Urine-soaked 'virgin boy eggs' are a springtime taste treat in China

header.top_header {background-image: url(http://cdn.lib.newsvine.com/chrome/worldnewsfranchise/images/header.jpg?v=5432);}First for breaking news and analysis: Compelling world news stories from msnbc.com and NBC News journalists. Follow us on Twitter. ↓ About this blog↓ Archives E-mail updatesYou are subscribed.change this() Saving... Follow on Twitter Subscribe to RSS95comments5hoursagoAly Song / Reuters

51-year-old vendor Ge Yaohua eats a hard-boiled egg cooked in boys' urine at his stall in Dongyang, Zhejiang province.

By Reuters

DONGYANG, China - Officials in China have listed a local food delicacy of eggs soaked in boys' urine as part of the region's intangible cultural heritage.

Every spring, street vendors in the city of Dongyang sell 'virgin boy eggs' as a unique snack.

Basins and buckets of boys' urine are collected from primary school toilets. Eggs are then soaked and cooked in the urine.

There is no good explanation for why it has to be boys' urine, just that it has been so for centuries.

The scent of these eggs being cooked in pots of urine is unmistakable as people pass the many street vendors in Dongyang who sell it, claiming it has remarkable health properties.

Aly Song / Reuters

A vendor pours a bucket of boys' urine into a pot of hard-boiled eggs.

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"If you eat this, you will not get heat stroke. These eggs cooked in urine are fragrant," said Ge Yaohua, 51, who owns one of the more popular "virgin boy eggs" stalls.

"They are good for your health. Our family has them for every meal. In Dongyang, every family likes eating them."

It takes nearly an entire day to make these unique eggs, starting off by soaking and then boiling raw eggs in a pot of urine. After that, the shells of the hard-boiled eggs are cracked and they continue to simmer in urine for hours.

Vendors have to keep pouring urine into the pot and controlling the fire to keep the eggs from being overheated and overcooked.

Ge said he has been making the snack, popular due to its fresh and salty taste, for more than 20 years. Each egg goes for 1.50 yuan ($0.24), a little more than twice the price of the regular eggs he also sells.

Many Dongyang residents, young and old, said they believed in the tradition passed on by their ancestors that the eggs decrease body heat, promote better blood circulation and just generally reinvigorate the body.

Aly Song / Reuters

51-year-old vendor Ge Yaohua shows the inside of a hard-boiled egg cooked in boys' urine at his stall

"By eating these eggs, we will not have any pain in our waists, legs and joints. Also, you will have more energy when you work," said Li Yangzhen, 59, who bought 20 eggs from Ge.

The eggs are not bought only at street stalls. Local residents are also known to personally collect boys' urine from nearby schools to cook the delicacy in their homes.

The popularity of the treat has led the local government to list the "virgin boy eggs" as an intangible cultural heritage.

Aly Song / Reuters

51-year-old vendor Ge Yaohua (R) passes a bag of hard-boiled eggs cooked in boys' urine to a customer holding her baby on a street in Dongyang, Zhejiang province.

But not everyone is a fan. Chinese medical experts gave mixed reviews about the health benefits of the practice, with some warning about sanitary issues surrounding the use of urine to cook the eggs.

Some Dongyang residents also said they hated the eggs.

"We have this tradition in Dongyang that these eggs are good for our health and that it would help prevent things like getting a cold," said Wang Junxing, 38. "I don't believe in all this, so I do not eat them."

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.Explore related topics: china, food, featured, weird, eggsAdvertise | AdChoicesolder

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Most popular posts95 comments, including:

F...ing weirdos...

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More proof that in this state China will never be a serious threat to the U.S. Maybe in a 100 years.

6 votes#1 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 11:56 AM EDTMax^108

Keep buying all the garbage they make and pretty soon there will be a Chinese flag flying over the Capitol. Americans lost more jobs to the Chinese than to the rest of the world combined. Not a threat? Think again.

