Chinese Tea Eggs turn hard-boiled eggs into beautifully marbled jewels, perfumed with a tea and herbal infusion featuring star anise, green cardamom pods, cinnamon, fennel seed, and Chinese five spice powder.
Bored with the usual boiled egg for lunch? These Chinese Tea Eggs are anything but boring. These are fun to prepare and eat and although it is a three-step process, it’s easy to do, and the results are well worth the effort.
Step 1. Hard-boil 6 eggs (I actually boil up 7, in case one of the eggs ‘misfires’). Next, cool the eggs in an ice water bath until they can be held in your hands comfortably. Roll and gently tap the eggs until the shells are evenly and thoroughly cracked. Note: be careful to avoid breaking away large chunks of shell from the egg white underneath the shell.
Step 2. Create a fragrant broth with which to flavor the cracked eggs by simmering together: water, black tea, herbal tea, soy sauce, a touch of honey, star anise, cinnamon, green cardamom, fennel seed, Chinese five spice powder, and Szechuan peppercorns.
A word of warning though, if you taste this stuff straight out of the pot, it doesn’t taste very good. That’s part of the magic of these Chinese Tea Eggs — the flavor doesn’t develop until the whole thing sits together and marries. So, with this recipe, go by how it smells as it is simmering, and skip tasting it (ok, I would too, but you’ve been forwarned).
Step 3. Flavor the eggs by combining them with the hot tea mixture.
Here’s where I depart from tradition. In most recipes for tea eggs, the boiled eggs are usually re-boiled in the tea mixture. This results in a firmer texture to the eggs that I don’t personally enjoy. My solution to this is to skip the additional boiling. Instead, I create the tea/soy/spice infusion, combine it with the cracked eggs, and steep the eggs overnight in the refrigerator. As a result, my version is a little more subtle in flavor — but not too subtle — because I make up for the shorter time on the stove by using a bit more flavorings than you might find in a typical recipe for tea eggs.
For a more traditional recipe, here’s an article you might like from Food 52 for tea eggs.
To be well-flavored, the eggs need to be completely submerged in the tea/soy/spice infusion. So, weigh-down the eggs with a small plate or bowl to make sure all the eggs stay submerged (they love to float) and properly infused with flavor.
Twenty-four hours later, the Chinese Tea Eggs are ready to be peeled and their uncommon flavor enjoyed. But it’s not just the flavor that’s so pleasing. Once the cracked shells are peeled away, each egg sports its own unique, beautiful, marbled effect.
These are delicious as is, but delicately dipped in Toasted Szechuan Peppercorn Salt they’re over-the-top.
Speaking of boiled eggs, here’s something fun from Food 52, The Mesmerizing Way Danny DeVito Peels a Hard-Boiled Egg.
I hope you have fun with these naturally high-protein, low-carb treats, that are perfect for a light breakfast, lunch, or snack.
Please share your thoughts about this recipe for Chinese Tea Eggs in the Comments section below.
| Prep Time | 45 minutes |
| Passive Time | 24 hours |
| Servings |
servings
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- 6 - 7 large eggs (You need 6 but I always boil an extra egg in case one 'misfires'
- 1 teaspoon salt for boiling the eggs (because this is the way my Mom always did it)
- 3 cups water
- 4 bags black tea I used, good old Lipton
- 2 bags herbal tea I used, Tazo Passion Herbal Infusion Tea
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Szechuan peppercorns*
- 1 teaspoon whole green cardamom pods lightly crushed (use the bottom of a small saucepan and press down gently)
- 1 teaspoon fennel seed
- 1 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 2 inch piece cinnamon stick
- 3 whole star anise broken up into pieces
Ingredients
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- In a medium saucepan combine the eggs and salt and bring to a boil.
- Remove from heat, cover and allow to sit undisturbed for 13 minutes.
- Remove eggs from saucepan and immerse in an ice water bath to stop the cooking process.
- In a medium saucepan over high heat, bring all remaining ingredients to a boil over high heat.
- Turn the heat to the lowest setting that will still maintain a gentle simmer, and simmer for 45 minutes or until reduced by about half.
- Meanwhile, crack the hard-boiled eggs all around by tapping with a soup spoon and/or gently rolling the eggs on a countertop. You want an even, cracked pattern around each egg, but you don't want large bits of shell falling off each egg.
- Place the prepared eggs in a deep bowl big enough to hold them, hold a strainer over the bowl and the prepared eggs, and strain the hot tea infusion into the bowl to cover the eggs.
- Weigh down the eggs with a small plate or bowl and store in the refrigerator for 24 hours to allow the tea infusion to flavor the eggs.
- Peel the eggs and serve. Covered, these will keep in the refrigerator for several days.
Nutritional facts per serving:
73 calories
5g fat
212mg sodium
1g carbs
0g fiber
6g protein