Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Lavender Tea-Infused Eggs

Tea-infused egg can be found in every 7-Eleven in Taiwan. It's a yummy savory snack that beats boring hard boiled eggs any day. My mom cooked them regularly in our youth as a substitute for Western breakfast egg dishes, for which I'm grateful.

Lately, I've been craving them and decided to make them on my own. I have a jar of crushed lavender tea leaves from Hokkaido that I never use to make tea because I don't have a fine enough strainer for the crushed leaves. I was eager to get rid of it one way or another, and the opportunity presented itself in this dish!

Ingredients
Choice of Tea (I used Lavender Tea)
Hardboiled Eggs with Shells
Soy Sauce
Water
Dried Red Peppers
Bay Leaves
Star Anise
First, boil however many eggs you want the way you would with hardboiled eggs. In a separate pot, boil water and some soy sauce (more water than soy) enough to cover the eggs when you add them later. Once the mixture is boiling, turn to low heat and add tea leaves of your choice, some dried red peppers, a couple of bay leaves, and some star anise.

Dried red peppers, bay leaves, and star anise
When the eggs are done, take them out of the pot and crack each egg, but keeping the shell still intact on the egg. Once you've cracked all the eggs, add them to the simmering pot of spiced liquid. After the eggs simmer in the liquid for a few minutes, turn the heat down to the lowest level, and let the eggs sit for at least 30 minutes.


When you're ready to serve the eggs, take off all the shells, and the eggs should have a cool, veiny pattern.

Lavender Tea-Infused Eggs

2 comments:

  1. These look so awesome! I don't know why we don't flavor more eggs here in the West- so many possibilities. Do ever serve these with anything or just by themselves? I'll definitely have to try these.

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  2. These are great by themselves chilled or warm.

    In Taiwan, these are usually eaten as a snack.
    But they're pretty darn versatile-goes with any meal.

    You can also have it with a bowl of noodle soup, but usually, that's with the normal soy-marinated egg.

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