Many people know that you can reuse the eggshell as compost, but we can bet not many know how to do it correctly. So in this blog post, we will give you 3 Asian egg recipes and how to compost the eggshells used for these recipes correctly!
Steamed egg
Steamed egg is a traditional Chinese egg dish which can be found all over China. It has a silky soft texture and is absolutely delicious. Many Chinese children grew up on this dish, so it brings great childhood memories. The dish itself is not hard to make! You only have to mix the eggs with water and steam it.
The ideal egg water ratio should be 1:2 in volume. Mix it and then put it in the steamer for 10 minutes. Carefully take it out and season it with soy sauce, sesame oil and a bit of chives. Voilà ! Simple and quick.
Tamagoyaki
Tamagoyaki is a Japanese egg dish which consists of rolling several thin layers of fried egg together. It is sweet, tasty and a great side dish with some rice. Tamagoyaki consists of egg, sugar, soy sauce and mirin.
Often this dish is made in a square pan, but you can also make it in a normal pan. First, you mix the tamagoyaki mixture and add a thin layer to the pan. Wait till it cooks a bit and then start rolling. Add more of the mixture to the pan, while oiling the pan in between rolls and keep rolling till your desired egg roll size.
Soy marinated eggs
These are definitely my favorite simple egg dish; soy marinated eggs. They are a staple in Asian households. The jammy soft yolk combined with the saltiness of the soy sauce makes it perfect for anything, whether that is on rice, noodles or even toast.
For this recipe, you need to boil your eggs for 7 minutes and then immediately dunk them in ice cold water to avoid it from further cooking. Then, you marinate your eggs with a mixture of soy sauce, vinegar and sugar. Add the eggs and let it marinate for at least 1 hour in the fridge.
How do you reuse eggshells correctly?
Now that we have made these delicious dishes, it is time to talk about the eggshells. Most of the time, people reuse the eggshells as compost. Of course this is a great idea as eggshells are packed with nutrients which are beneficial to your soil. However, many people are composting eggshells wrong. Normally, people think it is enough to just crush the eggshell in smaller pieces and then throw it onto their soils. Unless you have boiled the eggshell already, throwing raw eggshells onto your compost/soil is not recommended.
Salmonella clings to every type of poultry egg and as a living bacteria it does not rot away but rather spreads out. The last thing you want is the salmonella to spread onto your crops. So before compositing, make sure to boil the eggshells first!