The February 2008 issue featured the story of a Taiwanese family living in South Africa and the ways they work to keep their heritage alive. Together they practice the Tawainese tea ceremony and cook up delicious accompanying fare. Within this article I found a very fun recipe for Tea Eggs. These Tea Eggs are delicious and unique. Best yet, they take little effort to make.

While the recipe below is for a dozen eggs, I split the ingredients by about half to make just six. I’ve supplied approximate American conversions in parentheses for the metric quantities the recipe calls for.

Ingredients:

• 12 Eggs
• 2 Liters Water (approx. 8 cups)
• 10 Chinese Oolong Tea Leaves
• 3 Star Anise
• 35ml Soy Sauce (2 TBSP & 1 TSP) (use wheat-free tamari for gluten-free)
• 10gram Salt (approx 2 TSP)

Mix all the ingredients together and bring to a boil for 15 minutes. Next use a teaspoon to crack the eggs, leaving th shell in place. Place eggs back to simmer for another 45 minutes. The flavor enters the eggs through the cracks. Serve hot or cold.