Have you ever heard of boiling eggs with children's urine? It's quite a unique dish that not many people have tried. Some say it has health benefits, but is that true? How should eggs be eaten to promote health? Let's take a look and also learn about the benefits of eggs.
Have you heard of "tongzi eggs," which are eggs boiled with children's urine? It might sound unappetizing, but it has been recognized as an intangible cultural heritage in Dongyang City.
Hospitable Dongyang residents often encourage their guests to try one of these eggs or at least have a sip of the broth. But can these eggs really be eaten? Some people oppose it, some support it, and even doctors have a neutral stance. People who have tried them have mixed opinions, with some finding them fragrant and others finding them foul.
As spring arrives, a strange smell fills the streets of Dongyang. Locals say it's the smell of tongzi eggs and the scent of spring.
For those unfamiliar with the practice, tongzi eggs are eggs boiled with children's urine. Stalls selling tongzi eggs can be found all over Dongyang's streets and alleys. These eggs, priced at 1.5 yuan each, are more expensive than regular tea eggs, but they often sell out.
At the entrance of a classroom
Boys urinating into plastic barrels
In a primary school in Dongyang, during break time, a group of boys gathers in the corridor outside the classroom, making noise. Don't think they're playing with something new and exciting; they're urinating.
In Dongyang, it has become a common custom: vendors selling tongzi eggs or families boiling their own tongzi eggs bring plastic barrels to collect children's urine from various primary schools.
The students are used to this and aren't surprised. When the boys in grades one to three need to urinate, they aim at the plastic barrels outside the classrooms. The teachers at the school have also accepted this behavior and often remind the children not to urinate in the plastic barrels if they have a cold or are sick. The children are obedient.
Boiling tongzi eggs is similar to boiling tea eggs, with the key factor being the cooking time.
It's strange that despite tongzi eggs being sold on almost every street at this time of year, each vendor believes their eggs have a unique taste.
Aunt Li runs a stall selling tongzi eggs. Her husband is responsible for collecting children's urine from a nearby primary school, while she takes care of cooking and selling them.
In front of her stall, a coal briquette stove is diligently heating a stainless steel pot. The "water" in the pot looks yellow, with some foam floating on top. Aunt Li places the clean eggs one by one into the stainless steel pot.
"Once the water boils, I take out all the eggs, crack the shells, and put them back in to cook. After a while, I swap the positions of the eggs and add fresh children's urine. I repeat this process using different levels of heat for a whole day and night." Aunt Li explains that the process of boiling these eggs is similar to boiling tea eggs, with the key factor being the cooking time and heat.
Some people become addicted and say, "It's really fragrant," while others find it "disgusting." What would eggs boiled with urine taste like?
Yesterday, after 12 o'clock noon, there was a constant stream of people on Zhenxing Road in Dongyang. Among them were many customers buying tongzi eggs. "They are delicious. I can eat ten in a day," says Mrs. Liu, who moved to Dongyang with her husband a few years ago. "I had never tried them before, but after trying them once, I became addicted."
To sum up Dongyang residents' preference for tongzi eggs, a netizen named "EggSurname" put it well on Weibo, saying that the taste of tongzi eggs is the taste of the beginning of all seasons.
