Am I Dumb for Eating Raw Eggs Here?

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  • #43346
    Avatar photoZak
    Participant

    I mean not straight, but putting them in a smoothie. Anyone know more about this than I do? Shed thine light.

    #43348
    Avatar photoKim Duistermaat
    Participant
    #43350
    Avatar photoVincent
    Participant

    I don’t think consuming raw eggs in China comes with a greatest risk compared to doing it somewhere else. Unless you somehow run into a batch of fake eggs, but in that case cooking them wouldn’t help you either.

    Don’t store them in your fridge, it increases the risk of salmonella.

    Some more info in this thread: Eggs and other foods

    #43356
    Avatar photoCharlie
    Keymaster

    I could be wrong, but I think you are more safe doing that here than in the United States. You are still taking a risk. I’ve heard that the FDA requires that all eggs in the US are washed and sanitized which removes a protective layer on the egg called the cuticle. Without this layer, eggs must be refrigerated. In Europe, it is actually illegal to wash the eggs and destroy that layer. The WHO discourages against eating raw eggs but I think your chance of getting salmonella is reasonably low.

    #43367
    Avatar photoZak
    Participant

    Thank you gents for the well-informed replies. Charlie I’ve read a bunch about the FDA and the protective layer issue. I do not refridgerate anymore.

    The raw egg thing became an issue with, as Kim guessed, I started putting them in smoothies. I normally wouldn’t htink twice, but when there was bird flu issues a few years back I was living in Suzhou and a person living in my building died. Since then, I’ve tried to err on the safer side of things. With that said, after reading those articles, I’m going to skip the egg in the smoothie and just boil them in the morning for a nice warm breakfast.

    On another note, any good SMOOTHIE recipes out there? I’m thinking Chinese marketplace specific smoothies, ideally no imported products.

    I’m trying to communicae that I have a nutribullet and now only consume liquids.

    #43376
    Avatar photoCharlie
    Keymaster

    With that said, after reading those articles, I’m going to skip the egg in the smoothie and just boil them in the morning for a nice warm breakfast. On another note, any good SMOOTHIE recipes out there? I’m thinking Chinese marketplace specific smoothies, ideally no imported products. I’m trying to communicae that I have a nutribullet and now only consume liquids.

    You can substitute protein powder for eggs in your shake. Here’s the shake that I make every morning:

    • 1/2 cup of oatmeal (ground in a coffee grinder)
    • milk
    • protein powder
    • one banana or a handful of strawberries
    • plain yogurt
    • ice cubes
    • peanut butter

    What I started doing recently is preparing a weeks worth of shakes at the same time and storing them in tupperware. It takes about 90 seconds to prepare in the morning and it’s around 1,000 calories.

    #43378
    Avatar photoVincent
    Participant

    Re storing in tupperware: interesting… you just put them in the fridge for a week? And then you mix it again every morning? In a blender?

    #43385
    Avatar photoZak
    Participant

    Glad to see you’re getting good use out of that Japanese hand grinder haha. Guessing you have a separate aparatus for coffee and oatmeal?

    I’ve been making this one pretty regularly:

    • Frozen banana
    • Apple
    • Peanut butter
    • Protein Powder
    • Spinach or Broccoli Stalk
    • Plain yogurt

    I freeze the bananas so they last longer and I don’t need ice. The spinach or broccoli stalk depends on whatever I’m cooking with that week at night. Some people don’t like the taste but I dig it. Might be a California berkely type of learned apathy towards green stuff in everything.

    Since starting to do this in the morning, my energy levels have gone through the roof. I used to have a lot of trouble getting the right amount of greens and fruit in my diet. Now I do it all in the morning.

    My life has improved so much having this blender that I finally caved and bought an Aeropress. I’m starting to get why housewives/dads take pleasure in top of the line juicers and vaccum cleaners. Bring on the gadgetry, baby.

    #43387
    Avatar photoCharlie
    Keymaster

    Re storing in tupperware: interesting… you just put them in the fridge for a week? And then you mix it again every morning? In a blender?

    Yeah, I should have clarified that part: you obviously can’t prepare and refrigerate the entire thing. I measure and grind oats and combine that with protein powder in the tupperware container. Then in the morning pour that and the other ingredients in the blender and blend. The most time consuming process is grinding the oats, so it saves time to do that in advance. It’s a very fast breakfast.

