Upgrade Your Snack Game By Making a Batch of Chinese Tea Eggs

Robynne Tindall, Contributing Editor | Jul 24, 2022 1:31 pm | Add a comment | 2183 reads

I love eggs in all their forms but there is a special place in my heart for that most portable of Chinese breakfast foods: the tea egg. A humble tea egg (often with a side order of hot soy milk) has got me through all manner of snack-less train rides and early morning trips to the Great Wall. While tea eggs are available from any old convenience store or hole-in-the-wall breakfast joint, if you are concerned about the quality of the eggs used (or want to cut down on your salt intake) they are very easy to make at home.

Traditionally, the eggs are hard-boiled, then the shells are cracked before being returned to the poaching liquor for a further 40 minutes to one hour. While this method has definite benefits when it comes to flavor, all that simmering can leave the egg yolks kind of chalky. I tend to favor a method more akin to that used to make the eggs that top Japanese ramen (nitamgo) – a quick, seven-minute simmer, followed by an ice bath and overnight in the fridge soaking in the poaching liquor – which leaves you with an altogether more tender egg. 

You can scent the poaching liquor with whatever spices fit your fancy, but I would recommend the classic combination of Chinese five spice (star anise, cloves, Chinese cinnamon, Sichuan peppercorns, and fennel) augmented with bay leaves and slices of fresh ginger. Tea leaves are, of course, mandatory – these aren't called tea eggs for nothing. The following recipe makes six eggs.

Marbled tea eggs (茶叶蛋) 

  • 4 cups water
  • 3/4 cup soy sauce
  • 1 tsp salt (leave this out if you're trying to cut down on your sodium intake)
  • 1 black tea bag (or 1 tbsp loose tea leaves)
  • 1/2 tsp Sichuan peppercorns
  • 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 2 star anise
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 slices fresh ginger

1. Combine all the ingredients except the eggs in a pot and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and leave to simmer for 10 minutes then take off the heat and set aside to cool completely.

2. Meanwhile, take the eggs out of the fridge to come up to room temperature.

3. Bring a pan of water to boil and carefully lower in the eggs, immediately reducing the heat to a simmer and setting a timer for 7 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare an ice bath (i.e. a bowl of ice and water).

4. After the 7 minutes are up, immediately transfer the eggs to the ice bath and leave to cool completely.

5. Take each egg out of the ice bath and very carefully crack the shells all over with the back of the spoon. Cover the eggs with the cooled soaking liquor and transfer to the fridge to marinate for up to 24 hours (the longer you leave them, the deeper the flavor).

6. After 24 hours, remove from the soaking liquor and eat!

The eggs will keep in the fridge for three to four days. Simply grab one as a snack whenever you feel the need for a protein hit, or use them to top noodles, congee, or a grain bowl.

READ: Potluck Parties for the Domestically Challenged

Photo: Flickr