Jack and His Iron Eggs.
A relative is visiting from Taiwan. I’m always happy when there are visitors around because they always bring goodies that are exotic.
This is one of them. Hard boiled quail’s eggs.
Why are they black? These eggs are repeatedly stewed in a mix of spices and air-dried. The result is are eggs that are dark brown on the outside and chewy on the inside. They are also known as iron eggs.
I took one with my chopsticks (tremendous skills required here), closed my eyes and took a bite.
“Why did you waste all our money on these lousy beans?!”, shouted my mom as she threw the magic beans out of the window.
I ran to my room angrily. I knew those magic beans I bought at the market would change our life. The seller promised me!
The next morning when I woke up, I saw a huge beanstalk so tall that the top was beyond the clouds. I quickly climbed up to have a look. On top of the clouds, there was a small castle.
I had to squeeze through the small doors to get in. Inside, there was a small person sleeping. I looked around, everything seems to be small.
Then, I saw an egg. This must be the one. But this is black, not golden. I took a bite.
The outer layer of the egg was very chewy. In fact, to bite cleanly through it, I had to bite with so much pressure that the whole egg flattened and broke apart. Taste wise, it didn’t have much taste. The inside was mostly egg yolk with a thin layer of egg white. The texture and taste of the yolk was similar to normal eggs.
The small person woke up and shouted, “Who goes there!”.
I replied, “I was expecting to find a giant’s castle, but what I found was a dwarf castle. Look, even your eggs are tiny”.
The small person shouted back, “That’s because those are quail eggs, not goose eggs. You incompetent earthlings.”
Oh my! This is so embarrassing! I should have known those were quail’s eggs. How stupid of me.
The small person continued, “And if you’re looking for the giant, he lives next door!”
Oh my! Totally embarrassing!
I received this as a gift from a relative visiting from Taiwan.