Tea Eggs

I love tea eggs. They are hard boiled eggs slowly cooked over low heat in black tea and spices for hours. The resulting egg has a wonderful salty and tea-infused flavor that's addictive. Furthermore, the eggs take on a beautifully intricate web-like design from the tea.

You can buy pre-made tea-egg packs at Asian supermarkets.  However, my mom has an even easier recipe that still tastes fantastic and requires just a few ingredients you may already have on hand.  Note - if you can't get star anise, you can try substituting with 5-spice powder and/or cinnamon.

For a printable version of the recipe, click here.


Recipe
1 dozen eggs
2 tea bags (I used Lipton's black tea bags)
1 star anise
2 tsp salt

Make hard boiled eggs. There are several ways to make this. My mom recommends filling a pot with 12 eggs and adding enough water to comfortably cover the eggs. Bring to a boil and cook for 3-5 minutes. Then let the eggs cool.

Once cool, lightly tap the egg on a hard surface all the way around the egg. You want to lightly crack the shell but not remove it. The cracks will allow the tea to infuse even more into the egg.

Put the eggs into a clean pot and fill with water, comfortably covering the eggs. Add salt, tea bags, and star anise.

Cook at medium heat for about 30 minutes, and then let soak overnight or let simmer for at least 2-3 hours. Alternatively, you can make this in a crockpot and cook at low setting for 8-10 hours. 

Sometimes, over time, the pot will start to lose water and the tops of the eggs will peek out.  Make sure to turn the eggs around so that all sides get exposed to the tea.

Enjoy!