    Glad to see you’re getting good use out of that Japanese hand grinder haha. Guessing you have a separate aparatus for coffee and oatmeal?

    Yeah, I have an electric grinder which I don’t use for coffee, just for oats. I only use the hand grinder for coffee beans. The hand grinder works for that because I’m only grinding a single cup worth of beans at once, so grinding takes about 60 seconds.

    I freeze the bananas so they last longer and I don’t need ice.

    That’s a good idea. What type of container do you freeze them in? I would assume you peel them and put into freezer bags or something?

    Some people don’t like the taste but I dig it. Might be a California berkely type of learned apathy towards green stuff in everything. Since starting to do this in the morning, my energy levels have gone through the roof. I used to have a lot of trouble getting the right amount of greens and fruit in my diet. Now I do it all in the morning.

    Sounds like a good habit to have. Making a shake is so fast and provides so much nutritional value. I think these habits are more important here with the questionable nutritional value of Chinese food.

    #43390
    Avatar photoZak
    Participant

    Frozen bananas is clutch. I peel a week’s worth and toss them in a freezer bag. Easy and fast.

    Your last point is the largest for me. I’m a believer in the Chinese diet in a lot of ways, but if you’re eating by yourself especially it is difficult to get the full range of nutrients. I have never found a real solution as good as the morning shake.

    The weirdest part for me is that everything ends up tasting pretty alright. I’ve tried some wacky ones, particularly with high greens volume, and nothing ever tastes too bad. A bit of peanut butter and yogurt base goes a long way.

    #43391
    Avatar photoCharlie
    Keymaster

    Frozen bananas is clutch. I peel a week’s worth and toss them in a freezer bag. Easy and fast.

    Yeah, nice moves. I will definitely give that a shot.

    #43392
    Avatar photoVincent
    Participant

    Slicing up the banana before putting it in the freezer also helps a lot imo. That way you don’t have to throw a huge chunk of frozen matter in your blender :p

    #43412
    Avatar photoBrendan
    Moderator

    I would NEVER eat raw eggs unless I was sourcing them directly and knew everything there was to know about the hens, their feed, the land they live on, etc. An unknown is an unknown.

    Those smoothie recipes should be absent of any sugars in the a.m. if you’re looking to stay lean and not end up starving hungry within 3-4 hours. You’ll likely also end up craving further carbs (whether you realise it or not), and forever a smoothie shall you be.

    Grinding the oats is a nice idea as that definitely helps satiate you, and the fibre won’t hurt, just so long as you’re not sensitive to gluten. Most oats are cross contaminated with gluten containing grains. Another issue is phytic acid, which you can keep down by soaking your serving overnight. Incidentally soaking the oats will forego the need to grind them. Pro-tip right there. When I can find them I prefer to use Psyllium, an inexpensive fibre that provides great benefit for digestion.

    Getting greens into your shake is an awesome idea, not least for the benefits of alkalising you. When I can find decent (dark) leafy greens I will throw close to half a pound in. I’ve also been using green tea powder for a couple of years or so now, which serves as a great antioxidant, metabolic booster, and alkalising agent. It’s also ridiculously cheap.

    A fairly standard smoothie for me looks something like this:

    • 500ml filtered water (or coconut water p.m.)
    • 50-75g Whey Protein Isolates
    • 100g Natural Peanut Butter
    • 25g Coconut Oil
    • 5-10g Alkalised Cocoa (easily obtainable)
    • 5g Green Tea Powder
    • 5g Fibre
    • 10-15g BCAA’s
    • Creatine (Monohydrate/Micronised)

    Post-workout I might include the following:

    • 500ml Coconut, Almond, or Soy Milk/Fruit Juice
    • 1-2 Banana (never too ripe)
    • 1/4 Pineapple
    • Various berries (when in season and not absurdly priced)
    • 1 Tbsp Honey

    When they’re available at a reasonable price I’ll throw in half an avocado. This gives the smoothie an awesome texture, not to mention that avocado’s are awesome in their own right.

