Tea eggs

Method

1. 1 Boil the eggs for 8 minutes, then soak them in ice water and gently tap them to crack the shells without peeling.
2. 2 Simmer the broth with soy sauce, cinnamon, star anise, five-spice powder, orange peel, rock sugar, and ginger for 25 minutes.
3. 3 Add the tea leaves last and only cook for 5 minutes; cooking the tea for too long will result in a bitter broth.
4. 4 Simmer the eggs in the broth over the lowest heat for 2 hours without letting it boil vigorously.
5. 5 Turn off the heat and let the eggs soak in the pot overnight so the tea glaze penetrates deep into the egg whites.
6. 6 The broth is filtered and saved for later use; the more times it's used, the darker and more fragrant it becomes.

With an appliance

• Pressure cooker 2 hr

  Replace step 4: incubate under low pressure for 25 minutes, then release the pressure naturally; it still needs to be soaked overnight to develop the grain.