alkalinity intensifies the egg’s flavor by
breaking down both proteins and
phospholipids into hydrogen sulfide,
distinctly animal fatty acids, and pungent
ammonia (the fumes from a freshly opened
egg will turn litmus paper blue).
Nouveaux Pidan Recently, two Taiwanese
food scientists devised a method for making a
striking, toned-down version of pidan. They
minimized the chemical stress, and thus the
alteration of color and flavor, by limiting the
alkaline treatment to eight days in a solution
of 5% salt and 4.2% lye. Such eggs don’t
solidify on their own. But when the unfolding
and bonding are supplemented by gentle
heating at 160ºF/70ºC for 10 minutes, these
eggs set to a golden yolk and a colorless, clear
white!
Pine-Blossom Eggs An especially prized
variant of pidan is one in which the aspic-
colored white is marked throughout with tiny,