Three-Color Steamed Eggs

Author Notes

As eaters, you might have heard of Chinese century eggs and salted eggs, but the dishes they are used in and the ways to use them aren’t as widely talked about. So here’s an easy dish that shows off both these Asian preserved eggs!

Just in case you’re not privy to them, salted eggs are eggs that are soaked in brine or coated in a salted clay mixture for a few weeks until salty and the yolks turn firm. Century eggs, on the other hand, are eggs coated in an alkaline paste, over time — weeks, not a century, contrary to its namesake — turning the egg whites into an amber-like jelly and the yolks into creamy and ash-green.

Across the Chinese culinary canon, both salted eggs and century eggs are used in a variety of stir-fries, cooked into congee, and sometimes even served as table condiments to lend pops of flavor to any dish. To me though, there’s no simpler dish that harnesses the funky wonder of these alternative eggs than in three-color steamed eggs.

Also called 三色蒸水蛋 (sān sè zhēng shuǐ dàn), 三色蛋 (sān sè dàn) or 三黃蛋 (sam wong dan in Cantonese), it’s a dish cooked by restaurant chefs and homecooks in equal measure. To make it, pieces of salted egg yolk and century eggs are first sliced into little Skittles-sized chunks and evenly spread onto a deep, flat-bottomed plate. A couple of beaten eggs — regular eggs this time — are then poured over the dish and the whole thing is steamed. After a quick 10 minutes, it’ll set into this jiggly egg custard, studded with funky bits of salted egg yolk and century egg, giving it three distinct colors of eggs! And as a final flourish, the dish is typically topped with a smattering of sliced scallions, fried shallot, soy sauce, and sesame oil.

It’s a simple, unfussy dish to make. The (regular) egg custard alone tastes just as good as any silky-smooth chawanmushi or steamed egg, but with the funky bits of salted egg and century egg in the mix, the dish ends up having a surprising dose of character and spunk! —Jun