Finally, the tea eggs

Okay, so it took a bit longer than anticipated to get this updated. We went bowling with some friends.. I had a few drinks.. Tipsy blogging doesn't seem like a good idea to me.

After coming across a few links to tea eggs on -- wait for it.. wait for it .. -- TasteSpotting, I remembered that my friend in high school often had a tea egg or two for lunch (yay for traditional Chinese grandmothers who make lunch for high schoolers). Tim had me try it once, and I must have been ambivalent about it because I can't really remember it as good or bad. It's an intriguing idea though.. cooking a shelled egg in tea and spices... So I decided to try it for myself. I based my experiment off of this and this recipe. There was no way I was going to do half a dozen or more eggs, so I only did 3. And I could not find star anise, so I couldn't use that.

Tea Eggs:
eggs (start with a few eggs in case you aren't a fan)
2 black tea bags (I used an english breakfast tea because that was the closest I had)
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 stick cinnamon
some whole cloves
tsp salt
tsp sugar

In a saucepan, submerge the eggs in water. Bring water to boil, then remove the pan from the heat and let it sit for 15 minutes. Drain the water, then add cool water to help the eggs cool faster. Once you can handle the eggs, use a spoon and gently tap the egg until cracks appear in the shell. Do not remove the shell!
Pour 3 cups of water into the saucepan. Add the rest of the ingredients (remove the strings from the tea bags). Gently add the eggs. If they aren't completely covered in water, add more until they are. Simmer, covered, for 2 hours. Let the eggs soak for an additional hour.


Peel the eggs and enjoy. You can use them just like regular boiled eggs, though take into account their modified flavor.


I expected the tea and spices to add a stronger flavor than they did; instead it was a just a subtle hint of cinnamon and clove after chewing for a moment. Hubby was a little weirded out by the additional taste, especially since I didn't really explain much about them to him before popping a bit in his mouth. I'll probably give these a try again, once I have a better tea and star anise.