Chinese · Breakfast · Snack
Tea Eggs
茶叶蛋 (Chá yè dàn)
Hard-boiled eggs with crackled shells, gently simmered in a fragrant broth of black tea, soy sauce and warm spices until marbled and savoury. A protein-rich snack that tastes even better after a long steep in the fridge.
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 55 min
- Total
- 65 min
- Serves
- 6
Calories come from: Carbs 11% · Fat 54% · Protein 35%
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Ingredients
For 6 servings- 6 large300 glarge eggs
- 6 cups1,500 gwater, for boiling the eggs
- 4 cups1,000 gcold water with ice, for cooling
- 4 cups1,000 gwater, for the tea broth
- 2 tbsp6 gloose black tea leaves
- 2 tbsp32 glight soy sauce, reduced-sodium
- 1 tbsp18 gdark soy sauce
- 2 wholestar anise
- 1 smallcinnamon stick
- 1 tspSichuan peppercorns
- 2 leavesbay leaves
- 1 tspsugar
- 1 small piecedried orange or mandarin peel (optional)
Steps
- 1
Bring the 6 cups of water to a boil in a medium pot.
- 2
Lower the eggs in gently with a spoon and boil for 8 minutes until the yolks are firm.
- 3
Transfer the eggs to the bowl of ice water and cool for 5 minutes.
- 4
Tap each egg all over with the back of a spoon so the shell cracks in a fine web but stays on.
- 5
In a clean pot, combine the 4 cups of broth water, tea leaves, light and dark soy sauce, star anise, cinnamon, Sichuan peppercorns, bay leaves, sugar and orange peel if using.
- 6
Bring the broth to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes to release the spices.
- 7
Add the cracked eggs, making sure they are submerged, and simmer gently with the lid on for 30 minutes.
- 8
Turn off the heat and let the pot cool for no more than 1 hour.
- 9
Refrigerate the eggs in the broth for at least 4 hours, or overnight for deeper colour and flavour.
- 10
Peel and serve cold or briefly rewarmed in the broth; keep refrigerated and eat within 4 days. Discard the broth.
Swaps, storage and make-ahead
Swaps
- For a gluten-free version, replace both soy sauces with a tamari labelled gluten-free, and check that your tea is too.
- If you can't find dark soy sauce, use an extra tablespoon of light soy sauce plus a little more sugar; the marbling will be paler.
- Swap the Sichuan peppercorns for a few black peppercorns if you can't find them or prefer less tingle.
- Use a strip of fresh orange zest instead of dried peel if that's what you have on hand.
Storage
Keep the eggs refrigerated, in or out of the broth, and eat within 4 days; get them into the fridge within 2 hours of cooking. Don't freeze them, because the whites turn rubbery.
Make ahead
These are made for making ahead: cook and steep them a day or two before you need them so the colour and flavour deepen. You can also simmer the spiced tea broth a day early and keep it chilled until you add the eggs.
Nutrition values are for the recipe as written.
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Allergens and nutrition
Contains: EggsSoyGluten
Check the labels of packaged ingredients for allergens and suitability for your diet.
Full nutrition
| Per serving (645 g) | Per 100 g | |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 82 kcal | 13 kcal |
| Protein | 7.1 g | 1.1 g |
| Carbohydrates | 2.3 g | 0.4 g |
| of which sugars | 0.9 g | 0.1 g |
| Fiber | 0.5 g | 0.1 g |
| Fat | 4.9 g | 0.8 g |
| of which saturated | 1.6 g | 0.2 g |
| Sodium | 451 mg | 70 mg |
Nutrition is calculated from USDA FoodData Central data and may differ from what you cook.
