Marbled Tea Eggs

This year for Easter, in addition to our regular colored eggs (including these sauerkraut soaked beauties), we made some Chinese marbled tea eggs.

When we visited China last fall, I was struck by the ubiquitous displays of various eggs, like these in Tong-Li.

To make these marbled eggs, the strategy is to cook them, then crack them all over,

and then soak them in a delicious brew of tea, soy sauce, star anise, cinnamon, sugar, and Szechuan pepper corns. We followed a recipe from Steamy Kitchen.

The resulting eggs have a beautiful marbled pattern. The prettiest part are the shells. We ate these in a pan-Asian hodgepodge of kimchi fried rice and a kinpira made with rutabaga and carrots. A tasty and fun way to celebrate the return of spring.

Marbled Tea Eggs 

(from Steamy Kitchen)

6 eggs
3/4 cup soy sauce
2 star anise
2 tablespoons black tea (or 2 tea bags)
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorn (optional)
2 strips dried tangerine or mandarin orange peel (optional)

Gently place the eggs in a medium pot and fill with water to cover the eggs by 1-inch. Bring the pot to a boil, lower the heat and let simmer for 3 minutes. Remove the eggs (leaving the water in the pot) and let cool under running cool water. Using the back of a teaspoon, gently tap the eggshell to crack the shell all over. The more you tap, the more intricate the design. Do this with a delicate hand to keep the shell intact. To the same pot with the boiling water, return the eggs and add in the remaining ingredients. Bring the mixture to a boil and immediately turn the heat to low. Simmer for 40 minutes, cover with lid and let eggs steep for a few hours to overnight. The longer you steep, the more flavorful and deeply marbled the tea eggs will be.