6 votes#1.1 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 12:31 PM EDTsubliminal

They are sick and disgusting! Don't buy Chinese, you never know where it comes from or what is in it.

5 votes#1.2 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 12:41 PM EDTPublius13

Thre won't be a Chinese flag over the U.S. Capitol--at least not until they get an alphabet.

1 vote#1.3 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 2:16 PM EDTtruesaid

Wow, I'm really glad for them and their dietary habits!

1 vote#1.4 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 2:27 PM EDTKevin C-752389

"See, my food chewing, and regurgitating it to my son is not so gross now, is it?"

signed,

Alicia Silverstone

9 votes#1.5 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 2:29 PM EDTKevin C-752389

No thanks, I think I will stick with a glass of Chinese baby formula contaminated with melamine.

2 votes#1.6 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 2:31 PM EDTGCHD

Just another stupid tradition like tiger balls and rhino horn. Proof that the Chinese don't believe in science, kind of like some people in our country.

5 votes#1.7 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 3:11 PM EDTRontron

Maybe we can sell them Soylent Green to equalize the trade imbalance.

2 votes#1.8 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 3:19 PM EDTRichard-1971294

I'm pretty sure they would sell us Soylent Green. They have such an excess population, and boys are favored over girls. So any Soylent Green you buy from China is likely virgin girl flavored.

In all honesty though, other than the mental yuck factor of using urine as a cooking media, there really isn't anything too bad about this. The process of cooking makes everything sterile. We eat animal products all the time. Urine is just another animal product. My only concern would be how the urine is collected. The higher end vendors hopefully collect their urine by providing a bottle so it doesn't have to be collected from a toilet where it has been diluted.

With that said, there is ZERO chance in hell I would eat one of those. I'll stick to eating animal brains and raw pig skin thank you very much.

1 vote#1.9 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 3:43 PM EDTDevil's Son

Conservatives led by the five on the Supreme Court are worried that some day the government may force you to eat your broccoli. I sure hope my HMO doesn't find out about the benefits of piss eggs.

1 vote#1.10 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 3:49 PM EDTMDrn

As the saying goes,"Just because it's a tradition, doesn't mean it's not stupid."

1 vote#1.11 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 3:58 PM EDTWisePati

We already are heading towards 'Soylent Green'...just check out all the news on changing the image of 'pink slime'. The 'meat' industry is very frightening. They don't want anyone to know what they are doing or what you are really eating. But they have a lot of political support and they pull the 'jobs' card.
The Chinese have many practices around food and traditional 'medicines" that I find barbaric and cruel, such as eating dog (and torturing them first) and the use of parts of endangered species. I don't understand how they can be so callous and indifferent to the suffering of other living beings.

That being said, better start teaching your kinds Chinese because they own the US. Hope all those folks that wanted cheaper 'stuff' are happy now.

#1.12 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 4:04 PM EDTwizard-1017723

They out did pink slime in gross out race that`s for sure!

#1.13 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 4:07 PM EDThs321

A good reason to keep up defense spending.

We DO NOT want these people taking over the U.S.

#1.14 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 4:21 PM EDTMax^108

F...ing weirdos...

13 votes#2 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 11:59 AM EDTAmerican Patriot-2592388

Ditto!

2 votes#2.1 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 3:17 PM EDTJanice K-2170627

Wow - for some strange reason, I'm not hungry anymore even though it's lunchtime...

6 votes#3 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 12:06 PM EDTjim Ledden-3738606I am going to demand that Denny's start carrying these Cub Scout Piss Omelettes ! In stead of telling the waitress to hold the bacon. I will tell her to hold open the the stomach distress bag.

2 votes#3.1 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 2:52 PM EDThm-2105988

Got it... that explains the root of the logic behind the veto that supported Syria’s Assad and his massacre of innocent people.

Broiled eggs in urine sound about accurate as a description of the Chinese Premier’s brain.

