Marbled Tea Eggs

4 from 1 ratings

These savory and lightly spiced hard-boiled eggs are as delicious as they are beautiful. The secret to perfectly dyed eggs is in how you crack the shells. Use the back of a spoon to crack the lightly-boiled eggs; you want to crack the shell all over, but it should remain intact. This will allow the tea mixture to seep in just along the cracks in the shell and color the egg with a beautiful and intricate pattern.Click here for more of our best hard-boiled egg recipes.

Servings

servings

Ingredients

6 large eggs
¾ cup low-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoon black tea leaves
5 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick
2 star anise
1 teaspoon mixed peppercorns
1 teaspoon sugar
zest of half an orange

Directions

Put the eggs in a large pot and cover them with cold water. Bring the water to a boil, then reduce the heat so that the water is barely simmering. Cover the pot and cook the eggs for 3 minutes.
After the eggs are lightly boiled, remove them from the water, cool them slightly, and then tap them all over with the back of a spoon to crack the shell. The more you crack the shell, the more intricate the pattern will be, but be sure you don’t remove pieces of the shell; the entire shell should remain intact.
Add all of the remaining ingredients to the pot of water that was used to cook the eggs. Stir to combine and then add the eggs back into the pot. If necessary, add more water so that the eggs are completely submerged in the tea.
Bring the pot to a boil and then reduce the heat so that the tea is barely simmering. Cover the pot and boil the eggs for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, put the eggs and the tea into a large heat-proof bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let the contents cool to room temperature on your counter. Then, move the bowl to the refrigerator and let the eggs steep for 5—12 hours before peeling them.