Entry #13: <--- (Oh My GOSH! Grab that Rabbit's Foot, Locate that 4 Leave Green Thing, Spin around Thrice Times To Counteract that Most Unlucky NUMBER!) Now. . . Onto The 1,000 YR. OLD EGG

So. . . as promised, I figured I'd take everyone deeper -- through mere research of course -- into the fine delicacies that are Chinese cuisine. Now, countless dishes exist in the Chinese menu that most Westerners would shy away from. I took it upon myself to seek out what, I feel like, would repulse us all the most.

It's not fried/skewered/slightly-toasty/crispy scorpions. . .
It's not regurgitated bird's nest soup. . .
It'd definitely not Beef Pizzle (fo' shizzle!). . .

It's the 

[insert dramatic, thunderous, booming, theatrical voice here] 

1,000 year old egg!

Doesn't it sound mysterious, ancient, and sage-like. I might even go as far to say it sound like something, perhaps, a wizard might consume.

Well, as it turns out, the century egg is a "side-dish" (sorry, not a full meal folks) that is made by preserving duck, quail, or chicken eggs in a mixture of clay, ash, salt, charcoal, lime, and rice hulls. If there are any potters out there, you'll know that a few of those ingredients are primary components of glaze. The preserved egg pickles in this caustic mixture for many weeks to several months.

The chemical agent that "transforms" the egg is severely alkaline in nature, which eventually raises the interior pH to 12+ -- YIKES!

It is a dish with multiple layers of complex flavors. . . and smells like horse urine.

P.S. The recipe I viewed called for "ash of charcoal from a fireplace. . ." This egg is practically radioactive, so I'm betting on the fact that if I consume one during my time abroad I will most definitely return with super-mutant powers.