Chinese Tea Eggs (茶叶蛋)

I love the aroma of 茶叶蛋, pronounced as Cha Ye Dan (茶葉蛋, Chinese Tea Eggs, Chinese Marbled Eggs, Tea Leaf Eggs) and whenever I walk past some Chinese Medical Halls selling them, I never fail to buy a few.  It never occur to me that I could have made some on my own until I saw it here, here and here.

Googled for more recipes and a blogger added chinese five-spice powder too.  And since I have some sitting in my pantry, I added them too.

The eggs were cooked and simmered for 2 hours and left overnight to steep.  However, I find the eggs lack flavour.  If I were to cook this again, I'll add more herbs and spices to make it more flavourful and probably cook it longer.

Chinese Tea Eggs

Ingredients
10 - 12 Eggs
140ml light soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
2 tablespoons black tea (or 2 tea bags)
1 cinnamon stick (桂皮)
2 star anise (八角)
3 cloves (丁香)
2 pcs of Chinese Angelica, (当归, optional)
2 strips dried tangerine or mandarin orange peel (optional)

Method

1. Gently place the eggs in a pot and fill with water to cover the eggs by 1-inch.
2. Bring the pot to a boil, lower the heat and let simmer for 3 minutes. Rinse the eggs with cold water till they are cooled.
3. Using the back of the teaspoon, gently tap the eggshell to crack the shell all over. The more you tap, the more intricate the design. Do this with a delicate hand to keep the shell intact.
4. Return the eggs to the pot and add in the remaining ingredients. Bring the mixture to a boil and immediately turn the heat to low. Simmer for 2 hours, cover with lid and let eggs steep for a few hours to overnight.