I’m very particular about my food. No surprise there. I like my own cooking, that goes without saying, but when I eat out in restaurants, I have the worst luck. It seems the universe is out to test my fortitude. Somehow it happens to me all the time. When we go out as a family, I’m the one who ends up with the rotten lettuce leaf in my salad, or a dish that tastes like salt is the #1 ingredient!

So whenever the server comes around to ask how everything is, he or she usually gets an earful from me. Needless to say, my family would love to leave the table at that very moment and pretend that we are not related. But I can’t help myself, because I always hope my comments will be able to make someone else’s dining experience more pleasant the next time.

Since I’m already speaking out, let me voice my opinion on traditional Chinese tea eggs for a second. I like a good tea egg as much as the next person, but to me, it can often be overcooked, with a chalky green yolk that’s the result of being simmered for hours.

Which leads me to this soft Chinese Tea Egg recipe. I was looking to emulate the method that the Japanese use to boil eggs for ramen. The cooking method is pretty ingenious, as these eggs turn out flavorful yet soft in the middle. I decided to borrow the technique and did a little daring revamp on traditional Chinese tea eggs. While we already posted a Chinese tea egg recipe years ago, I think that this recipe actually yields a tastier tea egg when compared to that original recipe.

Let’s learn how to make these Chinese tea eggs the authentic way from scratch!

Chinese Tea Eggs: Recipe Instructions

Bring the eggs to room temperature by leaving them out of the refrigerator for a couple hours.

In the meantime, prepare the sauce base by adding the rest of the ingredients (the ginger, star anise, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, tea, Sichuan peppercorns, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar, salt, Shaoxing wine, and water) to a medium pot. Bring the mixture to a boil, and the turn the heat down to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Then turn off the heat, open the lid, set it aside, and let it cool completely.

Bring another pot of water to a boil for the eggs. Once boiling, gently and quickly lower the eggs into the boiling water using a large spoon. You want to avoid dropping them and cracking them on the bottom of the pot.

Let the eggs cook in the boiling water for 7 minutes (it’s a good idea to set a timer). Once the timer goes off, turn off the heat, quickly scoop out the eggs, and transfer to an ice bath. Allow them to sit in the ice bath until they are completely cool to the touch. The purpose here is to stop cooking the eggs any further.

Once the eggs are cooled, lightly crack the egg shells. The goal here is to make enough cracks to allow the flavor of the sauce base to seep into the egg. I like to use a small spoon to tap the eggs, but be careful!

It you tap or crack too hard, you might crack open the egg since the egg yolk is still very soft.

Soak the cracked eggs in your sauce base for 24 hours in the refrigerator, making sure all the eggs are completely submerged in the sauce base. After 24 hours, they’re ready! You can also soak them longer for a stronger flavor. These Chinese tea eggs last for 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator.