I almost forgot. I ate more stuff this weekend. I posted a video called “Two Eggs, One Plate”.  I tried a local brand of pickled eggs, and a preserved duck egg (1000 year old egg). The pickled eggs had a real strong vinegar taste. Those things must have a shelf life of 300 years. I don’t know what appealed to me the most, the unnatural highlighter yellow exterior, or the slap you in the face vinegar hit you get as soon as you put it in your mouth. Now I want use them to try and make a nuclear egg salad sandwich.

The preserved duck egg turned out to be better than I thought. As soon as you break it out of the shell, it looks more like a plastic egg than a real one. In the past I have eaten salted duck eggs, and didn’t like them. They were REALLY salty, and sort of dry, and hard to peel. The preserved eggs were a lot softer, almost like an amber-colored, over rubbery Jell-o Jiggler. When I cut the egg in half, the yolk looked more like someone spit in a pile of ashes. It was a gritty grey/yellow color. I know you are not supposed to eat these by themselves, but since I have never tried one before, I had to go commando with the first.

Over all it wasn’t bad. Duck eggs have a stronger flavor than chicken eggs, and even though the white was now a deep amber color, it still tasted pretty much like an egg. The only part I had trouble with was the sort of gritty/sort of creamy texture of the yolk. The taste was familiar, but the texture was odd. When I ate a second egg (yes, I had seconds), I mixed the egg in with rice, veggies and soy sauce, and it tasted much better. I think what scared me the most was the label that said “Lead Free”? I would hope the eggs were lead free….

Here is the video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LPYdkwZxGk&feature=plcp

 

Next I tried Pickled Mustard Greens, and a banana flavored grass jelly drink.

The can said pickled mustard greens, but the picture on the can looked like bok choy? When I opened it, I didn’t hear a hiss, so I don’t know how fermented they were. The greens looked more like the stems that were left over from packaging something else. It was pretty crunchy for being canned, but it had an odd after taste. I couldn’t place the taste, but my mind told me that was ok. I washed it all down with a banana flavored grass jelly drink. It was the color of motor oil, and had lumpy things at the bottom. The drink was sweeter than I thought it was going to be, and tasted like banana. However, the smell was like diluted all-purpose cleaner. I don’t know if that was intended, but it kept me from finishing the can.

Here is the video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gCxHRpE-tI&feature=channel&list=UL

Someone asked me why I was doing this to myself? I guess it’s because there is more to life than pizza, and fast food. I do a lot of shopping at Asian and Russian markets, and I see all kinds of products. Someone has to like them or the store wouldn’t keep them stocked on their shelves? So, I’ve made a point of trying a few of these curiosities each week to see what all the fuss is about. So far they have all be pretty good. There have been a few that were not, but then again, I ate them without anything like a dummy. When I finally ate them like they were supposed to be eaten, they were fine. I have a few more items on the kitchen counter, but they will have to wait until tomorrow. Oh yeah, I’m still trying to improve my video skills…..