Chinese Tea Eggs Recipes

CHINESE TEA LEAF EGGS

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, combine eggs and 1 teaspoon salt; cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat, drain, and cool. When cool, tap eggs with the back of a spoon to crack shells (do not remove shells).
• In a large saucepan, combine 3 cups water, soy sauce, black soy sauce, salt, tea leaves, star anise, cinnamon stick, and tangerine zest. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 3 hours. Remove from heat, add eggs, and let steep for at least 8 hours.

CHINESE TEA EGGS

Steps:

• Bring the eggs to the boil and simmer for 3-5 minutes.
• Drain and cool. When cool enough to handle, gently crack the egg's shell all over without removing the shell.
• Place back in the pan, cover the eggs with water, add the remaining ingredients and bring back to boil, turn down and simmer on low heat for an hour or more, this helps the flavours infuse the egg.
• Drain once more. Eggs can be eaten hot or cold and should have an attractive marble effect.

TEA EGGS

Steps:

• Take the eggs out of the refrigerator to let them warm up a bit. (Very cold eggs can crack when they hit boiling water.)
• Combine the soy sauce, shaoxing wine, sugar, ginger, star anise, peppercorns and salt in a medium saucepan. Add 3 cups water and the tea bags, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to maintain a bare simmer while the eggs cook and cool.
• Bring a few inches of water in a large saucepan to a boil over high heat. Using a spoon, carefully and quickly add the eggs one at a time. Cook for 6 minutes for jammy yolks, 7 minutes for just-set yolks and 8 to 10 minutes for hard-boiled yolks. Pour the boiling water out of the saucepan, keeping the eggs back with a lid or spatula, then fill the saucepan with cold water from the tap. Let stand until the eggs are cool enough to handle, then drain.
• To create a marbled look, tap the eggs with the back of a spoon to create hairline fractures all over with some bigger cracks but without breaking off the shells. For solid-colored eggs, peel the eggs completely. Transfer the eggs to the soy sauce mixture. Remove from the heat. Cover the saucepan or transfer everything to an airtight container and refrigerate for at least 12 hours and up to 7 days before peeling the eggs and eating. For the clearest design, be sure to peel the eggs without removing the fine membrane between the shells and eggs.