How to Make Chinese Tea Eggs (Chayedan, 茶叶蛋)
Author: Kathy Yuan | The Mala Market | Inspiration & Ingredients for Sichuan Cooking
- 8 medium eggs, washed and rinsed, room temperature *or one layer's worth, depending on size of pot
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- 2 servings black (Chinese red) tea approx. 2 teabags/2 teaspoons loose tea
- 10 whole red huajiao (Sichuan pepper)
- 1 slice dried sand ginger
- 1 dried red chili, chopped, deseeded
- 1 star anise
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ stick guipi (cassia bark)
- 4-5 lumps rock sugar or ½ tablespoon dark brown sugar
- 2 tablespoon light soy sauce (Zhongba preferred)
- ½ tablespoon dark soy sauce (Zhongba preferred)
- 1½ tablespoons Shaoxing wine or other liaojiu (rice cooking wine) or baijiu
- ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt, to taste depends on amount of water added, adjust as needed
- scant ⅛ teaspoon ground white pepper
- 4-5 pieces fresh ginger, peeled, thinly sliced
If you forgot to set the eggs out to warm up, sit them in a bowl of warm-hot water while the water boils, until they are lukewarm to the touch.
If you want soft-boiled eggs with sufficient tea-egg flavor, shell the entire egg after boiling to your own desired doneness, instead of fracturing partway through. Bring the marinade to a boil on its own for a couple minutes to combine the tea and soy flavors (without the eggs), then turn off the heat and add the shelled soft-boiled eggs. Soak them shell-off in the marinade at least 24 hours, so they take up flavor overnight.