Such items of course could only be found in one place – one of Fengdu’s largest markets! The Chinese like all their produce to be fresh so daily purchases I the markets are a feature of daily life and this includes ducks, chickens etc.. Its not unusual to find a live chicken or duck being carried home by its feet!! Not what we are used to but a way of life here and I suspect in manyother parts of the world.
The range of spices, noodles, rice, tea, vegetables, tofu – the Chinese do not have many cheese or dairy products – and eggs was amazing especially witnessed in the bustling and noisy market with all the strange to our nostril smells and aromas.
The ‘century eggs’ were among some of the most interesting items on offer. Also known as preserved egg, hundred-year egg, thousand-year egg, thousand-year-old egg, and millennium egg, this is a Chinese cuisine ingredient made by preserving duck, chicken or quail eggs in a mixture of clay, ash, salt lime, and rice hulls for several weeks to several months, depending on the method of processing.
Through the process, the yolk becomes a dark green to grey colour, with a creamy consistency and an odour of sulphur and ammonia, while the white becomes a dark brown, translucent jelly with little flavour. The transforming agent in the century egg is its alkaline material, which gradually raises the acidity of the egg to around 9, 12, or more during the curing process breaking down some of the complex, flavourless proteins and fats into a variety of more flavourful compounds.
I can vouch for the intriguing flavour since when we arrived back on board lunch consisted – should you wish to try – of some of the delicacies we had seen in the market including century eggs – delicious. I also tried pigs ears – sliced like ham – a bit tough but full of flavour (Since returning home the UK Government has done a del to supply China with £50m pounds worth a year of pigs ears, heads, snouts, tails and trotters!), the chicken claws although relished by our Chinese guides were not to my taste – no meat and all skin as far as I could tell!
Some of the more adventurous and less squeamish of our group ventured downstairs to the livestock area! Here were the live ducks – and some of the biggest I have ever seen – chickens and other fowl waiting for the inevitable! The smell was a little unpleasant and although we didn’t witness the slaughter I did see a Chinese market worker with the biggest gas torch you have ever seen burning way the feathers!!
So ended and exciting and interesting visit to Fengdu and after lunch we cast off for the 111 mile journey to Chongqing and sadly the end of our Yangtze cruise.
No comments:
Post a Comment