EAT, DRINK

 »Recipes from Around the World

Dazzling Tea Eggs

Deviled eggs always get an enthusiastic greeting when they are my contribution to a potluck or picnic. Simple but tasty, the hard-boiled eggs, with some mayo and salt smashed into the yoke, seem to satisfy most palates. Chinese tea eggs have a similar appeal, but they offer more flare, an arty appearance and no mayo.

Esaine Mo, a Vancouver career counselor, shared a recipe for tea eggs from her original home in Hong Kong. These savory treats are easy to make and use basic ingredients that almost everyone has in the kitchen. You can boil the eggs a little or a lot, depending on how intense you want the taste. The cool, spider-web designs on the outside white of the egg don't take long to create.

Ingredients

• Eggs (as many as you want)
• Water to cover the eggs in a saucepan
• 3 tbsp soy sauce (Esaine recommends the dark kind)
• 3 tea bags (black or green)
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp salt (if desired)
• ½ tsp crushed star anise (optional)

Step 1: Put eggs in saucepan.

Step 2: Fill saucepan with water so eggs are either completely or mostly covered.

Step 3: Place on stove and turn the burner on high. You can adjust this later to be slightly lower.

Step 4: Stir in soy sauce, cinnamon, salt and star anise into the water. Drop in tea bags. Put a lid on. (This will make the eggs easy to peel later.)

Step 5: Read a book, watch TV or otherwise distract yourself for anywhere between 15 minutes and 2 hours. Intermittently, or during commercial breaks, check to see if the water level is getting low or if the boiling is causing water to spill all over your stove. Add more water or adjust the heat to solve these problems.

Step 6: After the eggs have boiled more than five minutes, you may want to take a spoon and crack the shells. This will allow the dark liquid to soak in and give the eggs those pretty designs. You can also just leave the eggs to crack on their own after excessive boiling.

Step 7: When you have decided to stop boiling, drain the eggs and rinse with cold water. Leave the eggs soaking in the cool water to prevent the yoke from turning a greenish colour. Peel the eggs as soon as the shells aren't too hot to touch. You can eat the eggs hot, warm or cold.

Step 8: Serve the eggs whole or cut in interesting shapes for a more dynamic presentation.