What Is Salted Egg? Singapore's Favourite Snack Flavour

What Is Salted Egg?

Salted egg is a cured egg yolk made by preserving duck eggs in salted charcoal or brine for 30 to 40 days. The result: a rich, golden yolk with a distinctively savoury, creamy, and slightly briny flavour — the bold taste that IRVINS turned into Singapore’s most Dangerously Addictive snack.

How Is Salted Egg Made?

Traditional salted egg curing is a technique that originated in China, passed down for generations. Some of the earliest written records of the method appear in ancient Chinese agricultural texts — here's how it's made:

1. Start with fresh duck eggs. Submerge them in a saturated salt solution, or pack them in salted charcoal paste.
   
   
2. Cure for 30 to 40 days.* Over this time, the salt draws moisture from the yolk, concentrating its fats and proteins into a dense, golden core.
   
   
3. Boil the cured eggs. This firms up the white and yolk, making the eggs safe to handle and easy to shell.
   
   
4. Separate and dry the yolks. The whites are set aside, while the yolks are dried out to intensify their colour and deepen the salted, savoury flavour.
   
   
5. Cook the yolks down. Combine with butter and curry leaves — sometimes chilli — into a glossy, fragrant sauce.

At IRVINS, every snack gets fully coated in IRVINS' signature sauce, ensuring the flavour is consistent from the first bite to the last.

Why is Salted Egg so Popular in Singapore?

Salted egg has been on the Singapore table for generations. Served alongside Teochew porridge or congee, the cured yolk was a practical, intensely flavoured staple — humble in origin, hard to forget in taste.

The crossover happened gradually. Chefs started working salted egg into crab, prawns, and mantou, and by the 2010s the flavour had moved into snacks, sauces, and desserts. Singapore's appetite for bold, locally rooted food did the rest.

IRVINS was at the centre of that shift. Today, IRVINS’ is as much a part of the Changi Airport departure experience as it is a staple of the Singapore table.

What Does Salted Egg Taste Like?

Salted egg has a flavour profile that is difficult to place in a single category — and that is precisely why it works.

The dominant note is umami: deep, savoury, and lingering. The butteriness comes next — smooth and full, a direct result of the yolk’s fats concentrating as it cures. The saltiness is present but measured — absorbed into the yolk during curing so it registers as seasoning rather than sharpness. And in the finish, a faint sweetness that balances the whole profile and keeps it from tipping into overwhelm.

When made into a sauce — as IRVINS does — these elements amplify. Butter, curry leaves, and chilli add fragrance and a gentle heat that lifts the yolk's natural depth without masking it.

The result is a flavour that is both familiar and addictive.

Types of Salted Egg Snacks

From local hawker staple to global snack trend, salted egg has been adopted by brands across Singapore and beyond. These are the IRVINS originals — the ones that started the conversation.

Salted Egg Fish Skin
The one that started it all — and still IRVINS' most iconic. Light and crispy, fish skin absorbs IRVINS’ signature salted egg sauce delivering a full-coated bite where the richness lands perfectly in balance.

Wondering how it fits into your diet? Find a calorie & breakdown here 

Salted Egg Potato Chips
IRVINS took the universally loved potato chip and turned it into something else entirely — coating it in IRVINS’ signature salted egg sauce for a snacking experience that is richer, bolder, and Dangerously Addictive.

IRVINS | Kuromi Salted Egg Custard Popcorn
IRVINS' first venture into sweet — and it landed perfectly. Salted egg custard sauce coats every kernel, blending savoury depth with a gentle sweetness for a light, crowd-pleasing treat.