Quail tea eggs 鹌鹑茶叶蛋

[abcdefg]

It hit me like a bolt of lightning yesterday at the neighborhood wet market: Maybe I should try a different kind of eggs. Have recently been looking for a way to make more flavorful tea eggs, and maybe these small quail eggs are the answer. And I'd heard that quail eggs make great bite-sized tea eggs. Decided on the spot to try it out.

 

Most of the egg vendors from whom I buy there not only sell free-range chicken eggs 土蛋 and an assortment of duck eggs, they also offer quail eggs plus smaller batches of exotics (pheasant eggs, guinea fowl eggs, bantam hen eggs and others.) The lady next to the stall where I buy my hand-ground sesame oil, not only had two large crates of them, she also had a deep pot of tea eggs that she was making herself, mixed quail and chicken.

 

 

She sold me half a kilo of fresh quail eggs for 6.5 Yuan and threw in a couple of the already-cooked ones just so I could have a taste. The brine in which they were soaking was room temperature, but it had boiled a couple hours previously, she said. Her eggs were tasty; I peeled and ate them right there to see.

 

Asked if she had any tips; told her I had been struggling with them at home. She said to use plenty of soy sauce and plenty of salt. She laughingly added that a hit of dark vinegar 老陈醋 was her secret weapon. "Balance it with a little sugar so as not to make them sour." She explained how the vinegar drove the other flavors through the shell and into the body of the egg. I have no idea about the science involved in that, but I never argue with success.

 

When I got them home, I washed the eggs well in clear, cool water, removing any broken ones. I had been gently sideswiped by a guy on a motor scooter in a traffic jam, and my egg bag took a hit. I had 4 broken ones, which I threw away. Counted them just for fun, and found that my half a kilo (500 grams) had 54 eggs, pretty uniform in size. Let them soak while setting out my other ingredients.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Top, in the spoon at 12 o'clock, are fennel seeds 茴香，dried chili peppers 干辣椒 at 1 o'clock，star anise 八角 next at 3,  followed by caoguo 草果，a type of savory seed pod related to coriander, at 5 o'clock a spoon of Sichuan peppercorns 花椒，sliced ginger 老姜 next, followed by cinnamon bark 桂皮，and orange peel 橙皮 at 9 o'clock. Bay leaves 香叶 at 11 complete the circle. Pu'er tea is in the middle; the Pu'er I used was from a decent, utility-grade ripe 熟茶 Menghai cake 孟海茶饼。

 

 

 

If you aren't familiar with using 草果, it's a good idea to bust it up a bit with the back edge of your knife to make the good parts more accessible.

 

I put all these flavoring ingredients 调料 into my rice cooker, which has a heavy, cast iron pot. Added water about half way up the side and put in half a cup of ordinary soy sauce 生抽，a big tablespoon of vinegar 老陈醋，a big tablespoon of old soy sauce 老抽，plus a tablespoon of salt and a teaspoon of sugar. 

 

 

 

Plugged it in and let these spices and seasonings boil for about 10 minutes before adding the eggs. This lets them develop their flavor and blend. I tasted this potent solution to see if it needed adjusting with more of anything, but it didn't. I let it cool to nearly room temperature before adding the eggs (also at room temperature) to prevent them cracking from the heat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Boiled them 10 minutes then scooped the eggs out. Let them cool enough to be able to handle them, then cracked each one gently with the back of a spoon. Returned them to the brine and brought them to a boil again, then turned the power down to the barest simmer and maintained that for one hour.

 

The way you do that with a rice cooker is to first select a program that uses high heat, such as the one for zhou (marked 粥 or 稀饭) and then pressing the "keep warm" button (marked 保温）after the contents have been brought to a boil. A rice cooker allows better control of the heat than most stove-tops could supply.

 

 

 

Take the eggs out, strain the cooking liquid, removing all the solids. Then keep the eggs in this while you refrigerate them overnight.

 

 

I previewed a couple last night, but had a more generous serving this morning. Slip off the peel and pop one straight into your mouth. Bursting with flavor and tender to boot. These are now my favorite kind of tea eggs, at least as long as I'm in China.

 

 

I owe a debt of gratitude to the intrepid Tea Egg Task Force, senior members being @Jellyfish and @Alex_Hart for keeping this project alive and ever striving, moving boldly towards better and better tea eggs, both for the ordinary citizens 老百姓 and the elite troops of the realm.

