Written by DCist Contributor April Fulton.

An Asian breakfast of congee, or as the Chinese say, jook, makes a perfect lunch on a blustery day. At Full Kee in Chinatown, you can get a savory, steaming bowl of this rice porridge with pork strips, scallions and 1,000 year old eggs for the low, low, price of $5.95. We know what you’re thinking, who wants to eat old eggs? You do. Trust us.

Notwithstanding their unappetizing name, 1,000 year-old eggs are actually just duck eggs that have been buried in a mixture of tea, lime, salt and ashes for 100 days. The curing process renders the whites a blackish amber you can almost see through, and a blackish green substance replaces the yolk. They taste like a firm avocado, sort of. The result is a mess of interesting textures and colors that can be mild like in the soup or strong in a salad.

DCist recently sat at one of those communal tables downstairs with an old Chinese man, a young Library of Congress contractor, and a pair of middle-aged co-workers splitting something sweet and sour with gloppy orange goo on it. While they went on about their business, we enjoyed our soup immensely. That’s the great thing about Full Kee: there’s something for everyone, whether you like fake American Chinese food or the more exotic tripe and chicken feet thing. And it’s cheap.

Full Kee
509 H St. NW
(202) 371-2233
Cash only

Picture used under a Creative Commons license from flickr user fiordizucca