We all have our comfort foods. It may be mom’s homemade chicken noodle soup, or mac & cheese from a box—or even caviar and champagne, depending on your economic (and snobbery) status. But one common theme between any kind of comfort food is the safe familiarity it provides. It’s something you’ve had many times before, and something you know for sure that it will satisfy.
Yes, comfort food rocks. But come on—it can also be boring and humdrum. Sometimes, you just need a little…pizazz in your life…especially if you call yourself a foodie. After all, I’m sure without the few more adventurous foodie ancestors, many of you might not have even gotten the chance to try your beloved sushi, or chana masala, or hummus. You might still be sticking to pot roast and jell-o.
So I ask you to keep an open mind, and bring out your adventurous spirit. God knows I love my oatmeal and sweet potatoes too, but what about trying something totally different for a change? It would be exciting. You might not end up liking it, but for pete’s sake, you have a few thousand more meals ahead of you to make up that one challenging meal.
You know where I’m going with this. I’m going to introduce a rather…exquisite ingredient. Here’s a hint: It’s one of my favorite ingredients…except, it’s really, really “old”.
Say hello (and welcome) Mr. Century Egg from the fine land of China: 
It’s also called Hundred-Year Egg. Or Thousand-Year Egg. In Chinese, it’s called Pi Dan. It’s basically preserved egg (usually duck) which have been kept in a mixture of clay, ash, salt, lime, and rice hulls for several weeks to several months. So no, it’s not really a hundred years old. Who can wait that long? 
Unlike the regular egg, the yolk is a dark green, incredibly creamy substance, while the white is a dark, transparent jelly. The white itself has no flavor, but it has the consistency of chewy jelly. But the yolk? It’s got this phenomenally intense flavor. It’s hard to describe; it’s just something you’ve got to try for yourself.
Not too scary, right? I mean, it’s just a very black duck’s egg. The Chinese like to eat this as sort of an appetizer with cold tofu and ground pork. They also cook this into a rice porridge, called pi dan zhou. I drew inspiration from that to make my dish:
Century Egg Multi-Grain Porridge
- 1/4 cup cabbage, diced
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- about 3 shitake mushrooms, chopped
- Kikkoman Ponzu sauce (or soy sauce)
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 1/4 cup oat bran
- 1/4 cup bulgur
- chicken broth
- 2 century eggs, chopped
- 2 stalks green onions, chopped
- salt and pepper
Cook the cabbage, onion, garlic, and mushrooms with the Ponzu sauce in a big pot until softened and fragrant: Once the grain has been properly cooked, turn off the heat, and stir in the century eggs and green onions. Season with salt and pepper as needed. I finished mine with a drizzle of Ponzu sauce. The Kikkoman Ponzu soy sauce I used was provided through the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program: Question of the day: Do you tend to stick to the same meals and ingredients over and over again, or are you more adventurous in your cooking? What is one (or several) new ingredients you have tried over the last few weeks? 
Pour in the oats, oat bran, and bulgur, stir fry for less than a minute to coat, and then pour in enough chicken broth to cover. Bring to a boil, simmer, and add more chicken broth as needed. 
I’ve tamed this dish down as much as possible. Hopefully it’s not so intimidating now? 
It’s like my new favorite condiment now. It’s a lighter version of soy sauce, kind of, but with a fresh, delightful citrusy-lime burst. I’ve also cooked cabbage with this, and it livens up any drabby dish. Highly recommend trying it out yourself! 
Sometimes the best way to introduce yourself to a new challenge ingredient is to tame it down by blending it into a comfort dish, like porridge, or soup. 
I only used two century eggs, but because they have such a strong, bold flavor, it was very pronounced in this dish. 
I also thought it went really well with the sweet cabbage, the meaty shitake mushrooms, and the citrusy Ponzu soy sauce.
I think this actually looks pretty inviting! Would anyone dare to join me for lunch? 
Most of us won’t have a whole century to live…so why not live it up a little, and try something new and unexpected?
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Those eggs are definitely strange looking! I am so curious as to what they taste like!
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Oh my gosh, I haven’t had a thousand-year egg since I was a little girl! I love those! They have such a unique, rich taste, and your dish looks perfect for the flavor. Where did you get those?? I don’t live anywhere near a Chinatown, unfortunately
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You have such amazing talents and adventurous spirits. My comfort food is noodles in many styles of cooking. The Pi Dan is good but I am not a fan. Your dish looks awesome – a departure from the usual soupy porridge and pork – and I don’t mind trying it.
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I usually stick with the same eats only because I don’t want my food to go to waste so I try to use everything up =)
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The century eggs sound really intrigueing- I would love to try them! Have you ever tried Balot?..
Hmm. New ingredients- I made my first scrambled eggs ever! With jam and laughing cow cheese. I like doing twists on old favourites because it gives a whole different experience…ie, there are endless possibilities with something as basic as a cheese sandwich, you know?
