H&H and Green Muse Collab: Chinese Tea Eggs
Eggs are a nutritious, versatile, magical ingredient and here is one way to spice them up, making them more flavorful and digestible!
This is also the perfect opportunity to showcase some beautiful, organic and fair trade spices carried by our wonderful friends at Green Muse Herbs (located at 1038 Fort St), which are featured in this recipe!
Diaspora Co. is growing a better spice trade by sourcing the highest quality spices, paying farmers an average 3x-5x the commodity price and fresh milling and blending each spice and masala for maximum potency and flavor. Bonus, they are also WoC owned.
- Jaggery is an unrefined natural sugar made from sugarcane juice, is the OG, precolonial sweetener of South Asia. Diaspora’s Madhur jaggery is grown and processed by the Randive family in the historic, rain-fed Daund region. The sugar cane is intercropped with chickpeas, wheat and dhaincha to restore soil health. Its juice is then clarified and reduced over fire into a nutty, caramely powder.
- Loose leaf black tea is organically farmed on Chota Tingrai, one of the first tea estates to be owned by an Indian family in independant India. CTC tea – named for the crush, tear, curl processing method – yields a stiff, medium-strength cup that holds up beautifully to milk and spices.
The remaining spices available from Green Muse Herbs:
- Cinnamon bark, organic, fair trade, from Mountain Rose Herbs
- Star anise, organic, from Mountain Rose Herbs
- Bay leaves, organic, local, from Bela’s Botanicals
From a scientific nutritional standpoint, eggs (if you tolerate them) are the perfect compact package and a nutritional powerhouse. One large chicken egg contains 6.5 grams of protein, all 9 essential amino acids, and 14 key nutrients that help maintain healthy bones, teeth, skin and eyes.
Some of the goodness contained within eggs include:
- Vitamin B12 helps protect against heart disease.
- Choline is an important nutrient for brain development and is especially important for babies and toddlers.
- Lutein and Zeaxanthin help maintain good vision and may reduce the risk of age-related eye disease.
- Selenium helps prevent the breakdown of body tissues.
- Iron in eggs is easily absorbed by the body and carries oxygen to the cells.
- Folate (B9) helps produce and maintain new cells and helps protect against serious birth defects during pregnancy.
- Vitamin D and Phosphorus help strengthen bones and teeth.
- Vitamin A helps maintain healthy skin and eye tissue and assists in night vision.
- Vitamin E is an antioxidant that plays a role in preventing disease.
Ingredients:
*These measurements are approximate, feel free to experiment with different amounts to yield the flavor profile you desire or add additional ingredients, such as garlic or green onions.
**If a dozen eggs is too many, just halve all the ingredients for making 6 eggs instead!
Instructions:
- Leave your eggs out for a few hours so they reach room temperature.
- You can prepare the sauce in advance by combining the rest of the ingredients in a large pot. Bring it to a boil, then turn down the heat, cover with a lid and allow it to simmer for at least 10 minutes so all the aromatics steep into the liquid.
- This is a good time to give the sauce a taste test to see if you like the flavor, if it requires more simmering or even a dash more of soy, etc. Once it reaches the flavor you desire, turn off the heat, cover and let cool.
- Optional: you can strain out the tea and spices, but not necessary.
- Bring another large pot to boil for the eggs. Once the water is at a rolling boil, gently lower the eggs into the pot with a spoon to avoid dropping them and cracking the shell.
- Once all the eggs are in the pot, set a timer for 7 minutes. This should achieve an “ramen-style egg“, cooked egg white, but still partially jammy (not runny) yolk.
- After 7 minutes, scoop out the eggs and transfer to your bowl of ice water. Leave them in the ice bath until the eggs are cool to touch. This process will stop the egg from cooking any further and preserve that lovely, jammy yolk.
- Once the eggs are cool, using a small metal soup, gently crack the shells. Do not tap too hard, we need the shells to stay on the egg and not damage the white or yolk. This will allow the sauce to seep through the shells, soak into and flavor the egg white.
