"How is the century egg made?"
This indeed hit the nail on the head.
He had long anticipated being asked this question one day when preparing a century egg dish, so he had done his homework in advance.
While peeling the shell off the century egg, he explained to the chefs.
"First, you need fresh duck eggs, with a clean and dry surface, without any moisture left behind."
"Then burn dry straw and pine needles into ash, crush them into powder, and mix them with the marinade to form a paste."
"The marinade is prepared by boiling star anise, cinnamon, Sichuan peppercorns, and pine leaves in water. After filtering out the spices, it's necessary to add quicklime, alkali, and salt and stir them together. The quicklime reacts with water and releases a lot of heat, so it's important to stir thoroughly and wait until the reaction is completely finished before using it."
