IMBB 9 - Romance of The Three Eggs

When I first read about IMBB 9 at An Obession With Food , my first reaction was "huh, terrine?! I have never made a terrine in my life!" After a little more reading up, I realised I have, I just did not know that fruits and gelatine desserts can be counted as terrines.

I have wanted to make liver pâté but after the pig trotters in aspic fiasco, I need to cook something my family will eat and they are not big fans of liver. Not all of them are keen on cheeses so those beautifully layered terrines filled with mozzarella and feta are out too. In the end, I have gone back to my roots and came up with a Chinese style terrine that should please those picky people at home.

The main ingredients are eggs, three types of eggs to be exact as can be see in the photographs above. (clockwise from the top: chicken egg, century egg and salted egg) Century egg and salted egg are duck eggs preserved using different ingredients and as a result, look and taste quite different. Century egg has been described as tasting like pungent cheese while salted egg is ur... salty. Strangely enough, these two kinds of preserved eggs taste really good together and are used in many Chinese recipes. My terrine is based on a classic Cantonese dish, steamed three eggs. In my recipe, pork mince is added to hold the eggs together.

Chinese Style Three Egg Pork Terrine

Ingredients:
300g pork mince
4 chicken eggs
2 salted egg yolks, diced
2 century eggs, diced

Marinade for pork mince:
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
½ tablespoon shaoxing wine
1 teaspoon shallot oil*
1 teaspoon corn flour
salt to taste

Grease a 22cm x 11cm x 5cm loaf pan with shallot oil*.

Marinate pork mince, mix well and leave for 10 minutes.

Add chicken eggs to marinated pork mince and mix well.

Pour a layer of the chicken egg and pork mince mixture into the greased loaf pan, followed by a layer of the diced salted egg yolks and century eggs. Repeat the same procedure for 2 or 3 times. Make sure the final layer is the egg and pork mince mixture.

Steam the terrine on high heat in a wok or a steamer for 20 to 25 minutes. Poke the terrine with a skewer or fork to check if the centre is cooked.

This is a versatile dish that can be eaten hot or cold, with rice, noodles or porridge. The terrine is simple, looks presentable and as expected, my family welcome it with open arms. In fact a quarter of the loaf is gone before I can take photographs. What more can I ask for.

*Shallot Oil
This is an aromatic oil that I use frequently in Chinese cooking. Shallots are thinly sliced and deep fried in neutral tasting vegetable oil on medium to high heat until the shallots are light brown and crispy. Place the deep fried shallots on a plate lined with kitchen paper to absorb any excess oil. Once cool, store oil and shallots separately in air tight glass jars. They can be used together or separately. The oil, infused with the aroma and flavour of shallots can be used to enhance the taste of steam fish, chicken, tofu and vegetable with the fried shallots adding texture and mild sweetness. The fried shallots are also good as a topping for fried rice, noodles and savory porridge.

Comments

[julia]

Your modified tri-color egg sounds scrumptious! Kinda looks like luncheon meat with century and salted eggs. I think it'll pair well with rice. :)

[toru]

yum...nice looking...but artery clogging

[fish fish]

Ee~~ ST, wat a good looking dish. Even thoug ff dun eat meat n dun take century egg, this yummy looking colourful 'eggy cake' do make me feel extremely hungry now. Ai yar~~ got to hv egg for tonite liao.

[pinkcocoa]

yummilicious!
i love century eggs. *slurp*

[ST]

Thanks everyone!
Final egg count, 6 eggs plus 2 egg yolks. It is a bit of a cholesterol overdose, isn't it? I do try to keep it healthier by using a leaner cut for the pork mince. Besides, the loaf is enough for 6 person so its only about 1 egg per person :)

[spots]

Hey, my Taiwanese friend's mom made this for me once. But it was 5-egg terrine!! Think she used raw egg, bits of boiled egg, century egg, duck egg, chicken meat... think she didn't used pork...

Anyway, will definitely try your recipe! Thanks!