Protein
Salted duck egg
Also called itlog na maalat, itlog na pula, red egg, xian dan, telur asin
A duck egg cured for several weeks in brine or in salted clay, then boiled. The white turns firm and very salty; the yolk turns bright orange, dense and slightly grainy, with a rich, oily texture.
Origin
Chinese cooking, and widely made in the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand. Filipino salted eggs are traditionally dyed red so buyers can tell them from fresh eggs, and the town of Pateros near Manila is known for them.
Flavour
Sharply salty in the white, savoury and almost buttery in the yolk. A little goes a long way against sweet or plain food.
How it is made
Fresh duck eggs are soaked in strong brine, or coated in a paste of clay, salt and water, for three to four weeks, then boiled until hard.
How to use it
Buy them already cooked. Peel and slice them onto bibingka, dice them with tomato and onion as a Filipino side for fried fish, or mash the yolk into sauces. Raw cured eggs, sold in some Chinese shops, need boiling for about 10 minutes first.
Storage
Cooked salted eggs keep about two weeks in the fridge in their shells. Once peeled, use them within two days.
Recipes using it
Bibingka
Rice-flour and coconut-milk cake baked in banana-leaf-lined tins, topped with salted egg and white cheese, brushed with butter. The Christmas cake of Simbang Gabi.
Easy
Mooncakes
月饼
Cantonese mooncakes: a thin, glossy golden-syrup crust pressed around lotus seed paste, with an optional salted duck egg yolk at the centre for the moon.
A bit of work
