Tea eggs are a bit like a pickled eggs in that they are a hard-boiled egg soaked in seasoning, so that they take on the flavour of the seasoning liquid. These make a great addition to a spicy noodle soup, or as a quick snack on their own, but I like them for breakfast, sliced on top of a bowl of rice.
Yield: 6 eggs
Marbled tea eggs
This version is a take on a fairly common chinese recipe, but you can add or remove spices based on your personal taste.
Ingredients
6 eggs
3 fresh ginger, sliced
3 bay leaves
1 dried chili pepper
1 star anise
12 black peppercorns
2 bags of black tea
1 heaping tbsp. brown sugar
¼ cup soy sauce
1 tbsp. Shaoxing wine
1 cup water
Instructions
Place eggs in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a simmer over high heat, then remove from heat and cover with a lid. Let sit for 10 minutes before removing the eggs and running them under cold water. Once the eggs are cool enough to handle, hit the shells with the back of a spoon so that its cracks all over.
In a separate pot, bring ginger, bay leaves, chili pepper, star anise, black peppercorns, tea bags, brown sugar, soy sauce, Shaoxing wine and water to a simmer over medium-high heat. Remove from heat and place the boiled eggs into the seasoning liquid. If the eggs aren’t fully covered, add more water until they are. Cover and let sit in the fridge at least overnight (or up to 4 days) before peeling and serving.
Notes
After a couple days, the eggs will have this pretty marbled appearance, once peeled
What's Up Yukon columnist Sydney Keddy (Oland) is a recipe developer who lives in Whitehorse. Her work can be found in The Boston Globe, Seriouseats.com as well as other publications.
