At first sight, it looks a bit scary. The lines on the hard-boiled egg are formed by the cracks in the egg shells, thus absorbing the tea liquid. What does a tea dyed egg taste like? Is it healthy? When do you eat a marbled tea egg?
Chinese tea dyed eggs and marbled Chinese tea eggs are different names for 茶葉蛋 (chá yè dàn) which translates to tea leaf egg (s). Here’s how I make them – my own recipe.
What and how
For efficiency, I use two pots or pans: one to boil the eggs, the other to make the tea lioquiod. If you don’t have two pots, then boil the eggs first and set aside. Boil the tea liquid.
Put eggs into a pan or pot of cold water. Cook on highest temperature. As soon as the water starts boiling, lower the temperature so it doesn’t “boil over” and set the timer for four minutes. Usually, I get hard boiled eggs by cooking for eight minutes. In this case, there’s no need to overcook the eggs because you will cook them again in the tea liquid. You only need to get the egg white hard enough to withstand the egg shells to get cracked.
In the second pan or pot, pour boiling water or just boil the water. Once boiled, throw in loose leaf black tea, Szechuan peppercorns, star anise, and soya sauce.
Drain the hot water of the eggs and pour cold water until the water stays cold in the pan. This is important to allow the shells to fall off easily when you’re ready to eat the eggs. Gently crack the entire egg shell (for each egg) and put into the tea liquid.
Boil the eggs with cracked shells in tea leaf mixture. Lower the temperature and simmer for an hour. Add salt to taste. Leave over night.
Eggs taste better the next day, and the next. You can serve them hot, warm, or cold. You can add tea leaves (from left over tea).
How much and how many
If this is your first time making tea eggs, choose a few eggs, like four to seven. Make enough tea so that the result is black tea, mixed with a few tablespoons of soya sauce to adequately COVER the boiled eggs in the pot.
I use a teaspoon or two of Szechuan peppercorns and one or two “legs” of star anise.
A teaspoon of salt should be adequate, though it’s better less than too much.
Why: the benefits
Eggs give protein. Hard boiled eggs are filling. If you like the taste of tea, salt, soya sauce, and a hint of star anise and Szechuan peppercorn, you’ll love marbled tea leaf eggs.
These eggs are great as appetizers (we call them pupus in Hawaii) or as snacks. Great with rice or noodles.
I love the convenience of taking out an egg, removing the egg shells, and biting into the cooked egg.
You can keep the liquid for multiple rounds of eggs. Don’t throw away tea leaves from the tea you’ve brewed. Throw them into the pot. Top up with Szechuan peppercorn and another leg of star anise and dash of soy sauce.
The most famous egg
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again.
Check out the other 23 nursery rhyme songs, all arranged for re-entrant ukulele in Fun with Uke Book.