Have you ever had salted eggs? These are eggs that have been brined for 30-40 days. This preservation method turns the egg yolk into a beautiful firm round rich oily yolk. You will find the yolks used in mooncakes, joong (Chinese tamales), and various dim sum dishes. The egg whites are usually discarded, although most people that make homemade salted eggs find creative ways to use up the salty whites.
There are several methods to make salted eggs that require varying amounts of time. The recipe below is for the traditional way of making these by soaking in a nice salty bath for 30 to 40 days.
I was making 60 salted eggs for my friend's joong making party, and another friend asked if I had the recipe posted on my blog. My first thought was, no need. It's easy. Just boil a solution of salt water. Let it cool. Pour it over the eggs in a glass jar, and seal it up and don't bother it for 30 to 40 days. While that is the gist of it, I realized there are some logistics and planning tips that might be helpful if you want to make salted eggs yourself.
Tips:
- Get a hold of glass jars. You want a glass jar that is just the right size. Too big of a jar, where your eggs only come up half way or 3/4ths of the way is not good because the eggs float and you will not be able to weigh them down easily with a weight. And obviously, too small of a jar won't fit all your eggs. A gallon size jar fits 30 to 33 eggs.
- Salt water is very corrosive. Think of boats rusting in the ocean over time. It's good old electrochemistry accelerating the oxidation process.
- So when you boil your salt water, use a stainless steel pot. Not cast iron, aluminum, or any other reactive pots. Also watch out for the lids. Sometimes pots with lids have iron rivets holding the lid handle to the lid that are of lower quality than the stainless steel pot and those iron rivets can rust and turn your brine to a brown rusty color if you leave the lid on the pot as the salt water boils and cools.
- So I usually boil the plain water first with the lid on the pot, then add the salt AFTER the water comes to a boil. Leave the lid off and bring the salt water back up to a boil. By bringing the large pot of water to a boil first, and then adding the salt, it helps to minimize the amount of time the salt water is in the pot. While the salt water is cooling, I leave the lid off the pot too. That helps it cool down faster and reduces the risk of any iron rivets rusting and ruining your salt solution.
- Once the brine is at room temperature use it. Don't leave the salt water in the pot sitting overnight, or you might get pitting of your pot. Even stainless steal can get corroded if the salt water is left in the pot for a long time. If you are worried about pitting your nice pot, you might want to already transfer the hot brine to a glass jar for cooling rather than leaving it in the pot to cool. (But if you plan to do that, let the solution cool for at least 30 minutes in the pot. Never pour boiling hot things into glass jars, as sudden temperature differences can cause glass to crack.)
- The brine should be a saturated salt solution. Basically, you need to see the salt precipitating out so that you can ensure that the salt concentration is adequate. A 1 part salt to 4 parts water will ensure this.
- Don't leave the eggs in the salt bath indefinitely. When they are ready, you should take them out. Otherwise, I've had reverse osmosis happen which compromises the texture of the egg yolk. A few days extra is fine, but a few weeks extra is not fine. If you are not ready to use the yolks when they are ready, you can take the eggs out. Wash them, crack the eggs, separate out the yolks and freeze the yolks in a single layer in an air tight container. Or you can take the eggs out, wash them, and store them in egg cartons uncracked in the fridge til ready to use. They will be good in the fridge uncracked for about 3-4 weeks. Any longer and the consistency of the yolk may not be firm any more.
Here are the step by step in pictures:
Originally I placed these 60 eggs all in a 2.5 gallon glass jar that I inherited from my Big Aunt. As you can see, the jar is too big for just 60 eggs, so it took a bit of time to maneuver the weights to submerge the eggs. So yes, please find a glass jar that is the right size for the amount of eggs you want to make to save yourself a headache.
Yields 60 eggs
Ingredients:
- 16 to 17 c water
- 4 c table salt
- 60 large eggs
- 2 one gallon glass jars with lids
Procedures:
1. In a non reactive pot, bring 16 to 17 cups of water to a boil. Here at this step, you can leave the lid on the pot.
2. When the water starts boiling, add the salt. One 26 oz container of a morton’s salt yields 2.5 c salt, so you will need a little under two of these. Leave the lid off the pot. Remember that salt water is corrosive.
3. Bring the pot of salt water back up to a boil with stirring. Continue to boil for a few minutes until most of the salt has dissolved. The salt will not all dissolve and it is OK.
4. Turn off the heat. Allow the salt solution to cool to room temperature. DO NOT LEAVE LID ON POT. Cooling to room temperature takes around 3 hours.
5. Wash 60 eggs and carefully place 30 eggs into each of the gallon jars.
6. Ladle the cooled salt solution into each jar until eggs are submerged.
7. Cover the top with a large piece of plastic wrap, and place a weight on top, adjusting the plastic wrap so that the weight can push down on the surface of the eggs and fully submerge them. Cover the top of the jar with plastic wrap and seal with the lid. The plastic wrap protects the lid from corrosion as most lids are metal. The weight can be fermentation weights like the ones I used in the pictures, or they can be small condiment plates that can fit through the top of the jar.
8. Let the eggs sit in the brine for 30 to 40 days. It should be ready in 34 or 35 days. But may take up to 40 days. You can crack one open and check.
9. When the eggs are ready, wash them and crack them open, separating the yolk from the whites. Use the yolks for Chinese tamales (joong) or whatever you desire. You can also save the egg whites in a glass jar in the fridge to use in soups and rice porridge (jook). It's good for up to 6 weeks in the fridge; or you can freeze the salted egg whites in small portions for use later. Tips from my friend Judy and her friends: Skip adding salt to your fuzzy melon soup, winter melon soup, and snow fungus soups; and add a little bit of this salted egg whites instead. These soups are usually bland and so adding the salted egg whites will give it a nice punch.