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Chinese tea eggs

Finally, I got em’ right!

Chinese tea egg 3

I have been trying to get these Chinese tea eggs to come out beautifully marbled and full of salty smoky flavor and I finally did it!

Egg in sake cup

Tea eggs are a common Chinese snack found in street food stalls and also made at home to eat with a hot cup of tea. The intricate marbled lacework across the white comes from soaking in a marinade of soy sauce, Chinese black tea, and spices. Here’s how it’s done….

If you can boil water, you can make tea eggs. I used this method of hard-boiling eggs to make sure they came out the perfect consistency and it worked marvelously! Place up to 6 eggs in a pot that isn’t too huge for them but also not crowded. Add 1 and a half quarts of water and start heating it up.

Eggs in cold water

As soon as the water comes to a bare simmer (rising bubbles are starting to make the surface bounce and quiver but not yet roll,) remove the pot from the heat and let the eggs sit in the hot water for 10 minutes.

Eggs coming to a simmer

Then rinse the eggs under cool water until they are cool enough to touch.

Now comes the fun part, bashing them up!

Crack with spoon

Use the back of a spoon to break the egg all over, making a fine meshwork of cracks. There is a membrane just under the shell that will hold all the pieces in place so don’t worry about breaking it apart, just don’t hit it so hard that you jam shell pieces down into the egg!

Crack all over

Add the eggs back to the pot and add just enough water to cover. I use the same water that the eggs boiled in and just pour some out.

Add soy sauce, mirin, cinnamon sticks, anise, black peppercorns, and any style of black tea you can get your hands on, though a traditional Chinese black or pu-erh is best. Heat the marinade just until you can smell the spices infusing and the tea leaves are unfurled and soft. Don’t let it boil or even simmer, it’ll overcook the eggs!

Eggs in tea marinade

In China it is common to let the eggs sit in the marinade for 2 days to fully absorb the flavor. I let mine sit overnight, on the counter until cool and then in the fridge in a sealed plastic container. If you really wanna eat them sooner, 4 hours should do it.

Then they’re ready to peel. I have not found a good way to do this without half-mangling the egg whites, so if you have a preferred technique by all means use it. One good tip I do know of though is to try to get under the membrane so that you can peel up more of the shell at once.

Eggs ready to peel

Serve with tea or any time!

Chinese tea egg 2

Chinese tea eggs

Hard boiled eggs marbled with fragrant soy, spices, and Chinese black tea.

Ingredients

  • 4 to 6 eggs
  • 1.5 quarts water
  • 1 star anise pod
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 1 tsp. black peppercorns
  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp. mirin
  • 2 tbsp. or 2 teabags of black tea

Cooking Directions

  1. Put eggs in cold water in a saucepan that is just big enough for them.
  2. Bring heat up to a bare simmer, remove from heat and let sit in hot water for 10 minutes.
  3. Run cool water over eggs then crack all over with the back of a spoon.
  4. Return eggs to pot and pour out all but enough of the water to just cover eggs.
  5. Add seasonings and sauces and turn heat to medium-low to infuse spices and tea into liquid.
  6. After the marinade smells fragrant, turn off heat and let eggs sit in the liquid for at least 4 hours or overnight.
  7. Peel eggs carefully and store in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

Chinese tea egg 1

The flavor is faintly smoky and lightly salty with a slight tickle from the spicy anise. I love to keep of few of these in the fridge for a healthy and satisfying snack in the afternoon. They are perfect to pop right after a good workout for a protein punch! But mostly, I like to savor them in exactly 4 bites, each with the perfect proportion of creamy just-set yolk.

Chinese tea egg creamy yolk

I hope you try them, they’re worth the wait!

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Bar Exam: Raw Revolution tropical banana bar

I’ve been meaning to give these Raw Revolution bars a shot for a very long time. I happen to love “green superfoods” like spirulina and chlorella so long as they’re not too aggressively bitter, so I thought that I might like this one if it actually tasted like banana, but there’s always that chance that it could end up tasting like a freshly mowed lawn.

Raw Revolution tropical banana bar

I love it when companies make an effort to listen to the dietary needs and wants of consumers by making their products as inoffensive as possible. This one is gluten free, dairy free, soy free, peanut free, vegan, kosher, and contains no artificial preservatives or ingredients to speak of. While I may not necessarily need all of those things, I feel better knowing that this is an extremely “clean” product free of any crap that I don’t need to put in my body.

