When visiting different parts of the world, one generally notices the local popular food item. New York is full of street hot dogs, South Florida is full of latin food, England is full of tea and meat pies, and the Chinese city of Dongyang is full of eggs soaked in the urine of boys under the age of ten. They’re called “virgin boy eggs,” the urine is collected from primary schools, and they’re a local delicacy.

The vendors who sell the virgin boy eggs claim the eggs have decent health properties, because that probably makes it easier to sell eggs soaked in young boy urine that is collected from schools. A vendor of a popular virgin egg stall claimed eating the eggs creates better blood circulation, reinvigorates the body, and would prevent heat stroke. You could also just drink water, if you’re afraid of heat stroke.

The juicy details of the cooking procedure are simple: Soak the eggs in a pot of urine, then boil the eggs in said pot of urine. After they soak and boil, the shells of the eggs are cracked, then the eggs are simmered in urine for the rest of the day. In order to keep the urine eggs from overheating, the street vendors pour fresh urine over the eggs throughout the day.

One urine egg street vendor said he’s been making and selling the eggs for over two decades, and the eggs are currently priced at around $0.24, double the price of normal eggs sold by the same vendors.

Even creepier, local residents who aren’t vendors of urine eggs are said to actually collect boys’ urine from schools themselves for personal egg use. Not all people of Dongyang are fans of the eggs, however, but enough people seem to be fans for there to be multiple street vendors that have stayed in business for years selling the them.

(story via Reuters, images via Amusing Planet)

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