Chinese tea eggs
Chinese tea eggs, from above
Non vegEggChina

Chinese tea eggs

Marbled, fragrant, savoury eggs. Each one looks like a tiny piece of porcelain.

60 minTime
7 gProtein each
mildSpice
8hPlan ahead. Soak for 8 hours first; the 60 minutes come after.
Marbled eggs2 chapters · 1 min read

Make it your way

Grandma's wayCracked eggs simmered and steeped in spiced tea and soy.
The original
88kcalsame
7 gproteinsame
0 gfibresame
60minutessame

Cha ye dan, the street classic.

Per serving, worked out from the ingredient table.

Ingredients

6 servings
Egg6
Water3 cups
Tea leaves (black tea leaves)2 tbsp black tea
Soy sauce2½ tbsp
Dark soy sauce1 tbsp
Star anise2 pods
Whole spices1 cinnamon stick
Sichuan peppercorn½ tsp
Bay leaf (indian bay leaf)2
Sugar2 tsp
Salt½ tsp

Method

5 steps
  1. 1Boil the eggs for 8 minutes, then cool in cold water.
  2. 2Tap each egg all over with the back of a spoon to crack the shell without peeling.
  3. 3Simmer the water with tea, both soys, spices, sugar and salt for 5 minutes. Add the eggs and simmer on low for 30 minutes.
  4. 4Turn off the heat and leave the eggs to steep in the liquid in the fridge overnight.
  5. 5Peel to reveal the pattern and serve cold or warmed in the liquid.
Serve it like this

Peel and halve on a small plate to show the marbling, with a spoon of the steeping liquid poured over. Pack whole and unpeeled in tiffins.

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Make it a meal

What goes with Chinese tea eggs: a bread or rice, a side, something to drink and something sweet.

On the side Chinese steamed egg20 min
On the side Silken tofu with chilli soy5 min
To drink Doujiang40 min
To drink South Indian filter coffee20 min
Something sweet Tang yuan45 min
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