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 prepare station close to my dwelling, and the intoxicating scent of soy sauce, tea leaves, and heat spices usually enticed me to purchase an egg for the stroll dwelling. The snack—which consists of hard-boiled eggs which might be sometimes 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 components of Asia, together with Taiwan and Hong Kong. After the eggs prepare dinner, individuals faucet the shells with a spoon to kind a wonderful internet of hairline cracks that enable the liquid to seep via, producing the egg’s signature marbled look when peeled. 

Most culinary historians consider that tea eggs originated in China, the place legend has it that in the course of the Qing dynasty, individuals boiled eggs in a pot of tea for comfort—why make tea and eggs in separate pots when you could possibly make them collectively in the identical pot? As tea-boiled eggs grew to become extra well-liked, 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 relatively than water. 

I now reside within the Netherlands, the place there are not any tea eggs to be discovered until you make them your self. Fortunately for me, they’re simple to make—and with my recipe under, you possibly can recreate this basic snack at dwelling.

The Finest Tea to Use for the Marinade

The steeping liquid for the eggs usually consists of unfastened leaf oolong tea, soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, and spices, although the precise mixture used varies from place to put and prepare dinner to prepare dinner. As a result of tea is probably the most dominant taste right here, utilizing high-quality loose-leaf tea—which is extra strong and nuanced than most bagged teas—is important. The kind of tea can fluctuate: many tea egg traditionalists advocate black tea, oolong is usually utilized in Taiwan, and a few want jasmine tea for its floral profile. Pu-erh is a good alternative 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 effectively: The Tie Guan Yin eggs have been subtly smoky, whereas the Xiang Pian eggs had delicate floral notes. Finally, you should utilize whichever tea that you just like; what issues greater than the sort of tea you employ is its high quality. Whereas some consider 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; relatively, how a lot soy sauce you employ within the marinade is a extra necessary issue.

Learn how to 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 totally different taste profiles, so utilizing them each offers the eggs a extra nuanced taste. When you don’t have darkish soy sauce, although, you could possibly simply use gentle 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 totally different from different soy sauces, resembling Japanese ones. 

To present the eggs their distinct marbled look, it’s important to create well-defined cracks that can enable the liquid to seep via. In my expertise, one of the simplest ways 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 strain that giant areas kind between the shell and the egg (this produces patches of darkish brown relatively than the specified mottled impact), however you do need well-defined cracks for the liquid to seep via. Whereas some consider that tea eggs should be boiled within the marinade to totally infuse it with taste and coloration, I’ve discovered that steeping it within the marinade for not 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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