This far from home, I've found myself having to take a step back and remind myself that one man's meat is another man's poison. Some people find eating pig abhorrent, others cow, some won't eat meat at all, and yet others, anything that came from an animal. Fruitarians take the idea even further.
But sometimes I see something so different, it's a struggle to step back far enough.
[Image courtesy of Xinhua.net]Pictured above, below the sweetcorn, and 石蛋 (literally 'stone egg') are several sticks of 毛蛋 (literally 'hairy egg').
What sounds relatively mundane is actually a fertilised chicken egg, allowed to grow for several days until the unborn chick fills the shell. Each foetus is held up to the light to check its progress, then fermented, peeled, and skewered - three or four at a time - to be barbecued.
Often you can make out a hint of a neck, a fragile beak and tiny limbs, beneath a marbling of dried blood. Depending on how long it's been allowed to develop, many have a faint dusting of hair too, hence the name. The bones are partially, but not fully-formed, giving the whole thing a pleasing crunch.
Apparently the dish used to be something of a luxury, but nowadays a stick of three goes for 3RMB (20p).
What sounds relatively mundane is actually a fertilised chicken egg, allowed to grow for several days until the unborn chick fills the shell. Each foetus is held up to the light to check its progress, then fermented, peeled, and skewered - three or four at a time - to be barbecued.
Often you can make out a hint of a neck, a fragile beak and tiny limbs, beneath a marbling of dried blood. Depending on how long it's been allowed to develop, many have a faint dusting of hair too, hence the name. The bones are partially, but not fully-formed, giving the whole thing a pleasing crunch.
Apparently the dish used to be something of a luxury, but nowadays a stick of three goes for 3RMB (20p).
I sat down for dinner with Dapeng and some of his friends who 'egged' me on to eat one.
"You really don't have to... a lot of Harbinese won't eat them either" he reassured me, seeing my horrified expression.
Ming Yue interjected.
"Actually, you shouldn't eat this," dragging the dish away before I had a chance to take one. "Not until you're married."
Confused looks from half of the table, which happened to coincide with the half that didn't have hairy eggs.
"They're an aphrodisiac!" Ming Yue explained.
Hands shot up.
"Waiter! Three more sticks of hairy egg!"
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