Authentic Chinese Tea Egg Recipe (To Whatever Doneness You Like)

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Tea egg is a popular breakfast item in China. Using my method, you can cook the eggs to whatever doneness you like and still make it flavorful with that beautiful marble pattern. You gonna love them because they are flavorful, tender, and delicious. At the end, I will show you how to keep and reuse the tea brine because we don’t want to waste such a flavorful liquid.
INGREDIENTS
8-10 eggs
2 star anise
4 bay leaves
2 tsps Sichuan peppercorn
1 cinnamon stick
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 dried red chilies, optional
6 Tbsps soy sauce
2.5 Tbsps dark soy sauce
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp black tea leaves or 5 tea bags
2.5 cups water
Instructions
Take the eggs out of the fridge and leave them on the countertop for 30 minutes to get room temperature.
Please choose an appropriate-sized pot that fits all the eggs in one layer without leaving empty space. Otherwise, you have to add more water in order to immerse everything.
Add the eggs, star anise, bay leaves, Sichuan peppercorns, cinnamon stick, dried red chilies (optional), garlic cloves, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, brown sugar, salt, black tea, and water into the pot. Ulong tea will also work.
Turn the heat to medium and bring everything to a boil. Please don’t go away because you need to start counting the time as soon as the pot comes to a boil. If you miss the moment, you will lose track of the doneness.
Boil the eggs for 4 minutes if you want the yolk to be running; boil for 7 minutes for medium-soft eggs; boil for 10 minutes for hard-boiled eggs. The traditional Chinese tea eggs are boiled for at least 40 minutes. Why? Back in the time when there was no refrigerator, street sellers had to keep the pot simmering the whole day to prevent the eggs from going bad. The result of that is a super flavorful yummy egg white and a crumbly, powdery, overcooked yolk. Well, it is your choice to decide how long you want to cook your eggs.
During the boiling, lightly tap each egg with 2 spoons to break the shells. This is an important step for the flavor to infuse deeply. Please be careful; the eggs are not fully cooked yet. If you tap too hard, you may smash them.
Once done, transfer the eggs into an ice bath for 2 to 3 minutes to stop the cooking process. If you are making the old traditional tea eggs, there is no need to put them in the ice bath as it is already cooked for 40 minutes.
If you are making the running yolk tea eggs, you also need to cool the tea brine. Just place the pot into the ice water and swirl it around. The liquid should cool within 3 minutes because the stainless steel has a really good thermal conductivity. You can feel the temperature with your hand. It doesn’t need to be super cold. Lukewarm is fine.
Pour the tea brine into a nonreactive container. Take the eggs out of the ice water and soak them in the tea brine. Make sure everything is well-immersed. Leave them in the fridge for at least 24 hours before eating.
These eggs can stay good for up to 5 days refrigerated. Just be aware that they will become more flavorful and saltier over time. During the soaking, the marinade will steep through the cracks and create that beautiful marble patterns. These eggs can be enjoyed cold and room temperature. You can reheat them, but the yolk texture may change.
I made my eggs in a few different donenesses. With 4 minutes of boiling, you will get runny yolk eggs. After 7 minutes, the yolk is almost set but the center is sticky. If simmering for 10 minutes, both the white and the yolk are fully cooked, but the texture is not rubbery or dry. If you cook the eggs for 40 minutes, the egg white becomes very dark, firm and dense, the yolk is dry and crumbly.
How to save and reuse the tea brine?
Once you finish eating all the eggs, sieve out all the spices and bring the brine to a full boil. Store it in a sealed jar. This brine can stay good in the freezer for up to 4 months. Next time, when you want to eat Chinese tea eggs again, you can boil the eggs in this brine directly. However, you will have to add a little more spices, tea leaves, seasonings, and water because we have no idea how much flavor has infused into the eggs and how much water has evaporated. So everything is by taste. You just go with your feeling.

[@RenghisKhan]

I always watch Mandy's videos to the end, I don't want to miss the 'byyyeee' 😊

[@ray_mck]

I just made this! The brine is cooling now in prep to refrigerate them for 24 hours. As a note: boiling tea egg brine -- Don't breate this! 😁 I used a small pot to fit 3 eggs, and I had to stir often to get the eggs completely covered. While standing at the stove, I choked and coughed a lot!

