Seldom do I drink tea, be it black or red, but have been attracted to the smell from the snack shops selling tea eggs down the street corner. This snack is not only found in Hong Kong, but also in most Chinese communities. Among those visited, Taiwan seems to be the one who like it most – hawkers selling them on streets and in the night markets; even the convenient chain stores, Seven-Eleven, displays tea eggs right at their entrances. Whether the stall or shop is big or small, they all try to store the tea eggs in a large pot and keep simmering them continuously, thus releasing much flavors from cooking.
Tried to make my so-called tea eggs, without any tea leaves, but still love that flavor.
- Ingredients
- 8 hard boiled eggs
- 1/4 portion of an aged tangerine peel
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 pods star anise
- 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 2 tsp rock sugar or brown sugar
- 1 tsp ground white pepper
Method
1) Let the hard boiled eggs cool down. With the back of a metal spoon, gently tap each egg to form crack lines, but not to actually crack the shells apart.
2) Soak the tangerine peel for about an hour and scrap off the inside white pith. With 3 cups of water, add all remaining ingredients, soaked tangerine peel and eggs into a saucepan or pot (optional: add 1 to 2 tea spoons of red or black tea leaves according to your own preference). Bring it to boil over medium heat, then turn to low heat to simmer for about an hour. Remove from heat and let the eggs steep for one day or at least overnight.
Tip
Eggs should all be covered by liquid during boiling, so do not use a pot that is too large for this purpose. Making crack lines on eggs is to allow the flavor of sauce to seep through, and also (after peeled) to produce an appearance resembling the crazing of some ceramic glaze surfaces.
- Category: Egg .
- 7 comments
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Even without the tea, I’m sure it tastes great. It looks beautiful!
Nice site! I stumbled upon it.
I like to cook Chinese food and I have a recipe for chicken, chestnuts, dried mushrooms and bamboo shoots sauteed in this spice mixture. It is SOOOOO good.
I haven’t tried it with eggs though I have done the salty ‘tea’ eggs before.
I still haven’t been to HK, looks SOOOOO delicious!!
He he – I prefer tea eggs without the tea as well.
Yum Yum Yum
my recipe for tea eggs doesnt include the tangerine peel but I love the soud of it, that slight citrusy fragrance it’d add! will try that next time (:
http://mummyicancook.blogspot.com/2011/04/tea-leaf-eggs.html
Not having tea is probably gives the best result. The tannins in tea make the egg leathery.
@meh,
Thanks for your feedback and sharing.