Chinese Marbled Tea Eggs Recipe

What are Chinese marbled tea eggs?

It wasn’t too long ago I saw these little creations, Chinese marbled eggs on Instagram and they really did catch my eye. They look so cool! You’d think that getting that kind of pattern on eggs takes a lot of hard work and patience but its actually much easier than you would think. As the name suggests these beautiful marbled egg recipe originates in Zhejiang, China but is now popular all over Asia. This dish is typically made with chicken eggs however quail eggs are also sometimes used. The egg is par boiled and then marinated in a mixture of black tea and Chinese seasonings to give a very subtle smoky flavour. I wanted to find out more about the history of Chinese marbled eggs. Who thought of this bazaar yet ingenious recipe? If you know more about the history of marbled eggs, please let me know in the comments. I’d love to find out! This recipe creates 6 Chinese marbled eggs at 70kcal each.

Do you have a diet restriction?

These Chinese marbled tea eggs are:

• Vegetarian
• Gluten free
• Dairy free
• Nut free
• Low GI
• Low FODMAP
• Paleo friendly
• Keto friendly
• Syn free

Step 1: Par boil the eggs

Firstly, we need our eggs. Now to make Chinese marbled eggs you need eggs with a cracked shell but if you try to do this to a raw egg, its going to get messy. Place your eggs in boiling water for 1-2 minutes, just long enough for the outside of the egg to start cooking. This will help us out loads. Drain the water from your eggs. Lightly tap the back of a spoon all over your eggs to crack the shell. Do not tap so hard that the shell damages the membrane underneath. If this happens your marbling will bleed and not look as good however the egg will still be perfectly edible.

Step 2: Boil the eggs in the Chinese tea

In the pan you have just used add 2 bay leaves, 1 teaspoon of Chinese 5 spice, 4 tablespoons of soy sauce and 2 tablespoon of honey. Add your cracked eggs back to the saucepan and top up with water to cover the eggs. Now you can finish boiling them for a further 5 minutes. Most recipes I have seen online don’t use this boiling in two parts method however I think this extra little bit of effort really goes a long way. As you can see from the photo below the cracks in the eggs expand in the hot water allowing a little more of the tea mixture to seep in resulting in a thicker more pronounced marble.

Step 3: Marinate (optional)

I have experimented with this recipe and have found that if you were to de shell your eggs after they have finished boiling they will have a marbled design, and they will still be really cool so if your only in it for the aesthetics, your job is done. You can eat your eggs now if you wish however they will not really taste any different to a normal boiled egg. Your Chinese marbled eggs need time to marinade now that they have finished cooking if you want the flavours to infuse well. Let your egg tea cool and then pop it in the fridge for a few hours to soak up the flavours of the ingredients.

Even the shells of these eggs look cool!

How to use Chinese marbled eggs?

You can then use these eggs in whatever fashion you desire. Whether you just like to keep a stock of boiled eggs in the fridge to snack on or load them onto a salad, your good to go!

Can marbled eggs be reheated or frozen?

I would not recommend reheating or freezing boiled eggs of any kind. These eggs are best eaten fresh and warm or cold. They will last 3-4 days in the fridge when kept in a sealed container.

Chinese Marbled Eggs Recipe With Tea

HealthyHeartyWholesome

These Chinese marbled eggs with tea is a great way to make boiled eggs more exciting, A healthy recipe for weight loss.

5 from 5 votes

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 7 minutes mins

Marinate (optional) 4 hours hrs

Total Time 4 hours hrs 17 minutes mins

Course Appetizer, Lunch, Salad, Side Dish

Cuisine Chinese

Servings 6 Eggs

Calories 75 kcal

Ingredients

  

• 6 eggs
• 2 black tea bags
• 1 tsp Chinese 5 spice
• 4 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp honey
• 2-3 dried bay leaves

Instructions

 

• Par boil your eggs for 1-2 minutes in a small pan. Just long enough for the outside of the white to solidify.
• Drain your eggs and tap with the back of the spoon to crack all over. Avoid breaking the membrane.
• Put your eggs and all other ingredients back into the small pan and top up with enough water to cover the eggs. Return the eggs to the hob to continue boiling for 5 minutes.
• Leave the eggs to cool in their tea marinade. Once cool put in the fridge to continue soaking up the flavours for 4-6 hours.
• Peel and eat!

Notes

Please check out the full blog post above for more detailed instructions and photos.

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