December | Death

Is this the End?

In Christmas tree leaves ashes fermented egg with ginger-nut-mayonnaise, Leek-Ash and Maldon Salt.

Ingredients:

Chicken eggs (in the original Chinese recipe they are duck eggs)

Salt

Water

Ashes from pine needles

Lemon juice

Cereal husks

clay pot

Preparation:

Measure out enough salt so that it is approximately 1/5 of the amount of ash present, i.e. 5 tablespoons of ash from pine needles to 1 tablespoon of salt. 

Mix water and citrus juice in equal parts.

Mix all ingredients to a thick, fairly firm mash.

Wash the eggs hot. Cover each egg with a layer of the paste. This layer should be about 1/2 cm thick. The egg must be completely coated.

Roll each egg in the husks immediately after coating. Traditionally it should be rice husks, but others are also possible. The husks prevent the eggs from sticking together.

Layer the eggs prepared in this way in a clay pot and close it with a lid.  Wait 3 days and rearrange the eggs so that the lowest egg comes up and the highest one comes down.

Repeat this restacking every 3 days for the first 15 days. This way the eggs get some air and are moved. This way the fermentation starts.

After the 15 days let them ferment for another month. After 45 days we have 1000 year old eggs.

To eat them, wash off the ash layer and carefully tap the shell open.  Peel the egg carefully.

The eggs should now be greenish-black on the outside, the consistency of the egg white is gelatinous and the yolk is semi-solid to firm. The egg white has an attractive amber tone, the yolk is greenish.

The taste tends towards cheese, which is strictly speaking a similar way of preparation, except that milk protein undergoes a similar fermentation process. 

Ginger-nut-mayonnaise

2 egg yolks

Salt

Pepper (white, from the mill)

2 tsp lemon juice (2-3 tsp, or vinegar)

250 ml vegetable oil (neutral)

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tablespoon of seeds (sesame seeds, chi seeds, linseeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds), ground nuts (almonds, pine nuts and cashews, walnuts)

In a bowl, mix the egg yolks with salt, pepper, lemon juice with a whisk.

Slowly stir in the oil in a weak jet, stirring vigorously until the mixture binds homogeneously.

Mix with ginger and seeds/nuts

Leek-Ash

Preheat oven to 250°C. Set vents to high and open a window for adequate ventilation. Place leek on a foil-lined baking sheet. Roast until blackened, dry, and crisp, 70-90 minutes. Let leek cool. Break into shards. 

Plating:

Put some leek ashe and Maldon salt on the plates. Place a spoon of ginger-nut mayonnaise on the plate. Arrange the egg on the ginger-nut mayonnaise and garnish with a nut, seed or stone.