鱼翅与花椒_皮蛋

The Preserved Duck eggs were served as an hors d’oeuvre in a fashionable Hong Kong restaurant, sliced in half, with a ginger-and-vinegar dip. It was my first trip to Asia, and I had rarely seen anything so revolting on a dinner table. They leered up at me like the eyeballs of some nightmarish monster, dark and threatening. Their albumens were a filthy, translucent brown, their yolks an oozy black, ringed with a layer of greenish, mouldy grey. About them hung a faintly sulphurous haze. I tried one, just to be polite, but its noxious aroma made me feel nauseous and I found it hard to swallow. Afterwards, a slick of toxic black slime from the yolk clung to my chopsticks, threatening to pollute everything else I ate. Surreptitiously, I tried to wipe them on the tablecloth.

一家装修挺前卫的香港餐馆，上了皮蛋作为餐前开胃小吃。蛋被一切两半，搭配泡姜佐餐。那是我第一次去亚洲，之前几乎没见过晚餐桌上出现这么恶心的东西。这两瓣皮蛋好像在瞪着我，如同闯入噩梦的魔鬼之眼，幽深黑暗，闪着威胁的光。蛋白不白，是一种脏兮兮、半透明的褐色；蛋黄不黄，是一坨黑色的淤泥，周边一圈绿幽幽的灰色，发了霉似的。整个皮蛋笼罩着一种硫磺色的光晕。仅仅出于礼貌，我夹起一块放在嘴里，那股恶臭立刻让我无比恶心，根本无法下咽。之后，我的筷子上就一直沾着蛋黄上那黑黢黢、黏糊糊的东西，感觉再夹什么都会被污染。我一直偷偷摸摸地在桌布上擦着筷子。