RR tropical banana ingredients

It clocks in at 170 calories. Not bad, but I tend to feel like 200 to 250 is best for a snack that actually satisfies your hunger for more than a minute. 18 grams of sugar is a little high, but most of the sugars are fruit sugars and the rest is agave nectar, not the worst sweeteners out there. Those are the two things I look at most often when selecting these bars, calorie content and sugar.

Appearance: Darker than expected, definitely from the dates. Looks smooth and ingredients are evenly distributed.

RR tropical banana bar unwrappedRR tropical banana bar up close

Taste: Mmm! I expected this to taste like banana bread as many banana-based bars do, but it actually tastes like a pina colada! A very present and natural-tasting banana flavor with a twinge of what tastes like pineapple, though there is no pineapple in the bar. And though it’s packed to the gills with green stuff, there really isn’t any bitter or grassy flavor to speak of, just tastes like delicious bananas and dates.

Texture: Smooth and pasty like a Larabar but with little bits of nuts mixed in.

RR tropical banana bar bite

Overall, I loved this one! It’s a really original flavor that I haven’t come across elsewhere. I like that I can take in some healthy green stuff without my mouth tasting like it’s packed full of lawn clippings soaked in algae. And while it has the similar smooth and pasty texture of a Larabar that I love so much, it’s a bit larger and therefore more satisfying than a Larabar. WIN!

Do you prefer smooth or crunchy bars?

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Recently eaten

I’ve had a streak of really delicious meals lately. Here’s what’s been making my tummy happy over the last few days…

I used some of the baked apples I made recently over a big dollop of Greek Gods fig yogurt. That has got to be the most delicious yogurt I’ve ever tasted. It has real fig puree in it not just a flavoring, so it’s very earthy and thick. With some toasted buckwheat on top, this was a killer combination.

Baked apples and fig yogurt

And I had that same yogurt again today over some strawberries, grapes, and pineapple. I topped it with some puffed amaranth and it was awesome! The grapes tasted especially amazing with the fig yogurt.

Fruit with fig yogurt and amaranth

I washed it down with the last of our keemun tea. This tea has a deep roasted aroma like coffee beans or smoldering wood. Love the reflection in it!

Reflection in keemun tea

And for lunch I had a salad with a side of jackfruit and a sliced orange…

Salad with orange and jackfruit

I rarely enjoy the salads that I make for myself, but this one was fantastic! It was mixed baby lettuces, Trader Joe’s broccoli slaw, sprouts, pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, avocado, and Annie’s red pepper dressing. Tasted amazing and had great texture.

Salad with hemp seeds and broccoli slaw

I am still so surprised by the flavor of jackfruit with every bite! It is so unusual but totally delicious. I’ve also been eating oranges like they’re going out of style. I’m eating 2 a day sometimes!

Orange and jackfruit

And check out this amazing and easy dinner we had last night…tostadas con huevos!

Tostada con huevos

It was a flour tortilla toasted up in the oven and then topped with vegetarian refried beans, salsa, 2 fried eggs, monterrey jack cheese, and sour cream. Served it up with a sliced avocado.

And it could not be simpler to make…

Tostadas con huevos

A quick and delicious Mexican dish with fresh eggs as the star.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Yield: 2 servings

Ingredients

  • 2 flour tortillas
  • 4 eggs
  • half a can of vegetarian refried beans
  • salsa of your choice
  • 1/2 cup shredded monterrey jack cheese
  • salt, pepper, and olive oil
  • serve with sour cream and sliced avocado

Cooking Directions

  1. Rub olive oil over both sides of tortillas and season with salt and pepper.
  2. Toast tortillas on both sides under the broiler until barely golden and crisp.
  3. Fry eggs 2 at a time in a non-stick pan and set aside.
  4. Spread refried beans over crisp tortillas, top with eggs, salsa and cheese.
  5. Broil tostadas until cheese is melted and bubbly, careful not to burn the tortillas.
  6. Top with sour cream and serve with sliced avocado if desired.

So much good food lately! I’m on a roll!

What’s the best thing you’ve eaten today?