The Egg

Marcel from Top Chef always irked me, but that didn't stop me from poring over his biography on the Bravo website with a voyeur's delight. Initially I found his response to the "What is your go-to ingredient?" question unspeakably pretentious: "The Egg." With Its Unnecessary Capitalization and All. But it stuck in my head. Months later, I'm still thinking about it.

The Egg.

I must give the man some credit. It's true. The Egg is fascinating. The Egg is also mind-numbingly versatile. The Egg strides purposefully from breakfast to lunch to dinner and onwards to dessert with ease. The color, the flavor, the textural possibilities ...and let's not forget that shell. Eggshells are both works of art and feats of engineering. (Although I have not yet read it, Michel Roux's book apparently does great justice to this ingredient.)

Yes. The Egg.

Recently we had too many eggs rapidly approaching their expiration date. Hard-boiling is always a solid way to buy some time, of course, and Chinese tea eggs are a great twist. They are only marginally more complicated than the usual recipe, which in my family goes something like this after an unfortunate incident a few summers ago:

"Drop eggs in boiling water. Try not to forget and go out for ice cream sundaes, only to return hours later to find a scorched pot, a shrieking smoke detector, and every kitchen wall pasted with exploded egg bits."

And Chinese tea eggs produce far more striking results:

I like to eat these eggs straight up, with just a bit of salt. I think this complements the admittedly subtle flavors that are imparted by the boiling liquid. You'll miss out if you dose each egg with a tablespoon of mayonnaise and a hit of paprika. Just keep it simple.

Chinese Tea Eggs
4 eggs, previously hard-boiled
3 bags black tea (I just used PG Tips; loose tea is fine too)
2 T. soy sauce
4 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 t. Sichuan peppercorns (optional)
A little orange peel (optional)
Approx. 3 cups of water

Use the back of a spoon to lightly crack the shells of the hard-boiled eggs. This creates the marbling effect that will emerge later. Place eggs in pot and add all ingredients except water. (If you are using tea in bags, open bags and empty tea leaves directly into pot). Add water to cover. Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer gently, 1.5 to 2 hours. Remove from heat and let stand in liquid one more hour. Remove eggs from liquid, allow to cool, and peel. Rinse them if they are covered with tea leaves, and serve.