Recipe & Video Tea Eggs / Marble Eggs

[murphyscreek]

Ingredients

10 hard boiled eggs (cooked for 10 minutes then cooled in cold water)
2 black leaf or strong tea bags
1 cinnamon stick
2 star anise
1/2 tsp szechuan peppercorns
3 thin slices ginger (peel and all)
3 dried red chillies
1 bay leaf
1/2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
1/2 cup Chinese cooking wine
water as needed

Method
Place all ingredients (except eggs) in a saucepan.
Lightly crack the shells of the eggs with the back of a spoon, but keeping egg intact and trying not to break the membrane if possible. (see video).
Place eggs in the saucepan with the other ingredients, and add enough water to fully cover the eggs. Gently stir to dissolve sugar but being careful not to break any shell off the eggs. Cover, then bring to a boil and immediately lower temperature to a very gentle simmer, and continue to simmer for around three hours. Let eggs cool in the liquid to room temperature, and then refrigerate eggs whilst still steeping in the liquid overnight. Peel and serve (at room temperature with salt) the next day.

Recipe video:

View: https://youtu.be/Fp5B7Vba6I0

 

[MypinchofItaly]

View attachment 31038

Ingredients

10 hard boiled eggs (cooked for 10 minutes then cooled in cold water)
2 black leaf or strong tea bags
1 cinnamon stick
2 star anise
1/2 tsp szechuan peppercorns
3 thin slices ginger (peel and all)
3 dried red chillies
1 bay leaf
1/2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
1/2 cup Chinese cooking wine
water as needed

Method
Place all ingredients (except eggs) in a saucepan.
Lightly crack the shells of the eggs with the back of a spoon, but keeping egg intact and trying not to break the membrane if possible. (see video).
Place eggs in the saucepan with the other ingredients, and add enough water to fully cover the eggs. Gently stir to dissolve sugar but being careful not to break any shell off the eggs. Cover, then bring to a boil and immediately lower temperature to a very gentle simmer, and continue to simmer for around three hours. Let eggs cool in the liquid to room temperature, and then refrigerate eggs whilst still steeping in the liquid overnight. Peel and serve (at room temperature with salt) the next day.

Recipe video:

View: https://youtu.be/Fp5B7Vba6I0

Oh they look fantastic, well done, bravo! I still don't know when I could make them, but they are surely already on my "to do" list.

 

[Morning Glory]

Coincidentally I was looking at a recipe for these yesterday with the thought of making some - your recipe is much more interesting!

 

[murphyscreek]

Coincidentally I was looking at a recipe for these yesterday with the thought of making some - your recipe is much more interesting!

I looked at a few different recipes and kind of just amalgamated the ideas that sounded good.... and that weren't above my skill level. e.g. Trying to do them soft boiled.

 

[Morning Glory]

I looked at a few different recipes and kind of just amalgamated the ideas that sounded good.... and that weren't above my skill level. e.g. Trying to do them soft boiled.

I prefer soft boiled. One recipe I read said cook eggs for 20 mins! Why?

 

[murphyscreek]

I prefer soft boiled. One recipe I read said cook eggs for 20 mins! Why?

I'm kind of guessing, but I think if the egg is soft boiled it's difficult to hit the shell hard enough to get the desired cracks, without collapsing the whole egg. And then you'd still have to immerse the egg longer to get the colouring/flavour through the cracks. Would be worth experimenting, as like you I much prefer soft boiled. But for my first "crack" at it (pardon the pun) I thought I'd stick to the easier method. My Mum lived in Shanghai for two years, and her recollection was they were always hard boiled, but often just uniformly stained all over rather than the marbling look. I really like that look and is kind of why I made them that way too.

 

[Morning Glory]

My Mum lived in Shanghai for two years, and her recollection was they were always hard boiled, but often just uniformly stained all over rather than the marbling look.

I often make soy stained eggs which are a uniform colour all over - delicious! This might interest you: https://www.cookingbites.com/threads/coffee-infused-eggs.14435/