Green Peppers & Century Eggs
青椒皮蛋
English: Green Peppers & Century Eggs
Chinese: 青椒皮蛋
Pinyin： qingjiao pidan
Literal: Green peppers & century eggs
This cold dish is strongly associated with Hunan, perhaps Sichuan too: fiery cuisines that love the chilli in all forms. But as is the way sometimes, simple pairings often find their way onto tables all across China (how many provinces have I heard try to claim hong shao rou, cong you bing or you tiao). Green peppers and century eggs are found throughout China, cheap and accessible, and so I’m sure it didn’t take a master chef to figure out they taste great together. Probably countless home cooks fried or mashed or mixed peppers and eggs together when there was little else in the pantry.
In Hunan, they would often use spicier green horn chillies - these have blown my head off a few times. Northern cooks use milder green chillies. The dressing in the central provinces would be la (spicy) and possibly ma (numbing), but the North avoids both, and packs their dressing with raw garlic and Shanxi vinegar. The result is a refreshing cold dish that is perfect for summer or if you’ve got a few richer dishes on the table.
Serves 2
Ingredients
2-3 century eggs (皮蛋）
2-3 large mild green peppers
For the dressing
3-4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1-2 tablespoons of Shanxi black vinegar
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
⅛ teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon cilantro, finely chopped (to garnish)
Method
First char the peppers. Poke the peppers with a fork all over, then place on a tray until the grill/broiler turning as the skin blisters and blackens. This will take around 20 minutes.
Place the peppers into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let them steam for 10 minutes. Then peel off the blackened skin and tear the peppers into strips, discarding the seeds.
Whilst the peppers are steaming, make the dressing. Combine the garlic, vinegar, soy sauce, oil and sugar and mix until the sugar has dissolved.
Prepare the eggs. Pull off the mud and straw (if your eggs have this), peel carefully and then cut the eggs into four wedges using a wet knife (this will prevent the yolk from sticking).
In a bowl, mix the pepper and the eggs, pour over the sauce and mix without breaking the eggs. Sprinkle the cilantro over the top and serve.
