Chinese Tea Eggs

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Browsing through some recipes I came across this image for Chinese Tea Eggs or marbled eggs. I was intrigued and decided to try making them. They look so earthy and organic and the ingredients sound like they will transform the eggs into a delicious flavor.

For the tea mixture I began by placing 3 cups of water in a non reactive pan, adding 2 bay leaves, 3 star anise, 2 cinnamon sticks, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon of fennel seeds, 1/4 cup of soy sauce, four tea bags of a good quality black tea or some loose tea, zest from two tangerines or mandarins, afterwards go ahead and score mandarins and add to tea mixture. I brought this "tea" to a boil and simmered for 10 minutes. I set aside to cool to room temperature. The mixture has the added benefit of making your kitchen very fragrant.

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While I was looking through various recipes on how to make tea eggs I came across the photo above and was inspired by the plate in the center. Of course I want to make a pottery plate like this very soon. I think the peeled eggs would look appetizing on a plate similar to this one.

While tea mixture is cooling, place  6 or 8 eggs in a pan of cool water covering them, turn heat to high, bring to boil, when boiling, remove from heat and let sit covered for 10 minutes. Remove eggs from water and place in a colander. Run cool water over eggs till they are cool to touch. Next take each egg in your hand and gently hit the egg with the back of a teaspoon to crack it all over but don't peel the shell. Place eggs with shells intact in cool water to cool down the egg inside the shell.

Next add cool eggs to steep in cooled tea mixture, covered for one hour. Keep eggs in tea mixture and refrigerator for at least 24 if not 48 hours. Today my eggs are ready to try; I can't wait to see how they taste; stay tuned for the verdict. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.