnonymousJune 1, 2011 at 5:08 AM
we bought a dozen double-yolk duck eggs. we only used salt and water. the yolk came out very loose (powdery) and yellow in color after boiled. the cooked yolk resembled that of a hard boiled chicken egg yolk.how can we get that orange-red color yolk w/o wine?i don't know the ratio between water and salt since i didn't brine them. do you suggest we start over with a new batch of salt water, but with the existing eggs?
ReplyDeleteReplies
Christine HoJune 1, 2011 at 7:37 PM
@Anonymous:You're not using my recipe, are you?The ratio of water and salt I used in this recipe, water: salt = 4:1with brining days around 35 to 40 days. If you use higher ratio, the days of brining would be different.I suggest you to brine your eggs with another new batch of salt wate. Beware that you have to adjust the brining days as your eggs are a bit salty already.
ReplyDeleteReplies
AnonymousJuly 14, 2011 at 10:41 PM
Hi Christine, where do you live in Australia? I live in Sydney and not difficult to buy fresh Duck eggs. I just bought 20 Jumbo duck eggs costs A$12 at Flemington market, Sydney. Accidently I broke one and found why they are so big, as they are double yolk! Lucky I found you and will try the method tonight~ Regards, Bernadette
ReplyDeleteReplies
AnonymousJuly 18, 2011 at 12:37 AM
Hello, I had a friend who used to salt eggs but I didn't think she cooked them afterwards, just used them with cheese, bikkies and the like. Is it necessary to cook them?
ReplyDeleteReplies
Christine HoJuly 24, 2011 at 2:25 AM
@Anonymous：The salted eggs are still raw. They should be cooked for the sake of our health. After cooked, the texture and taste of the salted eggs would be even better.
ReplyDeleteReplies
AnonymousOctober 21, 2011 at 3:48 PM
@AnonymousI'm glad I hear somebody eat them raw. I'd like to try them raw too.
ReplyDeleteReplies
AnonymousNovember 5, 2011 at 6:57 PM
Hi during the process of brining, I have these fungi formed on top of the brine water...is it normal? The fungi looks like black dot with white colour around it. I did not use the star anise and peppercorns. Please help what should I do to save my salted egg...
ReplyDeleteReplies
Christine HoNovember 7, 2011 at 4:31 AM
@Anonymous:It shouldn't have any fungi in the brine water. I'm afraid that you have to discard the eggs for it might have been polluted.The eggs should be rinsed and dry thoroughly before putting in the brine water. Actually, the brine water is highly salted water that most bacteria can't survive in it.
ReplyDeleteReplies
AnonymousFebruary 1, 2012 at 11:03 PM
where do you get such a large jar to put the eggs in?
ReplyDeleteReplies
Christine HoFebruary 2, 2012 at 9:40 PM
@Anonymous:I bought it from HK. You might like to try Ikea. They've got many glass containers in different sizes.
ReplyDeleteReplies
AnonymousMarch 11, 2012 at 6:51 PM
Can I reuse the salted water for a new batch of eggs since it is still extremely salty? Thank you ever so much!
ReplyDeleteReplies
UnknownMarch 12, 2012 at 12:26 AM
My mom used to make salted duck eggs. There was a duck farm that used to be near us and they would sell us double yolk eggs when they sorted. Also there is double the yolk, which has more flavor than the white. BTW double yolk duck or chicken, don't mature properly for both chicks to survive. The farm closed about 10 years ago, due to re-zoning.I've been able to get Organic Duck eggs from a farmer's market, but they sell for $10 a doz. I would suggest that your readers look for local duck farms in their area. There is one breed of duck in California, that lays eggs as much as chickens. I would like to add, that 1gallon glass pickle jars works great.Thanks for your recipe, I will give it a try.
ReplyDeleteReplies
AnonymousMarch 12, 2012 at 12:45 AM
Just in case your readers find the eggs a bit over salted. Putting them in clean fresh water for a few days will unsalt them slightly.
ReplyDeleteReplies
UnknownMarch 13, 2012 at 11:18 AM
If you find a black egg or dark egg by candling the eggs (hold them up to a light), after salting them. Throw it out, it's most likely gone bad.
ReplyDeleteReplies
AnonymousMarch 29, 2012 at 5:05 PM
I am going to try your recipe...I have ducks and am buried in duck eggs! These girls beat my chickens by a mile when it comes to quantity!Hey...I sell my duck eggs to friends here in southern California for $4/dozen...they are huge, I even have light green ones, purplish ones and white to cream...no double yolks yet. =-)
ReplyDeleteReplies
AnonymousJuly 13, 2012 at 10:40 AM
Can I place duck eggs in the brine and keep them in the fridge? I live in a very hot environment and even a dark cool place is often 30 degrees C or 85 degrees F. Does it prevent the eggs from properly brining if they are refrigerated? Or is it safe to keep the eggs brining at such a warm room temperature? Thanks for your help!
ReplyDeleteReplies
Christine HoJuly 13, 2012 at 6:42 PM
@Anonymous:I see. The ideal environment for brining eggs is not over 30C, or under 10C. Actually, the highly saturated salty water can preserve the eggs.
ReplyDeleteReplies
AnonymousAugust 13, 2012 at 5:56 AM
Thanks for the recipe. I was wondering can the solution/brine be reused for the next lot of eggs. If yes, do I have to reboil it or add water to it?Thanks.
ReplyDeleteReplies
1. Christine HoAugust 17, 2012 at 10:13 PM
  I won't prefer to reuse the brine solution as some of the salt inside is absorbed by the eggs, but you don't know how much of salt you lost. So you have no idea of how many water you have to add.The second batch of end products won't be as good as expected.
  DeleteReplies
AnonymousAugust 15, 2012 at 6:07 AM
Is it okay to put the eggs in smaller jars and cover with salted water? If okay, will the brining process of 30 to 40 days still be the same?Thanks!
ReplyDeleteReplies
1. Christine HoAugust 17, 2012 at 10:01 PM
  With smaller jars, you might put less eggs with less salted water. But the brining process also needs to take about 30 to 40 days. Well, the size of the eggs, not the size of jar used, matters.
  DeleteReplies

