Chinese marbled tea eggs

Chinese marbled tea eggs are beautiful. Simply beautiful. And also, very tasty. I always find it wonderful and a bit exciting to peel the egg shell to find the pattern on my soon-to-be-in-my-stomach tea egg. When peeling the egg shell, you can see the pattern on the inside of the shell too and it’s simply gorgeous. The first time my mom did those marbled tea eggs, I went “Waaaaaaaaaahh!”. And these eggs are not your simple boiled eggs without any flavour. These chinese tea eggs have this delicious and exquisite taste of chinese spices. I always like to add a few chinese medicinal ingredients like chinese liquorice(甘草 gan cao) for more flavour. Check out my other Chinese Tea Eggs.

Chinese Marbled Tea Eggs recipe

Ingredients:
6 boiled eggs (keep the boiled water)
2 pieces of chinese liquorice
2 tablespoon of black tea (you can use 2 tea bags)
1 piece of cinnamon stick
2 star anise
2 strips of tangerine/orange peel
2 pieces of bay leaves
2 tablespoon of light soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon of dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon of sugar (I prefer using rock sugar, about 2-3 pieces)

Steps:
1. Using the back of a spoon, gently tap the eggshell to crack it. Don’t tap too hard or you’ll be removing the eggshell itself. Tap all around the egg.
2. Mix all the ingredients together, including the water used for boiling the eggs. Add in the eggs. The liquid should cover the eggs by about 2-3cm.
3. Bring the mixture to a boil, then immediately reduce the heat, cover and let the eggs simmer for about 30 minutes.
4. Remove from the heat and let the eggs steep in the mixture. The longer you let them in the mixture, the darker will be the pattern and the more flavourful your eggs will be. I let them steep overnight.
5. Enjoy your Chinese marbled tea eggs!

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