Chinese Tea Eggs
Posted on 04. Feb, 2010 by admin in Appetizers/Dim Sum, Asian Snacks, Chinese, GF-Adaptable, Healthy Asian, Lunar New Year, Vegetable/Tofu
This is a great dish for Chinese New Year! The eggs symbolize golden nuggets (wealth) at a Chinese New Year feast.
To get the intricate marbled effect, make sure you tap the egg hard enough to create the cracks so that the soy/tea can get through. The longer you steep the tea eggs, the darker the design.
Chinese Tea Eggs Recipe
recipe by Jaden Hair Steamy Kitchen
6 eggs
3/4 cup soy sauce
2 whole star anise
2 tablespoons black tea (or you can use 2 tea bags)
1 stick cinnamon
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorn (optional)
2 strips dried tangerine or mandarin orange peel (optional)
1. Gently place the eggs in a medium pot and fill with water to cover the eggs by 1-inch. Bring the pot to a boil, lower the heat and let simmer for 3 minutes. Remove the eggs (leaving the water in the pot) and let cool under running cool water.
2. Use the back of the teaspoon to gently tap the eggshell to crack the shell all over. Make sure your cracks are deep enough to allow for liquid to penetrate, but gentle enough to keep the shell intact. The more you tap, the more intricate the design.
3. To the same pot with the boiling water, return the eggs and add in the remaining ingredients. Bring the mixture to a boil and immediately turn the heat to low. Simmer for 40 minutes, cover with lid and let eggs steep for a few hours to overnight. The longer you steep, the more flavorful and deeply marbled the tea eggs will be. In the photo above, the egg steeped for 5 hours, though my mom prefers overnight.
Serves 4-6
12 Responses to “Chinese Tea Eggs”
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I love the way those look!
I can imagine the wonderful aroma of the simmering tea and spices! Love the marbly web on the finished product. I had those as-is but was wondering if there’re any other accompaniments you would suggest?
These are gorgeous, Jaden. They will definitely be on our New Year’s/Valentine’s Day table. My stepmom always made congee eggs for us, but I’ve never had the tea eggs. Maybe I can make some of these for her!
My friend steeped hers overnight in herbal tea. Very good. :)
How beautiful! I have seen these, but never had a clue how it was done. Fun post!
The first time i ever saw a picture of these glorious eggs, i knew I had to make them. Now I ahve a recipe to do so. Thank you for sharing. So, so pretty!
Those look really awesome! Do you just eat them plain/whole, or use them in some form of recipe? I’ve never seen them before!
Thanks for the up-date and the super recipes. Do you have a recipe for Chicken Feet??? I had a great one from my fantastic cooking teacher Florence Lin…but I lost it when we moved!!!! Help!!
These are beautiful! I can’t wait to try this out! Thank you for sharing.
GREAT!!! We made these wonderful eggs when I studied with Florence Lin at the China Institute in New York….I had forgotten about them….thanks for the memories!!! Still waiting for the Chicken Feet recipe…any luck???