4 votes#4 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 12:08 PM EDTbob1/28

hm

Hate to disagree with you on this.

But it is more like Captain Twinkies in North Korea.

bob

1 vote#4.1 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 3:08 PM EDTAdvertise | AdChoicesfgh-1038628

So many health benefits, yet somehow the brain does not benefit.

6 votes#5 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 12:09 PM EDTWidgetsx3

I just threw up a little. Gack.

4 votes#6 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 12:12 PM EDTTed, in Boyd TX

I just threw up a lot!

1 vote#6.1 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 3:09 PM EDTG_Reaper

Quick, save your vomit and boil some eggs in it!

2 votes#6.2 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 3:54 PM EDTOceanic 815

I'd rather eat your throw up than those urine eggs.

#6.3 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 3:56 PM EDTGoldfishTheDestroyer

Each egg goes for 1.50 yuan ($0.24)

6 and a 6. Just sayin'

1 vote#7 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 12:38 PM EDTThe Mex

WOW!!! I am going to simmer my huevos (eggs) in my wife's V today. It will be good for her and me. LOL

This is a mexican delicacy....

#8 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 12:56 PM EDTdenver bill 2

Huevos con chorizo ....

1 vote#8.1 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 1:16 PM EDTMac Forrester

Just like religion, tradition is truth. Eating piss boiled eggs is probably safer than eating raw meat, although I'll pass on all of it.

1 vote#8.2 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 2:46 PM EDTEROCK17

Not what you want to read while eating some beef and broccoli.

Yeah, i think im done now.

4 votes#9 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 1:01 PM EDTclarence sam dangler

No more chineese food restaraunts for me ever. And the man in the pic looks so happy, what is the fav beverage?

2 votes#10 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 1:04 PM EDTMike Hyde

Another stupid and most honorable backwards Chinese tradition. What's next? Whole fish caked in virgin girl poop and baked over a buffalo dung fire?

3 votes#11 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 1:04 PM EDTsomebefuddledperson

I think thay had the poop thing on survivor last night. lol

1 vote#11.1 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 3:12 PM EDTOceanic 815

Now, now, that was just dirt in Tarzan's undies (wink, wink). By the way, CBS needs a little more pixilation when showing Tarzan's junk.

#11.2 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 4:00 PM EDTandy-3673783

Yeah. I'm always trying to talk people into going to Dongyang. You just can't get virgin boy eggs here like you can in Dongyang. :O)

3 votes#12 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 1:04 PM EDTCoffee Addict

Oh...gross!

What health benefits can there possibly be from body waste?!

1 vote#13 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 1:28 PM EDTDoe Know

Maybe better than those french cum creamy cheese spreads the Americans just love.

#14 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 1:31 PM EDTunkn0wn1

Disgusting, Now I see where Bird and Swine flu came from.

2 votes#15 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 1:52 PM EDTReader1950

They are sick, filthy, disgusting people who are a threat to the general health of this globe. They're the sick ba$tards that skin animals alive in the streets for the fur that stupid people buy.

1 vote#15.1 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 2:18 PM EDTReader1950

Sick, wrong, disgusting, unsanitary, and ineffective. Period. Yea, eat these eggs and you'll sprout wings and be able to circumnavigate the globe. Imbeciles.

1 vote#16 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 2:09 PM EDTPublius13

Why do Americans believe the Chinese are going to overtake us? This is a nation that still doesn't have an alphabet.

3 votes#17 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 2:14 PM EDTReader1950

They don't have to. We gave them EVERY SINGLE JOB they've got. We took it all away from our people and gave it to their. China will soon be home to the world's 4th largest population of wealthy households thanks to us. That alone makes them very dangerous to the USA.

1 vote#17.1 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 2:16 PM EDTBonzeye

Especially if they hook up with the wealthy bastards in this country that are selling us out!