[@ray_mck]

I couldn't wait to taste! It's only been 23 hours, lol. These are SOO good! I tried to make tea eggs years ago, but I wasn't given all the information and they just tasted like eggs with brown streaks. I freestyled a little even before trying Mandy's recipe verbatim - I added a cracked black cardamom pod, and a little piece of preserved tangerine peel to the brine. Maybe they brought a little something to the complex flavor.

[@tktyga77]

I have to say that Chinese cooking sure has a pretty large variety of egg based dishes including a large one of boiled egg ones, tea eggs sure are tasty

[@coolenaam]

Interesting recipe, I love eggs. Thanks for making the audio louder Mandy!

[@chinoyhealingfoodstravels8888]

Greetings from Redondo Beach 🇺🇸 I’ve been searching on how to make tea eggs. My grandma used to make this during Holy Week. This is Perfect for the Holy Week.

[@susieangelo6410]

Hi Mandy, thanks for all the helpful tips. I remembered while on vacation in Taiwan, the street vendors who sold these type of Tea Eggs, always had long queues of people of young and old patiently waiting to purchase them. 💜

[@WithGoodIntention]

Thank you for detailed recipes on your videos! I just love how you continue to put them in your videos instead of making us go to website for exact measurements. You are a blessing to people like me that are interested in learning new recipes. Thanks again! Bless you! Stay safe and healthy 🙏

[@wisegaylareayl]

This will take my regular salads to a whole new level & egg salads too❤. Thanks for sharing

[@Joe_Montfort]

Good idea!

[@odettemarillier1297]

Got to try this one , thank you ❤

[@Dr.ZoidbergPhD]

Oh I love these! ❤

[@jinjin45]

Def saving this

[@kennethwu115]

One of my favourites ❤❤❤

[@pamtv1765]

Looks delicious i try it for sure❤

[@penglets]

I love these

[@OpheliaMonarch]

This looks wonderful, thank you. 😊

[@ladybug8580]

Mandy, what are you serving with the eggs at 5:53? Lap cheong and okra?! It looks so good - maybe in the future you can share the recipe :)

[@SoupedUpRecipes]

Yes, soon.

[@Mykohori]

Tea eggs are my favorite! thank you so much Mandy

[@DianeC.]

Hi Mindy!!! I never heard of these eggs. They sure do look yummy. Would be good for Easter!!! Thanks for another wonderful recipe...Happy Easter!!! Nice Video!!!...🦋

[@Venerablenesses]

Ok, ok, I'm into this.

[@lynnflynn5591]

Fascinating! I'd never heard of this before.😮 Excellent instructions! 👏

[@-RONNIE]

Thanks for the video 👍🏻

[@sarakatharina2928]

I will have to try this. I love Ramen eggs so I assume I will like the tea eggs as well. Thank you Mandy for all your great explanations

[@spencerkieft6021]

I've never heard it called American Saffron. AKA safflower it gives the color but not the petrichor flavor. Since the flower petals are used they are more plentiful and therefore a tiny fraction of the cost of saffron (crocus sativus)

[@Yomama_burn]

This brought me back to my childhood. Tea eggs were one of the first recipes I ever made.❤ Thanks Mandy!

[@mileslong9675]

It has been a few years since I made tea eggs. I made them in my instant pot. Came out great!

[@LuckyTondi]

I love tea eggs - thanks for explaining the traditional ones. I was always wondering why the eggs at 7/11 are a little dry, haha

[@KevinW.Jenner]

Oooh I always wanted to make these. These will be so good in my morning noodles...

[@S1L3NTG4M3R]

THANKS

[@zhouzhang9102]

Looks like a great recipe, thanks for this. These are a common snack for me at the station when I want a quick breakfast.

[@gingganggoolie]

These look so good! Now to think of ways to eat them...

