Nicely Spiced Tea Eggs

Aside from the fact that these have this wonderful marbled look to them which is both cool to look at and somehow tastes better too, these are a delightful snack or addition to a meal. These are nicely spiced but you can always up the spiciness, depending on your taste. A little more red pepper or nutmeg or anise will give more of a kick. The recipe I give you is a moderate version since DH likes it a bit spicy (not hot spicy if you get me) so I try to include both our palates in my recipes. The one thing you should NOT up is the soy sauce because if you do you will make these eggs inedibly salty, just sayin’.

I have made versions of these eggs for years, playing around with different spices and elements but one thing that I’ve radically changed is the cooking of the eggs. In most traditional tea egg recipes you cook the hard boiled eggs in the spice/sauce mixture for who knows how long thereby rendering the eggs rubbery in texture. As my grandkids would say ewww. So in order to prevent the rubbery texture from happening, I bring the eggs to the boil in the mixture. So take a pot which will hold 6 (or 8) eggs comfortably and will allow the eggs to be completely submerged in the liquid and collect your spices.

Now I like this with a stick of cinnamon but if you don’t have any you can sub with ground cinnamon. Next put the spices in your pot (I use a 2 quart one).

Put some cold water in and swish it about and then add the eggs and water just to cover them, no more (otherwise you will dilute the effect of the spices etc. Bring to a full boil.

Immediately cover the pot with its lid and turn off the fire. Let the eggs sit and basically marinate in the liquid for 15 minutes. Remove pot from stove. Now this part is critical. Do NOT discard the liquid, rather fish your eggs which are now hard boiled out with a slotted spoon and rinse and cool them to prevent overcooking. Now comes the finicky bit. Let them cool (and all the while you are letting the liquid in the pot come to room temp as well). Gently crack the eggs all about NOT removing the shell, the trick here is to allow the liquid to seep in to the egg but to leave in the shell with cracks all about to cause it to get the marbled look. The below pic is to show the aftereffects of the marbling and marinating. So carefully bang the eggs (not too hard) against the counter all over the egg to get the little cracked effect. Do not remove the shell.

Leaving the eggs in the liquid to marinate is the key here. Place them in the liquid in the pot and put in the fridge, preferably overnight or for at least 6 hours to properly develop the flavor. If you make them in the morning and pop in fridge, they will be fine to eat by dinnertime. Peel before serving and place on a plate to show off the marbling. If you wish to turn the eggs brown all over, you can peel them and place in the liquid without the cracking effect but that’s too bad cuz they are so pretty.

The longer they sit the more flavorsome they become but I wouldn’t let them sit more than a day and a half in the liquid. They will keep out of the liquid for about a week. Serve these savory, flavorful spicy gems as a lovely part of a meal, whether breakfast, brunch or dinner, as a part of a first course of salads or as a snack to sneak out of the pot and pop in your mouth when nobody is around to see you.

Nicely Spiced Tea Eggs

1/4 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
6-7 black peppercorns
2 strong black tea bags (or 4 regular)
1 orange flavored tea bag (or orange peel)
1 star anise
1 stick cinnamon or 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (stick is preferable)
1 piece hibiscus flower dried (optional)
1 piece candied ginger or chunk fresh ginger
6-8 eggs

Directions:

Take a 2 quart pot or pot big enough to hold eggs and have them covered in the liquid marinade. Put all the ingredients except eggs in the pot, put in some cold water and swirl the mixture and then put in eggs and just cover with cold water. Do not put in more water than necessary since that will dilute the spices. Bring to the full boil and immediately cover pot tightly with lid and turn off fire. Let eggs sit for 15 minutes. Use a slotted spoon and remove the eggs and DO NOT discard the liquid. Rinse the eggs till cool and let liquid in pot sit off burner till cool. Gently crack eggs all about making little dents as though you were to peel them but do NOT peel them. Re-submerge them in liquid in pot and place in fridge for at least 6 hours or better overnight. Peel to discover the delightful marbled effect and serve on a pretty platter to showcase your tea eggs. Do not leave in liquid more than a day and a half. Remove, peel and discard liquid and they will keep (assuming they aren’t all gone) about a week. Savory and flavorful they will be a hit.