Cha Yip Dahn (Tea Eggs or Marbled Eggs) with Goo Yuet Fun Yim (Roasted Pepper and Salt Mix)

 

This particular recipe is from Charmaine Solomon's The Complete Asian Cookbook.  I think I've referenced this book before.  It's HUGE and covers the cuisines of Bangladesh, Burma, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Pakistan, The Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.   The Tea Eggs, of course, are from China.

I chose this one over another recipe I found in a different book simply because it was the faster of the two.  I would like to try the other one as well, just to see how the eggs compare in terms of coloring and flavor.  These eggs taste faintly of the tea and the five spice powder - warm and earthy and sweet/spicy.  I figure the longer the eggs soak, the deeper the color and deeper the flavor.  I'll definitely make these again and soak them for a longer period of time.  I'll let you know how they turn out.

But for now...

Cha Yip Dahn

Serves:  12-18 as part of a selection of hors d'oeuvres

6 eggs

4 cups water

3 tablespoons tea leaves (I used 9 tea bags)

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon five spice powder (I - horrors - was nearly out of five spice powder, so I added a bit of each of the components and a lovely anise star to round it up to the required tablespoon.  Give or take a pinch of something.)

 

Put eggs in a saucepan, cover with cold water and bring slowly to the boil, stirring gently (this helps to centre the yolks).  Simmer gently for 7 minutes.  Cool eggs thoroughly under cold running water for 5 minutes. 

Lightly crack each egg shell by rolling on a hard surface.  Shell should be cracked all over, but do not remove.

Bring 4 cups water to the boil, add tea leaves, salt and five spice powcer. 

Add cracked eggs. 

Simmer, covered, for approximately 30 minutes or until shells turn brown.  Let eggs stand in covered pan for 30 minutes longer (overnight if possible). 

Drain,  

 

cool,

 

and shell. 

 The whites of eggs will have a marbled pattern on them.  Cut into quarters and serve with a dipping sauce.

 

So, what to dip them in?  The recipe for tea eggs is in the "Snacks and Appetizers" section of the China chapter.  And, quite helpfully, the facing page has a list of several dipping sauces and other condiments traditionally served with the snacks and appetizers in the chapter.  I looked through and saw many that looked tempting, but I ended up opting for the simplest - the Roasted Pepper and Salt Mix.

All you need are two tablespoons of black peppercorns and three tablespoons of salt.  

First you roast the peppercorns in a dry pan for about five minutes - "until pepper gives off a pleasant smell." 

And it did - it smelled...spicy and earthy and dark and intense and exotic.

Then, after you let the peppercorns cool a bit, you grind them up in a morter and pestle and then combine with the salt. 

Ta-da!   

 

And then all that's left is to arrange the egg slices on a plate and pour the pepper and salt mixture into a bowl.

   

 

   

Enjoy!

Comments

[stacy]

I once had someone onion dye eggs for me. I didn't know the specific details, but I know it works with yellow and red onion skins. I also think it uses the papery outer layers of the onions...
I hope this is at least somewhat interesting to you...

[Jayne]

Hi stacy,

It's very interesting to me!  I'm planning to try one or two more egg-coloring ideas before the week is out, and the onion skin idea was one I was considering.  Thanks!

[Zahra]

cool! Im def gonna have to try this one!

[femmelasoleil.wordpress.com]

I LOVE these eggs. Actually, I plan on making the ones you featured a few posts ago with the different colors for my St. George's Day party as "Deviled Dragon Eggs".

[LilSis]

Hi Jayne,
I love your tea eggs as much as your awesome colored eggs! I hope I have time to try making these. My son would get a kick out of them.

Today on our blog, I posted about your eggs! Check it out if you get time! We love your blog!
LilSis
www.bigsislilsis.com

[Tina]

Hi Jayne,
I love your blog, your tea eggs and the colored eggs, so lovely!! I'm following in your foot steps and doing colored eggs your way this time :) So, thank you for the inspiration and the idea, keep on experimenting and coming up with great ideas and yummy recipes ( lemon sponge pie)!! Happy Easter!!

[Y]

What gorgeous pictures! I've made tea eggs before - love the look, but don't really like how dried out the egg yolk gets.

[[eatingclub] vancouver]

The eggs look so pretty. . .and I can never resist these tea eggs.

[[email protected]]

I had to make these for a tea cook book (I'm a food stylist) and they tasted really good. The broth for simmering was soy sauce, a little brown sugar, and five cups of strong lapsong shousong tea. My only comment about your recipe is that you're cooking the eggs way too long (you can tell by the green around the yolk). Maybe next time try my method: put eggs in water and bring to a boil. remove from heat and rest for ten minutes . Rinse them in cold water and then crack up the shells a bit. Then bring the soy/tea mixture to a boil and put the eggs back in, lower the heat and simmer for ten more minutes. Remove from heat and let the eggs stay in the broth for up to two days. Your eggs won't be tough or get the green yolk. I would also suggest serving them whole, when you cut them you lose a bit of the dramatic impact.

[jayne]

I agree with you about the cooking time. But since I'd decided to follow the recipe as it was written, I cooked them the length of time indicated in the recipe. While I don't cook eggs that long, either, I was willing to try it out. Despite the long cooking time, the textures of the white and yolk weren't ruined. I just got a bit of that green color. And I also agree that presentation is better when the eggs aren't sliced. By that point, though, I just wanted to get family members to try them, and sometimes little bites work better than one big one! Thanks for your suggestions, though, I appreciate your insight.