Eggciting Eats

Spring is the time to look forward to warmer weather, budding trees, and if you’re into Chinese culinary treats, virgin eggs. The secret to this Zhejiang delicacy is urine – specifically urine from young boys.

The eggs are called tongzi dan 童子蛋, which translates literally as "boy eggs." As described in this Ministry of Tofu translation of an article in the Qianjiang Evening Post, the urine is collected at local schools and used to boil the eggs, a process that leaves a unique smell to the air described by some as foul, and by others as “the smell of spring.”

The reasoning behind the practice comes from the belief that “eggs boiled in boys’ urine is a must-have nourishment in spring… [so that] you won’t feel sleepy during spring or get a heat stroke during summer.”

For those interested in making their own virgin eggs at home, follow this simple recipe: “First, soak eggs in urine and heat them over the stove. After it boils, get all eggs out and crack their shells before putting them back. After a while, pour in new urine. Repeat it and simmer eggs for an entire day.”