- Gently transfer your cracked eggs into your sauce – yes, leave the shells on, it will create that distinct pattern on the egg whites as they absorb the sauce. Let them soak for at least 24 hours in the fridge. Soaking them longer will yield a stronger flavor. Covering the surface of the sauce with either parchment paper or plastic wrap will help to keep all the eggs submerged.
- For obvious reasons, peel off the shells before serving!
- These tasty eggs will keep in the fridge for 3-4 days.
From the top, going clockwise: black tea, cinnamon stick, fresh ginger, Sichaun peppercorns, star anise, bay leaves 
Simmering the spices with water, soy sauces and Shaoxing wine 
Boiling 7 minute eggs 
Gently cracking the shells 
Marinating the cracked eggs in the sauce 
Peeling off the cracked shells after 24 hrs of marinating, noticing the brown, cracked pattern that soaked into the eggs. 
The finished product, tasty eggs with jammy yolks!
These flavorful eggs are delicious with rice, congee, noodles or with spring on the horizon, some nice braised or stir-fried bitter greens! Our delicious ginger-green onion sauce also makes a perfect companion to accompany these eggs too!
This is also ideal food for those who are recovering from illness or depleted from heavy menstruation to warm the body and promote the production of qi-blood.
In terms of TCM, Chicken Egg has properties to tonify blood, yin and Jing. It also helps to regulate blood circulation. Ancient Chinese medical texts cite that it enters the Lung, Stomach, Spleen, Heart, Kidney, and Liver systems. The flavor of Chicken Egg is sweet, and it is considered to be neutral in temperature.
As for the aromatic spices seasonings:
- Ginger (fresh) due to its pungent, spicy flavor can disperse Wind-Cold from the body, and it has a mild effect in promoting sweating and releasing the Exterior (opening your pores for pathogens to leave your body). Pungent flavors also disperse stagnation and promote digestion.
- Cinnamon is also pungent, slightly bitter and sweet, so its most obvious application is warming the whole body. It strengthens yang, eases pain, nourishes qi-blood. It also warms and supports the Spleen, aiding in digestion and helping to support healthy blood sugar levels.
- Sichuan peppercorns can warm the middle jiao (your main digestive organs, the Spleen and Stomach), dry dampness and disperses cold to alleviate pain. Sichuan peppercorns produce a unique simultaneous sensation of both spicy-burning due to the capsaicin as well as a phenomenon called paraesthesia, in which the lips and tongue feel as though they are vibrating and go vaguely numb, which is referred to as málà (麻辣), “burning and numbing”.
- Star anise can warm yang to dissipate Cold, regulate the flow of qi to increase appetite, relieve abdominal pain as well as menstrual cramps due to cold as well as to ease vomiting and nausea. It is also used to relieve joint pain.
- Bay leaf soothes the Stomach and Lungs and disperses dampness. Used to aid digestion, bloating, full feeling, cools sore throat, coughs, opens up mucous filled nasal passages, asthma, stuffy chest. The aromatic qualities help calm and soothe anxiety.
- Black tea is known for its ability to regulate qi circulation, regulate water, eliminate toxins, and resolve phlegm. It enters the Lung, Stomach, Heart, Urine Bladder, Liver and Large Intestine systems. The flavor of Black Tea is sweet and bitter, and it is considered to be neutral in energetics (not hot or cold).
- Sugar (jaggery would have similar properties) in its concentrated form has a huge yin and expanding effect. With the production process of jaggery, it would be safe to assume, it would also be warmer in energetics. On the one hand, it brings relaxation to the body, but when over-consumed, it can cause excessive moisture and also weakens the Spleen energy.
- Soy sauce is known for its ability to clear heat and eliminate toxins. Ancient Chinese medical texts cite that it enters the Stomach, Spleen, and Kidney systems. It is salty in flavor, and it is considered to be cool in temperature.
- Sea salt or salty flavors are associated with the Kidney system. TCM believes that moderate amounts of salt are important for Kidney support and that salty foods can “soften hardness” in the body, making them useful for resolving lumps and bumps as well as helping with constipation.
- Shaoxing wine is commonly used in the winter to expel cold from the body. It can help warm and soothe channels, strengthen the digestive system, nourish skin, and dispel cold and dampness inside.
