Once in a while, you might come across something so wacky and ridiculous but ends up changing your mind about something. There are quite a number of food that I would actively avoid when I eat and century egg is one of them. I don't find the look of century egg unpleasant as much as I dislike the taste. Recently, I had a little appetizer at Taste Paradise at i_on that made me rethink my aversion to century egg.
This appetizer daringly combines coarsely chopped century egg with lime sorbet and topped with a small portion of finely chopped pink Japanese pickled ginger. The combination is served cold in an amuse bouche size on a margiela-esque bent . The components are broken down but not mixed, gelatinous chunks of the dark brown century egg "white" can still be discerned, juxtaposed with more cheery shade of the pale green lime sorbet and candy pink of the pickled ginger. The result is a petite but intriguing mouthful that is layered in both texture and flavour. The lime sorbet masks the flavour in the century egg that I find quite unpleasant but leaves a clean but strong eggy end note after the citrusy perk from the sorbet subsides. The pickled ginger forms an underlying flavour which pulls the whole thing together. The use of Japanese pickled ginger is also a twist on how century egg is traditionally eaten with Chinese pickled ginger.
While I still do not like century egg on it's own after having this, but I do know now that it is not entirely unpleasant and can, in the right hands, be somewhat enjoyable.
taste paradise
2 orchard turn
i_on orchard
#04-07
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