Tea Leaf Eggs

Sue Lau's Note:

These delicately flavored eggs have an intricate marbled appearance.

• Total Time: 2 hrs 5 mins
• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 2 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 10

• 10 eggs
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 5 teaspoons anise seed or 2 star anise
• 2 inches cinnamon sticks
• 2 tablespoons black tea leaves
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups cold water

Directions:

1. In saucepan cover eggs with cold water to a depth of at least 1 inch above eggs.
2. Rapidly bring to a boil; cover pan tightly; reduce heat, and simmer for 15 minutes.
3. Rinse quickly in cold water till eggs are cool enough to handle; drain.
4. Tap eggs lightly all over till eggs are a network of fine cracks, but DO NOT PEEL.
5. Return eggs, gently to the saucepan, add soy sauce, aniseed (or star anise), cinnamon, tea (in a tea ball), sugar, salt, and 2 cups of the cold water.
6. Bring to a boil; then reduce heat, and simmer, covered, for 1 1/2 hours, adding water to keep eggs covered, if needed.
7. Drain eggs, and chill.
8. To serve, roll eggs between the palms of your hands to loosen shell; peel, starting from the large end of egg.

Reviews

[HeatherFeather]

Having tasted tea leaf eggs at an international fair many years ago, I had always wanted to try making them at home. This produced gorgeous looking eggs - they have a rich brown shell that makes them look almost like chocolate eggs. When peeled, the whites of the eggs have a lovely veining effect from the tea/spice mixture. While these were very good, I was expecting to taste a bit more of the spices - despite the long steeping, I could hardly detect any cinnamon or star anise flavor. Regardless of this, the eggs were still tasty and were really quite striking to look at on the plate. I will make these again, perhaps using a heavily spiced tea such as Chai, to perk up the flavor a bit more, and maybe throw in a few extra star anise.

[horseplay]

I am of Asian descent, and my grandma always used to make tea eggs that tasted exactly like these!! Note to anyone who can't find black tea: you can also use 4 bags of Tetley or Red Rose.

[Gran Dee]

These were OK. Made for Chinese New Year Dimsum for my Red Hat group. The shells and skin underneath were very hard and the tea/soy solution didn't get to marblelize as it should have. May try again next year.