I’m very particular about my food. No surprise there. I like my own cooking, that goes without saying, but when I eat out in restaurants, I have the worst luck. It seems the universe is out to test my fortitude. Somehow it happens to me all the time. When we go out as a family, I’m the one who ends up with the rotten lettuce leaf in my salad, or a dish that tastes like salt is the #1 ingredient!
Now, let me voice my opinion on traditional Chinese tea eggs for a second. I like a good tea egg as much as the next person, but it can often be overcooked, with a chalky green yolk that’s the result of being simmered for hours.
Which leads me to this soft Chinese Tea Egg recipe. I was looking to emulate the method that the Japanese use to boil eggs for ramen.
The cooking method is pretty ingenious, as these eggs turn out flavorful yet soft in the middle. I decided to borrow the technique and did a little daring revamp on traditional Chinese tea eggs.
While we already posted a Chinese tea egg recipe years ago, I think that this recipe actually yields a tastier tea egg when compared to that original recipe.
Let’s learn how to make these Chinese tea eggs the authentic way from scratch!
Chinese Tea Eggs: Recipe Instructions
Bring the eggs to room temperature by leaving them out of the refrigerator for a couple hours.
In the meantime, prepare the sauce base by adding the rest of the ingredients (the ginger, star anise, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, tea, Sichuan peppercorns, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar, salt, Shaoxing wine, and water) to a medium pot. Bring the mixture to a boil, and the turn the heat down to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Then turn off the heat, open the lid, set it aside, and let it cool completely.
Bring another pot of water to a boil for the eggs. Once boiling, gently and quickly lower the eggs into the boiling water using a large spoon. You want to avoid dropping them and cracking them on the bottom of the pot.
Let the eggs cook in the boiling water for 7 minutes (it’s a good idea to set a timer). Once the timer goes off, turn off the heat, quickly scoop out the eggs, and transfer to an ice bath. Allow them to sit in the ice bath until they are completely cool to the touch. The purpose here is to stop cooking the eggs any further.
Once the eggs are cooled, lightly crack the egg shells. The goal here is to make enough cracks to allow the flavor of the sauce base to seep into the egg. I like to use a small spoon to tap the eggs, but be careful!
It you tap or crack too hard, you might crack open the egg since the egg yolk is still very soft.
Soak the cracked eggs in your sauce base for 24 hours in the refrigerator, making sure all the eggs are completely submerged in the sauce base. After 24 hours, they’re ready! You can also soak them longer for a stronger flavor. These Chinese tea eggs last for 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator.
Chinese Tea Eggs, An Authentic Recipe
Ingredients
- 12 eggs
- 2 slices ginger
- 3 star anise
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tablespoons black tea leaves
- 1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns
- 3 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 4 teaspoons dark soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine
- 7 cups water (enough so all eggs are submerged)
Instructions
- Bring the eggs to room temperature by leaving them out of refrigerator for a couple hours.
- In the meantime, prepare the sauce base by adding the rest of the ingredients to a medium pot. Bring the mixture to a boil, and the turn the heat down to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Then turn off the heat, open the lid, set it aside, and let it cool completely.
- Bring another pot of water to a boil for the eggs. Once boiling, gently and quickly lower the eggs into the boiling water using a large spoon. You want to avoid dropping them and cracking them on the bottom of the pot. Let the eggs cook in the boiling water for 7 minutes (it’s a good idea to set a timer). Once the timer goes off, turn off the heat, quickly scoop out the eggs, and transfer to an ice bath. Allow them to sit in the ice bath until they are completely cool to the touch. The purpose here is to stop cooking the eggs any further.
- Once the eggs are cooled, lightly crack the egg shells. The goal here is to make enough cracks to allow the flavor of the sauce base to seep into the egg. I like to use a small spoon to tap the eggs, but be careful! It you tap or crack too hard, you might crack open the egg since the egg yolk is still very soft.
- Soak the cracked eggs in your sauce base for 24 hours in the refrigerator, making sure all the eggs are completely submerged in the sauce base. After 24 hours, they’re ready! You can also soak them longer for a stronger flavor. These eggs last for 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator.
My husband’s mom makes these by steeping them in the marinade used to braise beef shank. It’s quite good. But alas, I don’t know her recipe…so I can’t wait to try yours! You say the eggs last 3-4 days – does that include the 24 hours of steeping? Thx!
Yes, Kirsten, it also depends on your refrigerator. Some refrigerators keep the temperature much better than others.
Hi there, I don’t have any Sichuan peppercorns on hand, what can I use as a substitute? Or can I omit it?
You can omit it.
Thank you! Will it affect the taste though ? or not much?
It will not affect the taste that much, Crystal.
oh and also, can we use normal tea instead of black tea?
what if we cook them directly in the tea?
You mean directly in the tea but without all the sauce and aromatics? That will not taste like much.
Fantastic recipe! I didn’t have a lot of the ingredients in hand so I just used a lot of five spice powder with the tea, soy sauces, sugar, salt, and shaoxing wine and then marinated them for longer but they still turned out better than perfect. Thank you so much for your spin on this recipe!
Thank you SO MUCH for your high praise, Sandy.
Hi, what kind of black tea leaves do you suggest using?
Hi Jennifer, if you have an assortment, use your least favorite black tea :-)
Hi, thank you for sharing this. How hot/spicy do the eggs come out spicy due to the sichuan peppercorns?
It is not spicy at all, D.
Yeah, it’s a common misconception in the west but Sichuan pepper isn’t pepper at all and it’s not spicy. The flavor is a bit citrusy but it’s mainly used for the tongue tingling effect it causes.
Thank you, Mark, nicely put :-)
If I wanted to store them in a jar, do I need to put all the solids in the jar as well or just the liquid?
A jar is much more convenient to place a refridgerator, especially if I can split the eggs across multiple ones.
Also, is it possible to reuse the marinade? and if so, how long does the marinade itself last (in terms of time or number of eggs)
Hi BG:
If I wanted to store them in a jar, do I need to put all the solids in the jar as well or just the liquid? A: Only liquid.
Also, is it possible to reuse the marinade? and if so, how long does the marinade itself last (in terms of time or number of eggs) A: Don’t reuse the tea marinade.
How much water is recommended for seeping the aromatics?
Hi Shirley, it’s stated in the recipe, 7 cups.
Hello, I can’t wait to try this better tea egg recipe. Unfortunately, I am one of those who overcook the egg till they’re green, yuck! I was wondering though, do you eat this cold or could you reheat them after they have been marinating in the fridge? I like them for breakfast warm and soft like in Taiwan.
I like it at room temperature :-)