This Recipe for Candy and Savory Boiled Eggs Brings Me Again to My Childhood in Singapore

In Singapore, the place I grew up, there was a tea egg stall subsequent to the practice station close to my house, and the intoxicating scent of soy sauce, tea leaves, and heat spices usually enticed me to purchase an egg for the stroll house. The snack—which consists of hard-boiled eggs which are usually marinated in a aromatic combination of soy sauce, tea, and heat spices like cassia bark or cinnamon, cloves, and star anise—is frequent in lots of elements of Asia, together with Taiwan and Hong Kong. After the eggs cook dinner, individuals faucet the shells with a spoon to kind a superb net of hairline cracks that enable the liquid to seep by way of, producing the egg’s signature marbled look when peeled. 

Most culinary historians imagine that tea eggs originated in China, the place legend has it that throughout the Qing dynasty, individuals boiled eggs in a pot of tea for comfort—why make tea and eggs in separate pots when you possibly can make them collectively in the identical pot? As tea-boiled eggs turned extra widespread, those that couldn’t afford costly tea leaves made up for utilizing low-quality tea leaves by infusing the tea leaves  right into a grasp inventory or braising liquid somewhat than water. 

I now reside within the Netherlands, the place there aren’t any tea eggs to be discovered until you make them your self. Fortunately for me, they’re simple to make—and with my recipe beneath, you’ll be able to recreate this traditional snack at house.

The Greatest Tea to Use for the Marinade

The steeping liquid for the eggs typically consists of free leaf oolong tea, soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, and spices, although the precise mixture used varies from place to put and cook dinner to cook dinner. As a result of tea is essentially the most dominant taste right here, utilizing high-quality loose-leaf tea—which is extra strong and nuanced than most bagged teas—is crucial. The kind of tea can differ: many tea egg traditionalists advocate black tea, oolong is commonly utilized in Taiwan, and a few choose jasmine tea for its floral profile. Pu-erh is a superb selection if you wish to use black tea, and I’ve used each Tie Guan Yin, an oolong tea, and Xiang Pian, a aromatic combination of inexperienced tea leaves and jasmine blossoms. Each labored properly: The Tie Guan Yin eggs had been subtly smoky, whereas the Xiang Pian eggs had delicate floral notes. Finally, you should utilize whichever tea that you simply like; what issues greater than the form of tea you utilize is its high quality. Whereas some imagine that the kind of tea impacts the color of the tea eggs (the darker the tea, the darker the eggs), its impact on the colour of the eggs is pretty minimal; somewhat, how a lot soy sauce you utilize within the marinade is a extra necessary issue.

Obtain the Signature Marbled Look

I take advantage of a mixture of sunshine and darkish Chinese language soy sauces within the marinating liquid, each as a result of the darkish soy sauce  offers the eggs a darker hue and since they’ve completely different taste profiles, so utilizing them each offers the eggs a extra nuanced taste. In case you don’t have darkish soy sauce, although, you possibly can simply use mild soy sauce. I do advocate utilizing Chinese language or Chinese language-style soy sauce for each the darkish and lightweight soy sauces since their flavors are completely different from different soy sauces, corresponding to Japanese ones. 

To provide the eggs their distinct marbled look, it’s important to create well-defined cracks that can enable the liquid to seep by way of. In my expertise, the easiest way to do that is by utilizing  the again of a spoon to rigorously crack the eggs throughout. You don’t wish to apply a lot stress that enormous areas kind between the shell and the egg (this produces patches of darkish brown somewhat than the specified mottled impact), however you do need well-defined cracks for the liquid to seep by way of. Whereas some imagine that tea eggs must be boiled within the marinade to completely infuse it with taste and coloration, I’ve discovered that steeping it within the marinade for no less than 24 hours achieves the identical impact. 

Making a batch of those eggs takes me straight again to my childhood. I can virtually hear the rumble of the trains.

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