I need some photography tips from you- what kind of lighting do you use?
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You are quite adventurous! I tend to stick to the same types of things. It’s partly because I like to make use of what I have in my fridge, so I tend to throw together the same types of ingredients into different recipes. I just recently discovered goat cheese. I have no idea why it took me so long. I love it! A while back, I discovered that I could saute spinach leaves. I know, I’m slow. I have about 15 dinners that I rotate through. Sometimes I get sick of one for a long time. I’d say I have a pretty big variety, but I don’t often try totally new things.
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I’ve never had a Century Egg. Would love to try one, though. I’m adventurous enough when I go out to dinner, but pretty much stick to comfort foods at home…foods I know my family will like.
Really love your blog!
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I’ve been wanting to hear a review about those eggs. I wasn’t sure what the taste would be like!
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i. must. try. those. eggs. great dish! a wonderful variation from the norm.
i hardly ever repeat a dish, but when i do, it’s one that is completely failsafe and something my whole family will love.
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Girlfriend, you’ve got bigger balls that me…. I could never eat that dark egg. Gives me the creeps!
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Your recipe definitely makes the century egg look much more appealing. My table had some at a Malaysian restaurant recently but only one person was brave enough to take a bite of the egg. It wasn’t me. Yay creative comfort food!
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Switching up my meals is something I’m really struggling with. This post was very inspiring! Thanks (: -Kylee
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Ohno Sophia, that century egg totally made me gag!! I have a very sensitive relationship with eggs. I luuuurve them, but I also can’t put too much thought into them. I used to be a “gross-out” vegetarian, in that eating animals grossed me out. I now live in complete denial in order to stomach them!
However, savoury porridge gets a thumbs up in my books
I’m typically adventurous when I have to be, so long as it doesn’t cost me too much money 
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So interesting! I’ve never seen anything like those before!
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Ive heard about those eggs before but Ive never seen or tried them, on first glance they arent exactly very appealing! Your end product looked great though
Hmm Id have to say Im pretty repetitive with my cooking and ingredients. Id like to be more experimental and I am going to try to branch out a bit more.
xox
Laura
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major props on those eggs. i really do not know if i could have eaten them, because i am shallow like that and let the looks of food get to me sometimes. it took me FOREVER to eat purple ketchup. for reals.
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I try to be open minded about my food choices but I don’t know if I’d be able to eat a black egg! I will have to say it looks much more appetizing in your dish tha by itself. And to think I used to think myself adventurous for eating things like quinoa and tofu! They seem so common now.
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I definitely get stuck in food ruts, mostly due to allergies but partially due to the comfort factor you mentioned. I would live on polenta if I didn’t force myself to eat other things.
You are a braver soul than I am with that ancient egg! Although somehow you managed to make it look pretty appetising, and this is coming from a person who is grossed out by regular eggs.
A new ingredient that I’ve just tried is (are?) Shiitake mushrooms, which I didn’t expect to like but in the end I adored their strong taste and meaty texture.
<3
~Jess~
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I love to use different stuff…and try different recipes. In regards to the egg, I was introduce to it when I was young, therefore enjoy it…but my husband will not dare to try it
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I see those eggs on the Food Network quite a bit, so interesting!
I use a lot of the same ingredients but usually different recipes, I don’t like to eat the same thing very often.
Jenn
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The people at work always have the Century Old eggs for our potluck celebrations but thus far I’ve been too wimpy to try one. I think I’ll have to give it a go next time. Your porridge looks delicious. I also love the lightness of ponzu sauce.
I tend to use a lot of the same ingredients though I used polenta for the first time last night with a shitake mushroom ragout and it was delicious.
Your blog is great!
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My culinary sense of adventure is directly related to how much time I have–I’ve been sticking to my old faves lately due to my busy life, but I like to try different things when I can experiment.
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What I have been dying to try is jicama. It looks so refreshing.
While that dish looks SO good, the name “century egg” still freaks me out!! haha
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Interesting about those century eggs. I’ve never heard of them and not so sure I’d knowingly eat one. Blind folded, maybe.
I wonder why the Chinese preserve or age foods in clay? Isn’t that how Kimshee is made? It is preserved for months before eating?
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Living in a dorm forces me to eat the same things over and over. But I do get creative with the microwave and make some interesting “dishes”! It’s so fun to experiment in a kitchen though. I usually take a recipe I know and just start playing around with it until it becomes something completely different!
Props to you Soph for your “century egg porridge”. I’m waiting for the day someone give you a cookbook deal!
