Quick, Exotic, Easy Snacks: Southeast Asian Tea Eggs

When I lived in China for a couple of years, one of my favorite things was small neighborhood restaurants and markets. Little snack stands dotted every city block, and one of my favorite snacks was tea leaf eggs.  Found almost anywhere, simmering away in a pot full of black liquid, the  dark-colored, cracked-shelled hard-boiled eggs tasted different than any other hard-boiled eggs, but had a unique flavor that I really loved.

When I got back to the states I wanted to re-create this delicious and convenient snack at home, and the VitaClay cooker is perfect for it: you can leave the eggs in the cooker on warm for as long as you like, to get the most flavorful eggs possible, then take them with you wherever you go for a tasty, nutritious, filling snack any time!

Ingredients:

• 8 eggs
• 3 cups water
• 1 t sea salt
• 1 T soy sauce
• 1 T black soy sauce
• 1 pod star anise
• 1 cinnamon stick
• zest from 1 tangerine

1. Add water and eggs to the clay pot (sometimes I add boiling water from my tea kettle to make it faster)
2. Cook eggs on "soup" for 20 minutes
3. Push "warm" button twice (so "warm" light comes on and cooking stops)
4. Remove eggs and crack the shells all the way around (but don't remove shells)
5. Add all of the spices and other ingredients
6. Put the eggs back in and allow to steep on "warm" for 2-8 hours.
7. Eat hot or refrigerate and eat cold