Sodium Alginate for good or evil

[battlepanda]

I'm not too sure where to post this, but I reckon it would be of interest for eGulleteers who are into molecular gastronomy and are familiar with the "sferization" process to make 'caviars' and 'raviolis' using sodium alginate.

Some unscrupulous Chinese vendors have been using the same process to make fake eggs.

Fake eggs report

The site is in Chinese, but they do have interesting pictures of a fake egg getting made. The part that puzzles me (and have not been shown on the site) is how they get the shell on there. According to various news accounts, the "egg" is dipped in a "calcium bath", or "poured into a previously prepared shell of plaster." The most credible-seeming website (a pop-science websitefrom Hong Kong) said that plaster powder is mixed into liquid paraffin before the "egg" is dipped in the mixture to form the shell.

This page shows a photograph comparing a fake egg and a real egg. There does not seem to be external visible difference between the two. Photographs on the same page claims to show that the substance inside the egg does indeed stiffen just like a real egg when cooked, although the result is supposed to be rubbery and unappetizing. I briefly considered whether this news report could be a hoax, like the "paper buns" debacle, but I have found many reports and it seems unlikely that a reporter would have perfected the technique of making a fake egg just for a fake news story.

I wonder if the process of making the shell is safe, if so, I can think of some non-nefarious applications for the process. Imagine a cocktail served in an "egg" that the drinker get to break into the glass!

[scubadoo97]

some unscrupulous Chinese vendors have been using the same process to make fake eggs.

I hope they are not trying to sell them as real eggs at real egg prices. If they are then they're losing money. It has to cost more to make a fake egg then to get a real one.

[SundaySous]

I wonder if the process of making the shell is safe, if so, I can think of some non-nefarious applications for the process. Imagine a cocktail served in an "egg" that the drinker get to break into the glass!

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This thread got me thinking the same thing. I would think using liquid Nitrogen and possibly the method for making the shell shown in your first link "the cocktail egg" would be possible. Not being able to read Chinese I'm somewhat at a disadvantage.

[battlepanda]

Of course the point is to make a profit. Considering that food chemicals such as sodium alginate and whatever else used to make the 'egg' eggy is cheap in bulk and labor is cheap in China, I can certainly see how fake eggs can undercut real eggs and still have a handsome profit margin. I really am curious as to what a fake egg tastes like now.