Fermented Eggs

A second kind of preserved egg, little seen in the West, is made by covering gently cracked eggs in a fermenting mass of cooked rice or other grains mixed with salt: in essence a concentrated and salty version of sake or beer. Zaodan mature in four to six months and take on the aromatic, sweet, alcoholic flavor of their surroundings. Both white and yolk coagulate and fall out of the softened shell. Such eggs can be eaten as is or cooked first.