delicious food!

[jinian]

This is a TEA EGG, which I love and adore and now can make in my home thanks to The Asian Grandmothers Cookbook. Basically, you take a bunch of eggs, boil them (cold water to rolling boil, remove from heat and cover 15 mins), and crack their shells up prettily. Then you put in half a dozen star anise pods, half a cup of soy sauce, and tea -- Lapsang Souchong is awesome for this purpose, though I find it too smoky to drink -- and simmer for a couple of hours, then steep overnight in the fridge. You get these marvelously fragrant and beautiful eggs that you can put in soups or just eat straight.

I used to only be able to eat these at the Taiwanese Student Association's Night Market every year, then a ramen place that has them opened up, and now I can make my own. YAY.

In other food news, Wim and I had a great meal at Octo Sushi last week, including daily-special takoyaki, spicy soup with chicken, and a bunch of sushi rolls. Salmon and avocado maki worked nicely, I thought. Obasan in lower Queen Anne fed me well on unagi-yaki last night, though like most restaurants in that area it was a little expensive. The TV was showing Sen to Chihiro when I walked in, so I loved it immediately, and the genmaicha was great.

My intention for tonight is lentil soup to go with the bread Wim made this weekend, though I'm glad we have the pressure cooker because that fella is still not here with my lentils.

Comments

[marzipan-pig.livejournal.com]

Oh! Oh. Tea eggs!

You do make it sound easy, AS IF EVEN A TAPIR COULD DO IT.

I will think about it. Then maybe do it!

[jinian.livejournal.com]

I thought of you while simmering them, because obviously it is an ideal time to use A CROCK POT. I did mine on the stove, but I might do crock pot simmering next time.

[marzipan-pig.livejournal.com]

'Simmer for a few hours' sounded like all kinds of awful, but, you're right, the crockpot makes the most sense, doesn't it? I kind of want some RIGHT NOW but don't really have most of the key ingredients.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

How much tea? Brewed tea, or loose tea leaves? And do you add the tea and soy to the water (how much water) or put the eggs in the straight tea and soy?

[jinian.livejournal.com]

I used a combination of loose tea and bags, since we had a few bags no one was using up; enough to make about three brews. Put the ingredients in first, then thin with water as needed to cover the eggs. (I realize this doesn't tell you an exact concentration, so I kind of want to try a dilution series, but it worked fine when I just did it as written.)

[jinian.livejournal.com]

A couple is two, not several. You wouldn't need to do it while sleeping! What's so hard about putting the stove on low, covering the pot, and doing something else in the home for two hours?

[oyceter]

Yay tea eggs! Most of the time I see them made in the non-fuzzy-logic rice cookers, so probably a crockpot is the closest equivalent?

You can also buy bags of "lu wei" (master broth) at the Asian supermarket in the spice aisle, though sometimes the box is very small. It usually has star anise and bay leaves and black cardamom and cumin, and then you can make lu eggs! They are a little stronger than tea eggs.

[jinian.livejournal.com]

That sounds awesome. I will definitely look for lu wei!