A great beat-the-heat recipe because you can cook an entire week's worth of breakfasts in one pot. |
Then I saw eggs just like them in the book Culinaria Southeast Asia: A Journey Through Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. They were called cháyè dàn (茶叶蛋 ), pronounced chah-yay dan where the marks represent rising or descending tone respectively. You could think of it like saying chah? yay! dan!
The Chinese tea eggs were prepared exactly the same way as the other cookbook had specified. So I think these really are Chinese. Not Japanese, as I had been thinking all this time.
In any case, these marble eggs have become my go-to summer breakfast. They look very elegant no? But they are so seriously simple, a child could make them. And they are a great beat-the-heat recipe. You can cook an entire week's worth of breakfast in one pot in just 20 minutes! They are Super fast! Super easy! What's not to like?
These will pair very well with the steamed pork buns in my previous post. Just add some fresh fruit in season to complete the meal. That'd be blueberries right now. And that's exactly what I had for breakfast the day I made these eggs. Enjoy :)
Ingredients: eggs, soy sauce, star of anise, black tea |
Tea eggs
茶叶蛋
cháyè dàn
cháyè dàn
In a medium-sized sauce pan place:
5 to 10 eggs
water to cover
Boil about 20 minutes. The last three minutes add:
3 black tea bags
four or five star of anise
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
The cookbooks recommend simmering 3 or 4 hours but that puts a sulfur ring around the yolks. Instead I just steep them in the fridge two or three days before eating. |
Crack them gently, leaving the shells on the egg. You'll have spider vein cracks all over the egg.
Not gonna lie. Wantonly breaking all the eggs is fun. :) |
When you're ready for breakfast, you can simply peel and eat them ....
This is nice for some easy breakfast. It looks nice on the photos!
ReplyDeleteThank you for stopping by Noodle restaurant Brisbane, and for your kind comments about my photo. Now if only I could get the folks at Foodgawker Tastespotting et al to agree with you! hehe :)
ReplyDeleteGorgeous! I've always wanted to try making these. Yours came out perfectly!
ReplyDeleteThanks Katherine. :)
ReplyDelete