trứng cút lộn: tasty
Frankly as feathery and veiny in the flesh as it looks in that picture, when Linh unexpectedly plopped one into my bowl of garlicky chilli sauce, my reaction was a predictable "NO. WAY." But then...well...she ate a couple, and I wanted to join in. They taste really nice, I swear they do. Like a meaty egg, and not crunchy or fluffy at all, although that depends on its age. I think technically it's a fertilised quail's egg with a nearly-developed embryo inside, that's then boiled. Does that make it sound more appetising? I ate five, each followed by a chaser of the garlicky chilli stuff. We also ate some snails and drank some corn juice (which was very yummy).
Linh says when she goes there, they can usually eat 20 quail eggs each, easily. She also said that it's the sort of place that young people like to go, especially girls, whose boyfriends go along to please the girlfriends. Which is not what you'd expect from a filthy back alley serving foetuses and snails. I learnt (from Linh's boyfriend Tuan, who showed up to please his girlfriend) how the way they're served has a scientific basis - snails and trứng cút lộn are served cold, and considered 'cold' sorts of foods, which is why they're served with lots of chilli, to balance the cold. In the South, they use Vietnamese coriander to make it more spicy. Like Yin and Yang. Trứng cút lộn are also full of protein and vitamins, and if you eat loads you'll get big and strong.
I now think that it's stupid to feel squeamish about stuff like that. Eating an egg with an embryo in it is not really any different to eating a normal egg (pretty much all the eggs in VN, and the ones from our chickens at home, are fertilised anyway), and it's also no different to eating the embryo a few months later when it's a fully-grown bird. They're just degrees on a scale, and it so happens that at two points on that scale we're accustomed to it and so think nothing of it, and the point in the middle is unusual in the West so we think it's gross. Having said that, I'm still not sure I'm ready for trứng vịt lộn, the ducky equivalent, and even more popular here than trứng cút lộn.
trứng vịt lộn: give it three months
