This is a reanimation of the Vicaribus blog as lived by Miro Kazakoff and Ehren Foss in 2004 and 2005. The photos may be spotty.

Tea Eggs

Posted by Miro recipes

Adapted from a the tea eggs served at the Tea House at the Portland Classical Chinese Garden as described to me by the waitress, and as you’ll, imperfectly recreated on a bus by me.

1) Put four eggs in enough water to cover them on the stove. Heat on high.

2) Since I’m reading “On Food and Cooking” I’m kind of going back to basics on all aspects of cookery. In order to be more scientific, I purchased a digital probe thermometer. Water from our tanks pulled from the Eugene municipal water system boils at 209 degrees at whatever the elevation is on Raleigh Street under the 405 overpass in Portland. The primary determinates of water’s boiling points are elevation and the concentration on minerals dissolved in it.

3) Gently boiled the eggs for 18 minutes. Immerse in cool water. Mcgee suggests that a cold water immersion helps prevent that grey coating from forming on the outside of the yolks. Of course, fresh eggs are the best way to prevent this and two of these eggs reached their expiration date today.

4) Brew two Lipton tea bags in enough water to cover the eggs. All I’ve got is Lipton, but the Tea House waitress said they use a very strong brew of Lapsang Souchong, which is already a very strong, smokey tasting tea. Crush about two and half teaspoons of star anise into the tea water and about 20 shakes of low sodium soy sauce. Once it comes down to warm I crack the egg shells very thoroughly and put them in the mixture.

5) The tea house keeps the mixture warm during the day and refrigerates it overnight. The waitress tells me that the whole thing keeps for a week. Their eggs are totally penetrated by the color and flavor of the mixture. I’m letting the mixture sit out of the fridge all day and night.

Results: Still on going, I’m cracking about one egg a day to check the progress

After 5 hours of soaking: I peel the shell off one egg. Looks and tastes like a standard hard boiled egg.

After about 24 hours: The outside of the yolk is faintly marbled along the lines of the cracks. It’s a nice effect, but not much flavor has seeped into the egg. I’m wondering if the fact that the bus was parked next to Mt St. Helens in a snow storm and low temperatures is slowing down the process. Also, should I cook the eggs less? Should I keep the water warmer? The internet (which I haven’t had access to for a few days) says yes. Soft boil the eggs and then finish them in the tea mixture. Oh well …