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    Home » Cuisine » Asian » Chinese

    Tea Eggs

    Published: Sep 28, 2009 · Modified: Oct 27, 2014 by Jennifer Che

    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.

    _MG_1466

    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 teaspoon 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.

    Tea Eggs With Tea Bags

    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. 

    Tea Eggs In Pot

    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!

    Tea eggs - close up

    Tea Egg and Cucumber Salad
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    Reader Interactions

    Trackbacks

    1. Night Market Harvard Square - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
      May 27, 2015 at 3:25 pm

      […] prefer a stronger tea flavor in my eggs, and in fact I don’t use any soy sauce when I make my version at home. Nevertheless, it’s a tasty egg and I enjoyed dipping it in the green sauce. The Daikon […]

      Log in to Reply
    2. Chinese Braised Peanuts - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
      April 1, 2016 at 1:13 am

      […] easy to make in bulk, and store well for a week, dishes like Taiwanese meat sauce over rice, tea eggs, bok choy, and Korean spinach salad.  Occasionally, I’ll throw in something fun, like Totoro […]

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    3. Reflections on a Decade of Blogging: Happy Birthday Tiny Urban Kitchen! - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
      October 1, 2019 at 8:29 pm

      […] Tea Eggs […]

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    Jennifer Che Tiny Urban Kitchen
    Jennifer Che Tiny Urban Kitchen

    Hi, my name's Jen and welcome to my cooking, eating, and travel site! I am an expat who moved from Boston to Hong Kong 5 years ago. Born and raised in Ohio to Taiwanese immigrant parents, I am a chemistry nerd, patent attorney by day, blogger by night, church musician on weekends, and food enthusiast always. Feel free to explore away, maybe starting with the Recipe Index or one of the travel pages! I hope you enjoy this site!

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