Tea Leaf Eggs

Lapsang Souchong Tea Leaf Eggs

Quite a number of people who turned up for the gathering last Thursday were allergic to something. But nobody mentioned eggs so I bought 2 dozen of them and went ahead to make something real simple : Tea Leaf Eggs (Cha Ye Dan).

16 Eggs

2 Tbsps Black Soy Sauce

2 Tbsps Light Soy Sauce

1 Tsp 5-Spice Powder

1 Cinnamon Stick

4 Star Anises

2 Tbsp Smoked Black Tea Leaves (I used Lapsang Souchong)

1 Tbsp Sugar

1/2 Tsp Salt

Dried Tangerine or Clémentine Skin

Put the eggs in a pot and cover it with cold water and some salt. Bring them to a boil. When cooked, let them cool a little and then tap them with a spoon to crack their shells (without removing any) or just roll them with a little pressure on the table. Idea is to get a marbled appearance on the eggs later on.

Dry roast the spices and put them into a filter bag with the tea leaves. Tie with a kitchen string. Return the cracked eggs to a pot and add in the sauces, sugar, salt, tea-spice bag and the skins. Cover with just enough water and bring everything to a gentle boil. Simmer for another hour, turn off the heat and then leave the eggs in their marinade for another 8 hours at least, if not for at least 24-30 hours.

Heat up again just before serving, it'll be easier to remove the shells this way. The kids love it, they go great eaten with some Malaysian curry and E's Italian Hubby actually thought that they were real marble eggs...Ha ha!