Folk Wisdom: Five tips about the table egg

Dr Abe V Rotor
Immerse eggs immediately in tap water after boiling
Submerge whole eggs for at least five minutes or until the eggs cool off.  This technique enhances removing the shell easy and clean. By the way, don't overboil. This is indicated by the  yolk. which turns dark on the outside advancing to the center.  The albumin loses its white color.  Overcooked eggs are carcinogenic. .       
 

Brown eggs are preferred over white eggs

 Brown eggs come from native fowls that subsist mainly on farm products. They are very resistant to the elements and diseases that they simply grow on the range. White eggs on the other hand, come from commercial poultry farms and are highly dependent on antibiotics and formulated feeds. Another advantage of brown eggs is that they have thicker shells. Besides, their yolk is brighter yellow as compared to that of white eggs.

Preference to natural, and organically grown, food is gaining popularity worldwide. It is because many ailments, from allergy to cancer, are traced to the kinds of food we eat. Many kinds of allergies have evolved from genetically engineered food, for which they have gained the reputation of Frankenfood, after the novel, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, published in 1818.

Simple test of freshness of eggs
Immerse eggs in water.  Those that float or don't sttle at the bottom are stale. Discard.  Fresh eggs lie of their side at the bottom, while those that tend to stand on end are not. The air space gets bigger the older the egg gets.
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Salted egg with fresh ripe tomato 

Bored with monotonous breakfast? Looking for a side dish?

Serve red eggs with fresh juicy red tomato. It's easy to prepare.  Just have a ready supply of red eggs and ripe tomatoes in the refrigerator. Lycopene, carotine and xantophyll in tomato  promote good health. Check the quality of the red egg.  Discard those showing discoloration and trace of unpleasant smell. 

Make salted eggs at home

Making salted eggs is an old technology, and most likely originated in China.

Here is an easy-to-follow procedure, the old folks’ way.

•  Mix 12 cups of clay and 4 cups of salt, adding water gradually until they are well blended.
•  Apply a layer of this mixture at the bottom of a palayok or banga.
•  Coat each egg with the mixture.
•  Arrange the coated eggs in layers, giving a space of 3 to 5 cm in between them.
•  Add the extra mixture of clay and salt on top, cover the container with banana leaves, and keep the setup in a safe and cool place.
• Try one egg after 15 days by cooking below boiling point for 15 minutes.  If not salty enough, extend storing period.
• Color eggs if desired. 

 Eggshell seed bed 
This is for your home garden.  Save whole eggshells as seedling bed of pechay, mustard, cucumber, tomato, pepper, and the like.  When ready the seedling is transplanted with the eggshell intact.  Just crack it to let the roots grow freely and reach out for water and soil nutrients in the new place wherre it has been transplanted.  .   

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TRIVIA:
"Gibba" keeps rice longer from spoilage
 Whatever is the explanation why rice cooked in a pot previously heated with a pinch of salt will not spoil fast is beyond scientific explanation. Yet it is common knowledge in the rural area.

This is what housewives do. The call the process “gibba,” literary, to heat at extreme temperature like firing clay in a furnace. Put a pinch of salt in the cooking pot - clay pot, heat until the salt disappears. Cook rice as usual in the pot. This will prevent rice from getting spoiled in a short time.

Another technique using salt is to place a pinch of it on the cover while the rice is boiling. This is shorten cooking time. (Lesson from Miss Veny Rotor of San Vicente, Ilocos Sur, supported by Tinong Viernes, April 8, 2009).