LOCATED in the upper reaches of the Huangpu River, Yexie Town is crisscrossed by canals, and the clean, clear water creates a perfect environment for poultry farming.

Yexie’s large eggs, laid by free-range chickens, are a star product of the town.

The local marinated egg is a popular snack with residents and visitors alike. Goose broth is used to make the marinade.

The marinated eggs are easy to make at home. The eggs are boiled for about 15 minutes, while the marinade is being prepared.

The marinade usually comes from the first bowl of broth from cooking a goose. To that are added pepper, fresh ginger, sugar, salt, aniseed, cinnamon, tangerine peel, angelica, galangal, cumin, cardamom and cloves.

The soup, cooked repeatedly over time, becomes a tantalizing broth. Soy sauce, garlic and onion shouldn’t be put in broth meant to be stored for any length of time.

When making the marinated eggs, soy sauce, rocky sugar and red yeast rice are added to the broth. For those who don’t have the time at home, the broth can be bought in supermarkets.

After the eggs are cooked, they are shelled and immersed, while still hot, in the marinade and left to simmer for about 10 minutes until they turn a light brown. The eggs are then left to soak in the marinade overnight.

Here’s a tip to make sure the eggs remain entirely immersed in the marinade: cover the tops of the eggs with a paper towel. The towel acts as a wick drawing the liquid up and around the eggs.