Smoky Tea Eggs
These tea eggs are a classic street food snack in China. The longer they soak in the spiced tea, the more flavor they absorb. Vegetarian.
⏱️ Prep: 1440 min🍳 Cook: 10 min🍽️ Makes 6
Ingredients
| 2 cups | 480 ml | water |
| 6 | large eggs | |
| 1/2 cup | 120 ml | soy sauce |
| 2 tablespoons | 30 ml | lapsang souchong leaves |
| 2 tablespoons | 30 ml | Chinese five-spice powder |
| 1 tablespoon | 15 ml | sugar |
| — | kosher salt | |
| — | freshly ground black pepper |
Instructions
- In a pot over medium-high heat, boil the water, eggs, soy sauce, lapsang souchong, five-spice powder, and sugar for 5 to 10 minutes, depending on how cooked you want the yolks (5 minutes for soft, 7 minutes for medium, and 10 minutes for hard).
- Transfer the cooked eggs to a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking process. Remove the tea mixture from the heat and set aside until cool enough to handle (about room temperature).
- Carefully tap on the egg shells, cracking them all over without removing the shells or breaking the egg apart.
- Transfer the crackled eggs to a quart-size zip-top bag, then add the cooled tea mixture. Let the eggs marinate at room temperature overnight or for up to 24 hours.
- Remove the eggs from the marinade, peel, and serve with salt and pepper.
Substitution tip: Use regular black tea and 1 tablespoon of smoked salt in place of the lapsang souchong.