Dry goods & condiments
Salted Duck Egg
A salt-cured egg, commonly duck egg in Hong Kong, sold raw or cooked; the package label must confirm which.
- 繁體中文
- 鹹蛋
- English
- Salted Duck Egg
- Bahasa Indonesia
- Telur Bebek Asin (鹹蛋)
- Tagalog
- Itlog na Maalat / Salted Duck Egg (鹹蛋)
What is it?
A salt-cured egg, commonly duck egg in Hong Kong, sold raw or cooked; the package label must confirm which.
How to identify it
Shell appearance does not reliably show whether it is cooked. When cooked and cut, the white is opaque and the yolk commonly orange-yellow to orange-red.
- Label states salted/salted duck egg
- Opaque white after cooking
- Orange-yellow to orange-red cooked yolk
Common confusion
Cooked salted egg has opaque white and orange-red yolk; century egg has dark translucent white.
Common Hong Kong household uses
Served with congee or used in steamed pork, salted-yolk dishes and pastry fillings.
Preparation or handling
Read the label for raw/cooked and heating status. Cook raw salted duck eggs thoroughly, then wash hands and clean utensils.
Storage
Follow the package label; refrigerate cooked or opened egg and use promptly.
Helper tip
Do not judge cooked status by shell colour. Non-hen eggs should not be eaten raw or lightly cooked.
What Ma’am or Sir may say
買熟鹹蛋，睇清楚唔係生嘅。The employer wants cooked salted egg; verify the raw/cooked statement before buying.
Useful market phrase
Are these 鹹蛋 raw or cooked?Does the image look correct?
Last reviewed
Sources
- Hong Kong Food and Environmental Hygiene Department — Public Market Items - Other Foods
- Hong Kong Food and Environmental Hygiene Department — Public Market Items Multilingual Booklet
- Hong Kong Food and Environmental Hygiene Department — Other foods Cantonese pinyin
- Hong Kong Centre for Food Safety — Food Safety of Eggs and Egg Products