Thursday 20 March 2014

Marbled eggs





I have discovered a recipe for tea-infused eggs in the Guardian readers' recipe swap back in September (scroll down if you visit the link). I wanted to try it myself, as they sounded marvellously exotic.





In the original recipe you had to boil 6 eggs for 10 minutes, then rinse with cold water. Taking a teaspoon, carefully smack it all over the shell, getting a crackled effect (without peeling them).
Then the fun part begins. Place the eggs in a pan with cold water, and start adding 3tbsp of pu-erh tea, 1 anise seed, a cinnamon stick, 1tbsp of sugar, a couple of garlic cloves and 5 slices of ginger.
Bring the tea with eggs to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 3hours. Keep an eye on the water level, and add more water for the eggs to be covered.
That's exactly how I made them. They looked very pretty, with a marbled effect.




Taste-wise, they were much milder than I expected. They were also slightly sweet. So, I decided to add more spices and cook the remaining eggs for another half hour and then let them infuse overnight.
I added more garlic and ginger as well as a couple of tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, plus the peel from the orange and lemon zest.




We had them with hot noodle soup (I used a kit from Waitrose which contains noodles, dried mushrooms and sauce). It was a lovely bowl of soup.


I will make marbled eggs again, especially around Easter time, but will try to experiment with different spices.
It might be a bit time-consuming to cook the eggs, but if you make a big batch, they will keep in the fridge for a couple of days. How about making an egg mayo sandwich with a difference?





Link up your recipe of the week

Also adding my noodle soup with marbled eggs to No Croutons Required linky.


21 comments:

  1. Oooh these look pretty. Not sure I could be bothered with cooking them for 3 hours though ! Maybe in the slow cooker ?

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    1. Will the slow cooker keep the water deep enough? Not sure how it works. They certainly looked pretty.

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    2. I was thinking of making some with food colourings, and cook for less, maybe an hour, just enough for the colour to seep through.

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  2. THAT is gorgeous. I have always wanted to make tea infused eggs. Thanks so much for submitting to NCR.

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    1. Thank you Lisa! I think experimenting with different teas might be a good idea as well.

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  3. This reminds me of a recipe for 1000 year old eggs I have seen somewhere, very pretty

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    1. Are these the ones that are kept for years in soil? Not sure I'm a brave enough foodie to try that. :)

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  4. Very pretty indeed! Thanks so much for linking up with #recipeoftheweek. I've pinned and tweeted this post and hope to see you linking up again soon! :D x

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  5. These look SO good and I love hard boiled eggs with noodles :) I am going to save this recipe and thank you!

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  6. I find the marbeling effect a little spooky.

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    1. They are a bit spooky looking, aren't they?

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  7. This sounds like fun for the Easter Hols with the kids.

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  8. debbie godbolt9 April 2014 at 01:01

    hi i have never seen anything like these eggs before and to be honest not sure i would eat them as they remind me of brains lol x

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  10. This is an interesting effect. Would be great for Halloween dishes too.

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  11. Great ! looking yummy..
    I'm going to save this as bookmark. OH. I want you let you know a easiest way to boil eggs quickly by your iPhone/iPad. I think if you want to make this recipe then this app will help out. goo.gl/SHfYNg

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