‘Virgin Boy Eggs’ is a popular Chinese delicacy and the recipe is crazier than its name
A traditional dish of Dongyang, Zhejiang, China, in which eggs are boiled in the urine of young boys who are presumably peasants, preferably under the age of 10, is known as “virgin boy eggs.” The dish, known as “Tong Zi Dan,” literally translates as “boy egg.”
Eggs are prepared in urine of virgin boys. Urine of young virgin boys (preferably of age below 10), is collected from school toilets.
It is a springtime tradition in the city, where the urine of prepubescent peasant boys is collected and used to make the dish. They have been identified as “local intangible cultural heritage” by officials in China, who consider them part of the region’s “intangible cultural heritage.”
The dish is prepared by soaking the eggs in the urine of young boys for a period of time. Each vendor obtains their urine from a local source. After that, the mixture is heated on the stovetop. Following the boiling process, the eggshells are cracked all the way around the egg’s surface.
After that, the eggs are placed back into the urine to continue the process. Used urine is replaced with fresh urine, and the process is repeated again and again. While the eggs are simmering in the urine, the soaking process allows them to become cured. The entire process takes about a day to complete on average.
When the eggs are done, the whites have a pale golden hue to them, and the yolks have a green tint to them. Virgin boy eggs are similar to century eggs in terms of the curing process and historical roots, though century eggs have become much more popular and widespread in recent years and do not require the use of urine in the curing process.
Yummmmmmm!
Traditional Chinese medicine has included urine therapy as an important component of its practice. Ancient civilizations employed the use of urine to enhance the effects of medical treatments. However, today, this practice is widely regarded as unsanitary.
While it is widely speculated that when urine dries, it crystallizes, resulting in something that is similar to the Chinese medicine Ren zhongbai, there is no evidence to support this. The crystallized urine sediment is said to be beneficial in the prevention and treatment of inflammation and inflammatory diseases, as well as fungal infections of the skin and oral mucous membranes.
It is also claimed that ingesting urine-soaked eggs can help to treat Yin deficiency, reduce internal body heat, and improve blood circulation in the body. The eggs, according to the locals, also help to prevent heatstroke.
In ancient China, it was widely believed that eggs cured in one’s own urine for seven days and then consumed over a three-month period were a cure for chronic asthma. However, this was not proven. Among the many other applications for urine in Chinese medicine, the first urine of the day from a young boy is considered to be particularly potent and can be combined with herbs to make a tonic.
Modern medical practitioners continue to be skeptical of the potential health benefits of urine therapy as a whole. Modern medicine has determined that urine is “waste expelled from the human body and essentially contains no substance conducive to human health”.
Instead of being regarded as taboo in most other cultures, virgin boy eggs are widely accepted in the city as a time-honored tradition that has endured for centuries.
Young boys, preferably under the age of 10 years, are recruited as urine donors by boy egg vendors who go to elementary schools in the city to collect urine. The children, who have grown up in the city and are exposed to its culture, are accustomed to the practice.
When they have the urge to urinate, instead of going to the restroom, they relieve themselves in the basins that the vendors have placed in the hallways. In some cases, vendors will even go so far as to wait in parks or public restrooms for a parent who is willing to allow their child to offer urine to be collected.
The teachers, who are also familiar with the tradition, frequently remind the boys not to urinate in the basin if any of them is suffering from a fever or feeling unwell.
Despite the fact that modern medical research has demonstrated that ingesting urine has no health benefits, the practice of eating virgin boy eggs remains deeply rooted in tradition.
These eggs are being sold for approximately 1.50 yuan (approximately $0.24) per egg, which is approximately twice the price of regular chicken eggs. Not all of Dongyang’s residents are fans of the dish.
As one local man adds, “The smell makes me want to throw up.”, I feel sick to my stomach. “It has a foul odor.”
But some Dongyang residents continue to praise virgin boy eggs for their flavor and even their “fragrant” odor, which they consider to be among the best in the world.
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