    #43435
    Avatar photoNuhis-Deli
    Participant

    Hi,

    Two cents from Nuhi’s: raw eggs are an important part of quite many recipes in both Italian and French cuisine. The most eye-catching examples would be various ice creams, mayonnaise and mascarpone cream (the creamy stuff inside and on top of a proper tiramisu). And as such I don’t recognise myself in Brendan’s statement. Raw eggs are widely used in many kitchens in Europe without the chef knowing the hens by name. Some bakers and pastrymakers are nowadays switching to pasteurised eggs, available in 1 liter cartons, both as whole egg or spliced into whites and yolks. Purists will not use it because the pasteurisation process does influence the taste. Of course the cartons are easier to handle as well. If we’re busy I have days I splice up to 40 eggs…

    At Nuhi’s we use free-range eggs because next to tasting better, woth free-range the risk of contamination is much lower then with cage eggs. Free range eggs can be identified by an orange yolk instead of a bleak-yellow one. Just ask your egg-man or -woman for free range eggs and break one to test next to a cheap, standard egg. We purchase our free-range eggs at our local farmers market. More expensive then cage eggs (if I remember correctly unit price is about 40% higher) but way better (and more safe) in all respects.

    If despite that you’re still antsy about using raw eggs, then this might help: splice the egg(s) before adding them to the smoothie mix. Add the yolk(s) but microwave the white(s) for 15 seconds at medium power or until the first white threads appear. This treatment is too little to cook the egg white(s) but enough to get rid of most contaminants.

    Cheers,
    Nuhi

    #43437
    Avatar photoCharlie
    Keymaster

    We purchase our free-range eggs at our local farmers market. More expensive then cage eggs (if I remember correctly unit price is about 40% higher) but way better (and more safe) in all respects.

    Can you share any information about the farmers market that you go to? I would be happy to pay more for higher quality eggs but I’d be suspicious of vendors saying the eggs are something they’re not. I understand if this is a business secret which you don’t want to share.

    #43439
    Avatar photoNuhis-Deli
    Participant

    Hi,

    I have only one trade secret and that’s the flour mix for my doughs :-).

    The market I referred to is the small market behind us (we’re on the first section, south first ring road in a building called Kai Yue Xin Cheng). I’ve attached screen captures with a pin on the market.

    Basically, as I stated above, break a regular egg (just grab the cheapest egg on sale) and an alleged free-range egg. If it is a free-range, the yolk will be much darker en deeper coloured, almost oker if it’s a rel good egg. Simple test but works.

    For anyone not relying on the test, you can buy them of me as well (next to six or seven different cheeses and a similar number of cured meats by the gram :-). I’ll put a small handling charge on top (5% on purchase). Up to 10 eggs never an issue, more then ten please call in advance. I like to buy the eggs as fresh as possible so I don’t run large stocks.

    Cheers,
    Nuhi

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    #43446
    Avatar photoBrendan
    Moderator

    but microwave the white(s) for 15 seconds at medium power or until the first white threads appear

    Great advice, though any reason you wouldn’t also microwave the yolk?

    Again, I’d use (and have used) raw eggs when I know and trust the supplier. That’s a harder ask in China.

    As far as the ‘yellow’ appearance of yolks go, farmers the world over have been using feeds that specifically colour the yolk for years. A natural untainted egg will have what I call a ‘sunshine’ yellow to it, with an almost glow.

    I could be considered ‘antsy’ when it comes to eggs, since as a bodybuilder they’ve been my predominant source of protein (generally speaking) for several years.

    #43451
    Avatar photoCharlie
    Keymaster

    Hi, I have only one trade secret and that’s the flour mix for my doughs :-). The market I referred to is the small market behind us (we’re on the first section, south first ring road in a building called Kai Yue Xin Cheng). I’ve attached screen captures with a pin on the market.

    That’s really cool of you, thanks Nuhi. I will check this place out. I’m curious to see the difference between these two egg types.

    #43460
    Avatar photoNuhis-Deli
    Participant

    @ Brendan

    First of all, you have of course every right to be careful. And if you’re a bodybuilder and down 10 eggs a day, you’d basically have a tenfold risk to acquire anything bad of them compared to average so you should be more careful.

    My somewhat prickly response was caused by me having become a bit oversensitive towards food safety reflexes in “The West”. It’s gone completely over the top at the wrong end of the chain in my opinion. But that a broader discussion then raw eggs :-).

    Why not also micro the yolk? Good question, I suppose you could. I’d say try it. I will. Reason I don’t is because the risky part of the egg is the white, not the yolk and the trick was taught to me by a seasoned French Masterchef who didn’t. Not the type of guy you’d second guess as an apprentice :-).

    #43461
    Avatar photoNuhis-Deli
    Participant

    @ Charlie

    Drop by the deli on a Wednesday between 14-17, we go together.

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