Add commentLoad more...

New comments are not allowed.

Home

^^ Welcome ^^

Hi I’m Christine. Thank you for stopping by Christine's Recipes. Check out the recipe index for more simple and delicious dishes. Happy cooking! More about me .

Email
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest

Measurements

Used on Christine’s Recipes1 cup = 250ml1 Tbsp (tablespoon) = 20ml1 tsp (teaspoon) = 5ml

Useful Info

Converting Grams to Cups (Problem & Solution)
Tutorial Videos on Youtube

Tag » How To Make Salted Egg

Homemade Salted Eggs (鹹蛋) - Christine's Recipes

61 comments :

^^ Welcome ^^

Measurements

Useful Info

How To Make Salted Eggs - El Mundo Eats

How To Make Salted Eggs (Brine Solution Or Salt-Cured Egg Yolk)

Salted Eggs (咸蛋) - Made With Lau

How To Make Salted Eggs - Brine Method | Cooking With Nart

Dad's EASY Salted Eggs (鹹蛋)! - YouTube

Chinese Salted Duck Eggs: Thoroughly Tested Recipe!

How To Make Chinese Salted Egg Yolks (brine) - Greedy Girl Gourmet

Aromatic Salted Egg Chicken Recipe | Easy, Savory, And Crispy

3 Ways To Make Homemade Salted Eggs (recipe) - Rice 'n Flour

Salted Eggs - Malaysian Chinese Kitchen

Homemade Salted Eggs - Kawaling Pinoy

Homemade Salted Eggs (2 Brining Methods)

Salted Egg Yolks Recipe | BBC Good Food

Contact