Monday, April 12, 2010

Chinese Tea Eggs (茶叶蛋)

I love the aroma of 茶叶蛋, pronounced as Cha Ye Dan (茶葉蛋, Chinese Tea Eggs, Chinese Marbled Eggs, Tea Leaf Eggs) and whenever I walk past some Chinese Medical Halls selling them, I never fail to buy a few.  It never occur to me that I could have made some on my own until I saw it here, here and here.

Googled for more recipes and a blogger added chinese five-spice powder too.  And since I have some sitting in my pantry, I added them too.

The eggs were cooked and simmered for 2 hours and left overnight to steep.  However, I find the eggs lack flavour.  If I were to cook this again, I'll add more herbs and spices to make it more flavourful and probably cook it longer.

Chinese Tea Eggs
Ingredients
10 - 12 Eggs
140ml light soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
2 tablespoons black tea (or 2 tea bags)
1 cinnamon stick (桂皮)
2 star anise (八角)
3 cloves (丁香)
2 pcs of Chinese Angelica, (当归, optional)
2 strips dried tangerine or mandarin orange peel (optional)

Method
  1. Gently place the eggs in a pot and fill with water to cover the eggs by 1-inch.
  2. Bring the pot to a boil, lower the heat and let simmer for 3 minutes. Rinse the eggs with cold water till they are cooled.
  3. Using the back of the teaspoon, gently tap the eggshell to crack the shell all over. The more you tap, the more intricate the design. Do this with a delicate hand to keep the shell intact.
  4. Return the eggs to the pot and add in the remaining ingredients. Bring the mixture to a boil and immediately turn the heat to low. Simmer for 2 hours, cover with lid and let eggs steep for a few hours to overnight.

8 comments:

Noob Cook said...

your 茶叶蛋 looks beautifully marbled! I added quite a bit of light soya sauce and I find them quite salty and savoury for my taste :)

WendyinKK said...

I only had this yesterday!!!!! In Genting Highlands.
And I had that for a surprise, the egg was bare, stripped off all the shells before they were cooked in the "tea". Therefore, the eggs tasted really flavourful, but lacked the marbling effect. When the egg was bare, it was the perfect lazy food for my "fussy to remove shells" husband.

Gee...maybe I should do this one day too :)

MaryMoh said...

Looks very beautiful. I love the marbled look.

tigerfish said...

Maybe I should start making too...kekeke

Ronni said...

Hello... I did this before few years back. Similarly I found mine lack of flavour. Later, through the advice of a friend, the key is to add dark soya sauce and best if you could use the crocker / slow cooker and leave it simmering overnight. Also, I had more mini cracks on my eggs. Worked in the end for me. ;)

Mr. Pineapple Man said...

wow~ great posts! loving the pics

My Little Space said...

My daughter & I love this but can't just cook a few eggs just for 2 of us. I think it's cheapper to buy it instead. hehe.... I'll copy down the recipe for later use...maybe one day I might need it, right!

Blessed Homemaker said...

noobcook, thanks! I think I should add more next time and include black soy sauce too.

wendy, what a coincidence! Maybe I should try the shell-less method to get a more flavourful egg.

MaryMoh, thanks!

tigerfish, can't wait to see your blog entry on this!

galronni, thanks for your suggestion. Will include black soy sauce next time.

Mr Pineapple Man, thanks!

Kristy, definitely not worth the effort to make for 2. I made this for a family gathering ;-)