May King Tsang is a Tea Note Speaker, Tea Business Mentor for tea business start-ups and loves tea puns. I came across her via Twitter and could see from her tweets that she was as passionate about tea as I was. I asked her whether she had any tea memories she’d like to share and this is what she came up with. You’ll love it.
“I remember watching my dad prepare these little snacks and watched in awe of the eggs bobbing up and down in a solution of spices, soy sauce and black tea leaves in a wok. The aroma was TEAlicious!! One of the steps to mayking these treats is to use the back of a spoon and crack the eggshell. Cracking the eggs was such a TEAlight but you have to be careful not to crack them too much otherwise you won’t get the wonderful marbled effect on the surface which is where this snack gets its name. Marbled tea eggs are a great accompaniment to a salad, a noodle dish or they can be equally enjoyed as a little snack on their own, and I thought that I would share my recipe with you. I hope you enjoy mayking them just as much as I enjoy eating them 😀 ‘’
Chinese Marbled Tea Eggs Recipe
Ingredients
6 eggs
3 cups water
2 tbsp loose leaf black tea
2 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
3 tbsp soy sauce
2-3 pieces rock sugar (or 1 tbsp light brown sugar)
1 tbsp Sichuan peppercorn (optional)
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 2 hours 15 hrs
- Place all the eggs into a saucepan. Pour in enough water to cover the eggs. Bring the water to a boil and boil the eggs for 5 minutes.
- Plunge the eggs in a bowl of iced water and discard the water once the eggs are cool enough to handle.
- Use the back of a spoon to gently crack the shell of each of the eggs being careful not to break off the shell. We still want those beauTEAs intact!
- Add the water, loose leaf tea, star anise, cinnamon stick, soy sauce, rock sugar and Sichuan peppercorns (optional) to the saucepan. Note: In recent years, I have used Darjeeling tea but my dad would’ve used a China black tea such as Lapsang Souchong. Whatever black tea you have in your cupboard will be fine.
- Bring the saucepan to a boil and stir the sugar to ensure it has dissolved.
- Return the eggs to the saucepan and if the eggs are not completely covered, add more water.
- Simmer for 10 minutes.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow the eggs to cool in the liquid for at least 2 hours. For the best results, after the eggs have been cooled for 2 hours, transfer the eggs and liquid into a container and leave them in the fridge, covered with a lid overnight.
- Peel the eggs and serve immediately or the eggs can be kept in the fridge for a further 4 days, and are best eaten within 3 days.
Let me know if you try this Chinese marbled tea egg recipe or have a recipe of your own!