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Oh boy oh boy! I remember Mom and Dad shoving those eggs down our throats when we were young. At the time, my brother and I were naturally freaked out about eating anything that looked remotely unfamiliar, let alone an extremely black egg. I guess its name didn’t really help either. I also remember watching Fear Factor one time and the challenge was to eat the “Thousand Year Old Egg”. All the contestants were (naturally) extremely mortified. Meanwhile, my parents became upset that they didn’t have the chance to be on fear factor and eat those TYO eggs.
Fortunately, sometime in my teenage years, I overcame my black-egg aversion and fell in love with the stuff. But only in cold tofu with green onions and ground pork. Oh baby, that stuff was GOOOD.
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You always make the best recipes! My BFis more adventurous than me with eating, so he gets me to try great new things all the time
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i adore your foods!! ohhh i would LOVE for you to cook for me sometime!! hehe.
yay for good daddys too!!
i try to have something different for dinner every night-just to be adventurous.
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I try and do different things for the blog but also because I love to try new things whether they work out or not!
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Nothing — absolutely nothing — looks or tastes like a thousand-year egg. As a kid, I learned two things never to do after eating one of them — brushing your teeth with mint toothpaste or drinking a glass of orange juice. I dunno what it is about the flavor of the egg, but it is downright awful if it combines at all with mint toothpaste or OJ. To this day, I still remember that awful, unexpected experience. Hah.
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Wow, i love century egg… maybe i can try your recipe but without using oats.. heehee..
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I LOVE that thousand year egg too!!! just don’t have the guts to bring it out… actually its in my porridge menu, and stir fry them with peppers and vinegar..haha Thanks for giving it such a wonderful introduction!! now finally I can post some centry-eggs
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I’ve heard of those eggs and would definitely tried one if it appeared before me
But I can’t say “duck egg” is accessible at my local grocery. 
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I’ve never had that kind of a century egg and wonder if i would have the courage to try it.
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OOOOH I WANNA TRY!
I have a huge huge love of eggs
And have never tried these before so am INTRIGUED.
I like experimenting with new ingredients, but I definitely have my favourite fall-back recipes that I use time and again.
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My parents love pi dan, but sadly, I am not a fan. I totally fit the bill for eating the same foods all the time! I seem to fall back on my easy throw-all-leftovers-on-lettuce salads when I’m busy or tired, and I have the same bowl of oatmeal for breakfast every morning. However, I did try making muffins out of oat bran last week! Oat bran is probably commonplace to most people by now, but I’ve never used it before! And the muffins came out wonderful! I think I’ll try using a new ingredient/cooking a new dish every week.
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I’m still coming to terms with the idea of unabashedly fermented food. (Kimchi, okay. Eggs…) That said, if I have a chance to eat one in Asia, I’ll probably go for it.
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Now that looks interesting and I would definitely try it! I’m a huge fan of comfort foods. Thanks for always introducing us to unconventional cooking ingredients
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No offense to your porridge and ancient egg, but the only thing I can think of now is fried chicken and mac and cheese.
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A century egg sounds so unique and tasty! Is it expensive?
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I’m boring. I tend to stick to the same things…and add garlic to everything
I tried sesame oil recently (love), as well as grapeseed oil (love). I’ve been doing a lot of vegan baking…hence, the oil.
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WOW I have never seen or heard of these before but this dish looks SO amazing and what a unique recipe this is what I love about your blog (well, 1 of the things I love) is that each recipe is yunique and you use ingredients that at first, I woudl never think mesh well together but then look at what you create?! it is astonishing and incredible.!
I think it depends on my mood as far as what foods I stick too. usually I have the same food staples but I like to use them in different ways!
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That post was such an eye-opener! I had no idea you could do that with eggs- or that they would end up looking black/green lol!!!
I don’t always stick to the same ingredient because since I make food for one or 2 ppl max I usually end up eating the same thing the whole week. So imagine if I made the same meal every week – it would get soooo boring! This week for example I’m trying a lentil soup
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I’m super excited to try my own Ponzu now! Sounds so tasty.
Century eggs were one of many things I never worked up the balls (or eggs, as it were) to try while I was living in China. I managed to sample scorpions and even dog meat, but I struggled with the sight of these eggs. Now I’m all intrigued! After a year+ of food blogging, I think I might be even more adventurous if I had my year in China to do all over again.
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Wow…that is so cool! Where in the world can you find those? I totally would try one if I knew where to look…
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[...] menu (Sophia: no Thousand-Year eggs, unfortunately [...]
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I have got to try this dish, sounds absolutely amazing! Thanks for sharing!
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I’ve never seen a century egg before and would like to try one! Reading blogs always inspires me to be more adventurous in the kitchen
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HI Sophia! I tried century eggs before too and all i can say is bleh. Haha. No offense, of course
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[...] amazing ladies who continue to inspire me with their creativity, Miss Caroline of the Broccoli Hut, Sophia, Bianca, Averie, and who can forget my two favorite twins Michelle and [...]
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