China · Hunan
Century Egg with Blistered Chili
A rustic cold dish of preserved egg and blistered green chili, crushed together and dressed with soy, vinegar and sesame oil. Smoky, sour and hot.
Preserved egg and chili is a pairing that belongs to summer tables and to the small plates served with beer, where the cooling jelly contrasts with the charred pepper. Seeding the chilies properly is not optional, since stray seeds will burst in the pan and spit. Crushing the two together rather than chopping gives the irregular texture that this dish is liked for.
Ingredients
- century eggs2 pieces
- green chilies4 pieces
- garlic cloves4 pieces
- cooking oilExact
- light soy sauceExact
- aged vinegarExact
- sugarExact
- sesame oil7 ml
- bird's eye chilies4 pieces
Directions
- 1
Wash the green chilies, remove the stem, slit them sideways, take out the seeds and press them flat on the board; leave out any seeds, or they will burst in the pan.
- 2
Cut the scallion into half-centimeter pieces.
- 3
Peel the garlic and chop it finely.
- 4
Peel the century eggs.
- 5
Cut the bird's eye chilies into 5 to 10 mm lengths.
- 6
Heat the wok and add 10 to 20 ml of oil.
- 7
Add all the green chilies and let the heat drop, frying them until soft, which you can tell when a chopstick pushes straight through them.
- 8
Turn off the heat and put the century eggs and chilies in a small metal basin.
- 9
Method 1: if you have a rolling pin and can make noise without upsetting the neighbours, pound the eggs and chilies with one end of it until they combine.
- 10
Method 2: tear the chilies into strips about half a centimetre wide by hand and crush the century eggs with a fork.
- 12
Add the light soy sauce, aged vinegar, sugar, sesame oil and whatever else you have left from the prep.
- 13
Toss everything together evenly.
Source: HowToCook · WorldBite adaptation · Unlicense source text; bilingual recipe adapted by WorldBite.