I can never resist those cold, appetite whetting 唐心蛋 commonly found in Shanghainese restaurants and often wondered how they managed to make the egg yolk so addictively gooey and sticky. This I realised was from soaking the egg in ice water the moment you remove the eggs from the heat. The ice water cools the egg in a much faster rate and hence creating that much desired texture. I used Oolong tea from Taiwan in this recipe but you are welcome to replace it with any other strong flavoured tea such as Tie Guan Ying.
Ingredients:
5 fresh eggs
1 star anise
1 cinnamon
2 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
2 tablespoon dried tea leaves
2 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup rice, uncooked
Method:
Soak the eggs in a pot of cold water and bring to boil. Let the water boil for an additional 5 minutes. Remove eggs immediately and cool them in a pot of ice water. Let it soak for about 10 minutes.
Peel eggs and soak them in a pot with 1 stick of cinnamon, 1 piece of star anise, 2 tablespoon of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of dark soy sauce and 1 cup of water. Ensure that the marinade covers the eggs completely. Leave the egg to soak in the marinade for at least 1 hour or overnight in the fridge.
Line a wok with aluminium foil and top it with 2 tablespoons of dried tea leaves, 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1/4 cup of uncooked rice. Cover with lid and heat it up. When smoke starts to form, place eggs on a rack into the wok and smoke for 10 to 15 minutes. Serve cold!