[@PaulinasKitchenCanbyVioletta]

I have learned a lot about boiling eggs from this video. Thank you. 😊

[@LibraGaymer]

can’t wait to try this recipe! i’ll definitely be making these soon, i’ve been wanting to try it + your recipes always come out delicious

[@loriki8766]

I've been following a slightly different recipe using the 5 spice powder and completely peeling the eggs. Thanks for showing us how to get the pattern!

[@catfish8883]

Thanks for your sharing and very like your hair style 😊😊

[@BaronRodney]

You have such an adorable channel.

[@user-gk9ut9qc1o]

These look soooo good! I really want to make them now, tomorrow I’ll get some eggs from my hens :)

[@liceous]

NEVER CLICKED FASTER. brilliant as always

[@jackkristinep]

My favorite

[@DahWay]

Nice

[@PoseyKusinera]

You're the BEST. Amazing channel you have. I have a request! I've been lately discovering the fermented bean curd, and well, I'm kind of in love with its unique umami flavour. I've been seeing some recipes but I would love to see more from you using it. Also, I've been very happy lately because I live in a little city of Spain and in the two local chinese stores we have they have been bringing a lot of cool stuff like veggies (like yu cai and mustard greens) , the fermented tofu and much more. Now I can cook more stuff! Thank you for teaching us so much! : - )

[@Joe_Montfort]

my favorite is the runny yolk egg, too 😋

[@GothicPotato2]

Looks great! As an added bonus, if you want the eggs to look perfect after you've boiled them, use pasteurized eggs. You should be able to buy them at your local grocery store, but they're also very easy to do at home.

[@purpledohboy]

thanks bro.

[@ginalin2259]

Watching here in HK, i like all your recipe... and I like your new hair cut❤

[@sirchadiusmaximusiii]

Such a little cutie.

[@cartlone2732]

Don't have to eat the same type of eggie every morning after watching this sharing. 👍👍👍

[@pinkmonkeybird2644]

These are such a great way to easily add more protein and vital nutrients like zinc, riboflavin, and vitamin B12 into your diet, which is important for people post surgery and for wound healing. They are tasty and easy to make, so you can’t really go wrong with your recipe. I never thought about reusing the brine, so thank you for the tips and the recipe.

[@robynbeltrametti1748]

Hello Mandy, can you please show us how to make rice in your clay pot, I have bought your wok and clay pot, and need more recipes for the clay pot! Has your cookbook been published yet? Im looking forward to it very much! Thank you and regards from Cold Switzerland

[@zzzmisun]

Next, make Bingtang Hulu or Tanghulu.... please 🙏

[@kaniq6120]

I imagine that the leftover Brian would be pretty tasty as a sauce or even a cooking liquid for fish like white fish.

[@SoupedUpRecipes]

That would be cool!

[@zuraidaaeschbacher4136]

Thank you dear 🌹 you look beautiful with this hair style

[@HighMojo]

I would not use a glass jar to store the brine in the freezer, even if you allow it to expand, it may still crack the glass and you will have to clean up the broken glass along with the contaminated food with glass pieces. Better to use a plastic container and eliminate this risk.

[@edporter9355]

👍👍👍👍 Hi Mandy !! Thank you for your very detailed presentation. The top you were wearing is very pretty and looked great on you. Will look for you in your next presentation.------Michigan

[@JubeiKibagamiFez]

Now, why not peel the eggs after boiling and then brine them?

[@SoupedUpRecipes]

You can. But in China, this is a popular item that you bring to work ad school for breakfast or lunch, so it is best not to peel it before eating.

[@JubeiKibagamiFez]

@@SoupedUpRecipes Ah, okay.

[@milinlim5211]

You won't get the marbling effect if you totally peel them.

[@JubeiKibagamiFez]

@@milinlim5211 Ah, okay.

[@diva555sg]

How to avoid uneven egg. The yolk goes to 1 side.

[@gingganggoolie]

The older eggs get, the more runny the white is when it's raw. If the eggs are fresh, the white is firmer, the yolk will be more likely to stay in the middle

[@katl8825]

Stir during initial few min of cooking to keep the yolk in the middle of egg while it sets up.

[@LordWolfenstein]

I would never put glass in the freezer. It can potentially crack and explode in your hand when you grab it. There have been cases where people ended up getting stitches from the injury form the glass exploding in their hands.