Thousand Year Old Eggs
Fandom: Shanghai Noon
Summary: Chon longs for a childhood treat
Rating: R
Warnings: M/M relationship implied
Disclaimer: Shanghai Noon and all it's
characters belongs to Buena
Vista and Spyglass Entertainment. I'm just
borrowing them. No
copywrite infringement is intended and
absolutely no money at all is
being made.
Archive: Yes
Chon sat quietly, staring down at the dish of
scrambled eggs in front of him. It was the third day
in a row Roy had made eggs for breakfast.
Chon had no idea how sad the expression on
his face had become, or how utterly forlorn he looked.
He stared down at the western dish Roy was
so fond of making and thought back to his
days as a young boy in China and the special dish his
mother would prepare for him every year on his
birthday.
"Chon? Chon!" Roy called, concerned at the
look on his friend's face, wondering what could be wrong.
Chon looked up distractedly, suddenly pulled back to the
present, uncertain what Roy had said, a confused look
on his face.
"I apologize," he said seriously, "I was, was
how do you say, sheep gathering?"
Roy grimaced at the expression and
automatically corrected, "Wool
gathering," as he stabbed his fork into a
hunk of egg. His hand paused then, holding
the fork in front of his mouth, he encouraged hiS
friend to explain, "Okay. Come on, partner. Don't
stop there. Wool gathering about what?"
"It is nothing, really."
Roy smiled mischievously, "Come on, Chon,
Tell me. Tell me or I'll pester you the whole day long."
Chon smiled slightly and sighed in
resignation, knowing all too well how
persistent his friend could be. "Very well,"
he replied, with a slight
shake of his head, "but you will see, it is
nothing." He took a sip of his tea, then
closed his eyes and began to speak softly.
"When I was a young boy, growing up
in China, every year, to celebrate my birth, my
mother would make Thousand Year Old Eggs for
me." Chon opened his eyes, revealing a dreamy
expression and a bemused smile. "I do not know
what has made me remember those times, it must be
your eggs."
Roy laughed at Chon's joke and asked with a
devilish grin, "Another joke? Say, you're not trying
to imply my eggs taste like they're a thousand years
old, are you?"
"Of course not. Besides, Thousand Year Old Eggs are a
delicacy," Chon replied in serious tones.
"Right, like those locusts you were telling
me about? No thanks! Pass me that pot of coffee,
will you?"
The rest of the day was routine, and the
conversation soon forgotten by
Chon. But Roy did not forget it, nor the
look of longing on Chon's face as he remembered
the delightful treat. Roy decided he just had to
find a way to make Thousand Year Old Eggs for
Chon. He wasn't sure how but he was pretty sure
who did, the Princess.
The first chance he got, he found an excuse
to visit Princess Pei Pei and pulling her aside,
asked confidentially if she knew how to make
Thousand Year Old Eggs. She had laughed
gently at his question but when she realized how
serious Roy was, she apologized and immediately gave
him the recipe but explained it would be very
hard to make because the recipe required a fresh
lime and rice wine, neither one a common commodity in
the west.
Roy just grinned confidently at the Princess,
sure that once armed with the recipe, he would find
a way to get a fresh lime and any other
difficult ingredients. Princess Pei Pei
supplied him with Rice wine and soy sauce, but it
was up to Roy to gather up a dozen duck eggs and
somehow get his hands on a fresh lime.
It was about six weeks later when Gus, who
ran the general store, pulled Roy aside one day to
tell him the deed was done. Roy grinned and poured
a piles of silver dollars into the shop owner's hand
and happily slipped one fresh green lime into his pocket.
The next day he sent Chon to wait for a
special train that was to make an unscheduled stop in
Silver City. There wasn't any train but it was
the only way Roy could think of to keep Chon
busy all morning.
Once alone, the cowboy started mixing up the
ingredients of tea, salt, ashes and lime. Once
he had a nice pasty consistency, he covered the
eggs in the paste then buried them under
fresh soil in a crock and stashed it an abandoned
mine shaft a mile or so outside of town.
Exactly one hundred days later he removed the
eggs, and fixed a special sauce, following Princess
Pei Pei's instructions faithfully.
The next morning when Chon awoke, Roy was not
there. Chon's attention was caught by a eerie
flickering light in the kitchen. He called out to
Roy but there was no answer. Entering the
kitchen to find the cause of the strange flickering,
Chon was startled to find branches of candles
everywhere and a big platter of Thousand Year
Old Eggs sitting on the table along with a bottle of
rice wine.
He stared in amazement, certain he must be
dreaming. He looked at the precisely sliced eggs,
somewhat amber in color. His hand reached out to
pick up a slice, hesitated momentarily, then
quickly snatched a slice and dipped it in the sauce.
Then, ever so slowly, he placed the sliced
egg in his mouth and savored the flavor.
The taste was just as he had remembered, the
flavor exactly the same, indescribably delicious.
Then, for just one incredible moment, he felt his
Mother's presence behind him, he felt her
smile of approval, he felt her the warmth of her
love. He spun around and stared in shock as her faint
image became apparent, an image from long ago,
an image almost forgotten.
All the while, Roy stood in a corner, out of
the way, watching. Finally, he asked, "So what do you say
partner? How are my eggs?"
Chon swung around to stare wide-eyed at Roy,
then turned to look at the faint image of his mother
that appeared beside him. His Mother smiled
approvingly and nodded towards Roy, then her
image faded away. Emotionally overcome, a distraught Chon
reached out to the approaching Roy and the two men quickly
embraced.
Afterwards, a still emotional Chon tried to
explain, "You have given me a gift richer than you can
ever know. Thank you." He looked for his
mother's image then, but she was gone.
"It's just eggs, Chon. I didn't even have to
scramble them." Roy answered, unable to explain Chon's emotional
reaction.
"You are wrong my friend. It is not just
eggs, it is the love with which
you prepared them. My own Mother could not
have made them better."
"Hey Chon, maybe she was watching, helping me
out. You know like a guardian angel?" Roy responded
playfully.
Chon thought back to the familiar image he
had seen and wondered if Roy would understand.
Finally, he just shrugged his shoulders and answered,
"I am sure she was."
THE END
Recipe for Thousand-year-old Eggs
Categories: Cheese/eggs, Chinese
Yield: 12 servings
2 c Very strong black tea
1/3 c Salt
2 c Each ashes of pine wood,
Ashes of charcoal and ashes
From fireplace
1 c Lime*
12 Fresh duck eggs
These are often called thousand-year eggs,
even though the preserving process lasts only
100 days. They may be purchased individually
in Oriental markets.
Combine tea, salt, ashes and lime. Using
about 1/2 cup per egg, thickly coat each egg
completely with this clay-like mixture. Line
a large crock with garden soil and carefully
lay coated eggs on top. Cover with more soil
and place crock in a cool dark place. Allow
to cure for 100 days. To remove coating,
scrape eggs and rinse under running water to
clean thoroughly. Crack lightly and remove
shells. The white of the egg will appear a
grayish, translucent color and have a
gelatinous texture. The yolk, when sliced,
will be a grayish-green color.
To serve, cut into wedges and serve with:
Sweet pickled scallions or any sweet pickled
vegetable
Sauce of 2 tablespoons each vinegar, soy
sauce and rice wine and 1 tablespoon
minced ginger root.
*Available in garden stores and nurseries.
The description of the whites turning grayish
isn't quite accurate from the ones I've seen.
They're more a dark blackish amber color--
quite attractive actually.
From "The Regional Cooking of China" by
Margret Gin and Alfred E. Castle, 101
Productions, San Francisco, 1975.
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