food

12 eggs, 24 yolks? Woman in Japan receives batch of extraordinary eggs

8 Comments
By Casey Baseel, RocketNews24

Japan has a sort of tradition in which parents will often give or send foodstuffs to their adult children. This is especially common if the parents live in the countryside and the child has moved to the big city, with singles in particular often the recipients of care packages of a big of rice or crate of produce from back home.

Twitter user Umeboshi recently received a pack of eggs from her mom. Perhaps planning to add them to her salads or sandwiches, the daughter boiled what looks to be the dozen eggs she’d been given…only to find two dozen yolks.

Every single one of the eggs turned out to contain a double yolk. So what gives?

While Umeboshi is apparently yet to ask her parent how she came by the eggs, Twitter user Mitsuko has the basis of a plausible theory.

Egg farmers can tell whether or not a hen has laid a double-yolk egg without cracking it open. The shells of double-yolk eggs tend to be longer and more pointed than those of single-yolks, and the two yolks can also be seen when using a light to inspect the contents of the egg without cracking it.

Double-yolk eggs taste just the same as single-yolks ones, and some people actually feel lucky to discover one. Not everyone is left with such a positive impression, though. Some shoppers find them kind of gross, and so to avoid shocking their more sensitive customers, egg farmers generally remove them from any batches before they’re shipped to market, as pointed out by Mitsuko.

As such, it seems pretty clear that Umeboshi’s mom somehow got her hands on a package filled entirely of double-yolks that had been set aside during sorting at the farm. Maybe she has a friend who raises chickens and hooks her up with the unusual eggs that are fine to eat but tough to sell. Or maybe she’s known in the local community as “that lady who just can’t get enough egg yolks” and the producer boxes up a special selection just for her.

Either way, Umeboshi can eat the extra-content eggs without fear, as the phenomena of double-yolks is entirely natural. It generally occurs with young hens who’ve just reached egg-laying age, and is a result of their ovulation rhythm still not being entirely stabilized. In other words, it’s not the result of feed additives or improper handling.

Sources: Curazy, Gizmodo

Read more stories from RocketNews24. -- Japan has eggs that smell and taste like yuzu citrus fruit, and they’re amazing -- Kuzo Makes an Egg on a Stick for Everyone in the Office -- How to Extract an Egg Yolk Using a Plastic Water Bottle

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8 Comments
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Interesting explanation from Twitter user Mitsuko. A minor example of the power of the internet in prolem-solving!

About the article though...Japanese eggs come in packs of 10, not 12. It seems like nitpicking, but shouldn't an article about Japan from a Japanese news site strive to get the obvious details right? And yes, I know this article comes directly from another site.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Interesting. I live in Melbourne and the same thing happened to me a few weeks ago - 12 eggs, each with a double yolk. Now I know the explanation it will save me trying to revive my flagging knowledge of statistics to work out the odds against that happening by chance!

2 ( +2 / -0 )

borax wrote About the article though...Japanese eggs come in packs of 10, not 12. It seems like nitpicking, but shouldn't an article about Japan from a Japanese news site strive to get the obvious details right? And yes, I know this article comes directly from another site.

Maybe she got 2 packs of 6? Or, as her mom may have bought it directly from an egg farm, she actually got them "loose" in a bag or box.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

A bout 4 months ago. I had 4 out of 6 eggs in a box with double yolks. Been years since i had last seen even one. . . (i am in the UK)

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I wouldn't find a package of eggs turning into double yolks gross at all. I would think, "Lucky me!" =)

1 ( +1 / -0 )

In Poland you can buy a box filled with double yolk eggs on purpose, so I don't really get why it is a "news". They are even a bit more expensive than normal ones.

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Yes re poland its two for the price of one. They make pretty fried eggs sunny side up of course.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

It certainly does look gross. I don't even like single yolks, doubles would be a nightmare.

Anyway, I'd like to see a follow-up to this story explaining why this girl boiled all those eggs at the same time.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

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