How long can preserved salted duck eggs be kept?

Question

I love Chinese preserved salted boiled duck eggs (white on the inside with orange yolks, not black like century eggs), and I have a box but it's been in the fridge for more than a year. From experience, century eggs can be kept for more than a year since they're preserved; does anyone know if this applies to preserved salty white duck eggs as well?

Answer 1

According to the website, Asian Recipes Online:

Salted eggs will keep for about a month and the thousand-year-old eggs will keep for 4 - 6 months.   This time period ensures freshness.

PRESERVED EGGS

Among the Chinese communities throughout South-east Asia and especially in China, preserved eggs has continued to be an extremely popular delicacy. It is no coincidence that only duck eggs are use for this delicacy. Basically there are two main types of preserved eggs. The more common type, much favored in southern China, is the salted duck egg. The other, which more universal appeal, is the more famous thousand-year-old egg.

Both types of preserved eggs are made by a similar method; it is the material used in the process that are different. Basically salted eggs are made by coating raw duck eggs in a salt and mud paste, then rolling them in rice husks until they are completely covered. At this stage the eggs are packed into an earthenware urn, which is tightly sealed and stored in a cool, dark place for one to two months.

The two types of preserved eggs smell and taste quite different. As might be expected, one is more salty while the other type, the thousand-year-old egg, is milder but still having a definite aroma and flavor.

Salted eggs can then be boiled or steamed before removing their shells. The whites and yolks of the thousand-year-old eggs will have solidified, so all that is required is to carefully remove the shell before cutting the eggs into quarters or eights for serving.

Answer 2

"In China we have a special way of preserving the eggs," says artist Gou Shaolan. "It's called salty eggs and we preserve them with a lot of salt in a container for one month and afterwards that egg can be eaten or can be preserved for another two or three or ten years."