#17.2 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 2:57 PM EDTTired-of-it

PUBL..

Yeah, an alphabet has a lot to do with it. :-p

They are sitting on TRILLIONS of US dollars, and own over 1/3 of our (Stupid) debt. If they wanted to they could buy America. And we'll just hand them the keys.

STOP BUYING JUNK FROM CHINA!

1 vote#17.3 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 3:27 PM EDTReader1950

To put this in a serious context - people - this is CHINA - the country that right now, manufactures 80% of the imported goods this country buys. That's right, the country whose people eat eggs boiled in pi$$ make 80% of the imported goods we consume. Everything right down to our pet food ingredients. Time to wake up and stop buying this crap made and imported from CHINA!!!!!!!

2 votes#18 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 2:14 PM EDTPublius13

And they still don't have an alphabet.

#18.1 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 2:17 PM EDTsomebefuddledperson

I keep trying not to buy things made/produced in China (or Mexico for that matter), but it is nearly impossible.

#18.2 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 3:17 PM EDTTired-of-it

DUDE

Get over it, an alphabet means squat if we, with an alphabet, keep buying their cr p!

1 vote#18.3 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 3:38 PM EDTTired-of-it

It's not impossible to stop buying from China!!

Most of what they sell is useless nonsense.

Buy your pans from Italy or France, buy your dishes from Germany, buy your flatware from England. You don't need a new phone every year.

This is your Country people! The $10 you save on cheap cr p from China today sells out your children tomorrow. Start thinking!

2 votes#18.4 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 3:48 PM EDTsJ-3229045

Obviously you're dumber than them. Many European goods are made in China, assembled or repackaged in Europe so they can stick a "made in europe" label on them, and sold to dumb Americans at inflated price.

#18.5 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 4:17 PM EDTAdvertise | AdChoicesGbelle

Let me know when the Travel Channel's Andrew Zimmer tries this. That is one episode I would like to see . . . then go throw up.

3 votes#19 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 2:14 PM EDTStrayz

I would Too!

#19.1 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 3:59 PM EDTunkn0wn1

Remember when dishes from China used to be prized?

#20 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 2:19 PM EDTunforgiven-3578588

Yup, it's right below monkey and right above dog on the menu

After that, you can wash it all down with a tall glass of goat rhyne

#21 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 2:20 PM EDTJim Nordblom-459503

Dear God those people really will eat anything. No wonder there are so many of them.

#22 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 2:22 PM EDTWeAllHaveOpinions

Oh Jim thanks for the laugh, this is the funniest post I have read.

#22.1 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 2:54 PM EDTJTKirk

they also like soup made from aborted babies that the hospitals sell. a youthful elixir if you will. savages.

#23 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 2:25 PM EDTDiana-2844801

Lord I hope you are kidding!

1 vote#23.1 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 2:30 PM EDTSaraos

Diana-It's not a joke.Not all of them eat it,but yea,some do.

#23.2 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 3:05 PM EDTDiana-2844801

Many customs from various countries are equally disgusting. We here in the U.S. even have our disgusting customs. One that is prevalent in Mississippi and Alabama and who knows where else is called 'Split Tail' wherein the rancher splits the cow's tail and fills it with salt and then wraps it up!!! I'm absolutely sure the cow stands still for this little piece of work! This is just one of ours. They are all disgusting, very unsanitary, and equally DO NOT WORK! Good grief!

#24 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 2:27 PM EDTUDunnoBro

I don't get it - what doesn't work? You never said what this "Split Tail" is supposed to do but the article was about eating eggs...

1 vote#24.1 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 2:32 PM EDTjavadanny

Diana-2844801 I have lived in Alabama and Mississippi over 35 of my 62 years and I have never heard of that cow tail thing. I am also 2 generations removed from the family farm. You are peddling a tail "tale".

1 vote#24.2 - Thu Mar 29, 2012 3:15 PM EDTmicromd

WOW.....

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