 

 

 

Here's the post that started the tea egg discussion: https://www.chinese-forums.com/forums/topic/53701-tea-eggs-yunnan-style-茶叶蛋/?page=3#comment-417281

[iekkim]

That's such a brilliant idea to use quail eggs!!! 

 

I should try adding some dark vinegar and more soy sauce next time. I made 10 last time and struggled to finish them...

[abcdefg]

10 hours ago, iekkim said:

That's such a brilliant idea to use quail eggs!!! 

 

By all means, @iekkim. Try them. (They aren't my original idea.) Seems to me they provide an excellent combination of rich taste (lots of flavor) as well as remaining tender throughout the cooking process. Plus they are fun to eat, one egg per bite: a handy snack.

 

Update: My lady friend came over this morning and gave them her thumbs up after devouring several in a row. Since she's a picky eater 挑食, that endorsement meant a lot. I served the little quail tea eggs beside some jumbo grapes and cracked walnuts. I had a mug of pu'er; made her warm milk with organic 枣花 honey.

 

[Alex_Hart]

They look great, abcd! Do you attribute the success mostly to the quail eggs being smaller in size (perhaps more easily permeated by the brine) or the rice cooker? I will need to try this next time - thinking of making them against next week!

Also, crazy jealous that you can get hand ground sesame oil. 

[abcdefg]

Not sure exactly why they worked so well. I have previously made chicken eggs in the rice cooker; they acquired lots of flavor, but were tough. These quail eggs are obviously much smaller, about 5 of them weigh the same as one chicken egg. Their composition is also not quite the same: more yolk and less egg white. The shell is thinner. Plus I used vinegar in the brine, balanced with a little sugar.

 

   Quail egg, chicken egg, duck egg.

 

Today is day two in the brine (refrigerated.) Most of them are gone, but the remaining ones have so much flavor. They have improved from yesterday. I eat them after setting a few out for a short time, at approximately room temperature. I don't heat them up. Had some like that last night with cucumber spears and salted peanuts while watching the French Open on TV.

 

That sesame oil is a treat. The vendor makes it right there in the little stall. They sell two kinds, one light an one dark. The dark one is made with toasted sesame seeds and is loaded with flavor: quite a bit more than the oil bought in supermarkets. The lady said the secret was that they made it slow.

 

 

 

[Jellyfish]

@abcdefg Sorry for the late reply, I've been away in London and then busy catching up with work. What an inspired idea to use quails' eggs! Unfortunately it doesn't seem like that's going to be an option for me as they're really quite expensive in the UK and looking at the speed at which I went through my last few batches of chicken eggs, it'd be a very expensive snack indeed haha.

I also found that vinegar and sugar just gives the mixture the right kind of kick and infuses the eggs beautifully. I'm so happy to see that we've all now found our perfect tea egg recipe - and kind of amused as to how different they all seem to be! From peeled eggs soaking to quails' eggs in the rice cooker to slow-boiled chicken eggs, we all seem to have our preferences haha. The tea egg task force has worked hard and can now enjoy the fruits (/eggs) of its labour!

[abcdefg]

4 hours ago, Jellyfish said:

I also found that vinegar and sugar just gives the mixture the right kind of kick and infuses the eggs beautifully.

 

Agree; it's a good trick.

 

I don't think I've ever seen quail eggs for sale in supermarkets in the US. But they aren't expensive here in China, so I'll enjoy them while I'm here.

 

It's great to have several good solutions to the question of how to make top-notch tea eggs. No need for unanimity.

 

Quote

The tea egg task force has worked hard and can now enjoy the fruits (/eggs) of its labour!

 

By all means! (But with a pained groan for that British pun.)

[Jellyfish]

8 hours ago, abcdefg said:

(But with a pained groan for that British pun.)

 

Apologies! I work as a food (and other promotions, but mainly food) copy writer and I don't even notice when I do this anymore haha.

[abcdefg]

17 hours ago, Jellyfish said:

Apologies! I work as a food (and other promotions, but mainly food) copy writer and I don't even notice when I do this anymore haha.

 

No need to apologize. I thought it was funny. And now I understand why you write so well!

[Jellyfish]

Haha hardly. You don't need any writing skills to get into copy writing - all it takes is superhuman strength and enough determination not to quit (one more two for one hot dogs promotion and I might throw in the towel). But we're getting a bit off topic here... Tea eggs!