Tea Eggs
Tea eggs are a traditional Shanghai snack made primarily with eggs, then slowly simmered with tea, star anise, Sichuan peppercorns, and other spices until the flavors infuse the eggs and the shells turn tea-brown.
Ingredients
eggs (boiled until about 80% done, then cracked)
20
tea leaves
5 g
star anise (amount not specified in the original)
to taste
Sichuan peppercorns
2 g
Shaoxing cooking wine
5 g
soy sauce
100 g
Instructions
1
Boil and Crack the Eggs
Place the eggs in a clay pot and boil them until about 80% done. Remove them and gently crack the shells all over with a small rolling pin. Rinse the Sichuan peppercorns and star anise, then bundle them with the tea leaves in a piece of clean cheesecloth.
2
Simmer and Season
Return the eggs to the clay pot and add the spice bundle, Shaoxing cooking wine, soy sauce, and enough boiling water to cover them. Cook over high heat for about one hour, until the shells turn tea-brown.
