Spooky Deviled Eggs
Happy Halloween! 👻
If you are stumped for a last minute scary noms, might I suggest this devilish little appetizer? It is super easy to whip up and who doesn’t love eggs?!?
What are thooooose?!
This is my spooky take on a classic Chinese savory dish called Tea Eggs. It’s commonly sold as a snack by street vendors in China and at night markets hosted by most Chinese communities throughout the world.
How is it made?
Boiled eggs are cracked slightly and then boiled again in tea, or sauces and spices. Also known as marble eggs because cracks in the egg shell create darkened lines with marble-like patterns.
How does it taste?
It’s delicious! Tea eggs are very fragrant and flavorful because the brine is made of spices, soy sauce and black tea leaves. It is very similar to soy eggs in Chinese congee or ajitsuke tamago in Japanese ramen.
Recipe — Spooky Deviled Eggs
Serving: 4
Traditionally Tea Eggs are made with Black Tea. But this is not the original recipe, just a fun dish inspired by the classic Chinese snack. Instead of using black tea, I used butterfly pea flower tea. You can use any other type of colorful tea of your preference. It’s Halloween and we are allowed to have a little fun, especially when we have access to so many types and colors of teas nowadays.
Ingredients + Directions
Making the Marinade
Butterfly Pea Flower Tea - 1/2 cup
Star Anise - 1
Cinnamon Stick - 1, small
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Water - 2 cups
Mix all the ingredients in a small pot. Bring it to a boil over medium heat, then lower the heat and cover to let it simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the pot from the stove and let it cool completely. Once cooled, discard the butterfly pea flower and spices.
Preparing the Eggs
Eggs - 4
Bring the eggs to room temperature. My trick is to put them in a warm bath — fill a bowl with warm water and let the eggs sit in it for 5 to 10 minutes.
Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add the eggs into the boiling water and cook for 10 minutes for hard-boiled eggs.
Prepare an ice bath while the eggs are cooking. Combine ice and tap water in a big bowl. Once the eggs are cooked immediately transfer them to the ice bath to cool for 3 to 5 minutes.
Gently crack the eggs with the back of a spoon. Make sure the egg shells are cracked enough so the tea marinade will reach the interior. Make as many small cracks as you can by softly tapping. Smaller cracks produce more marbling. But also make sure not to crack so hard that you crack the shells apart, you will not get the marbling effect then.
Transfer the eggs to a large ziploc bag, then carefully pour the marinade over them. Let the eggs steep in the tea marinade for at least an hour or up to 4 to 5 days in the fridge. The longer they are allowed to steep, the richer the flavor will be.
Preparing the Filling
Kewpie Mayonnaise - 1 ½ Tbsp
Kosher Salt - just a pinch
Pepper - just a pinch
Paprika - just a pinch
Once the eggs are steeped to your preference, gently peel the eggs. Slice the eggs in half lengthwise, removing yolks to a small mixing bowl, and placing the whites on a serving platter.
Mash the yolks into a fine crumble using a fork. Add kewpie mayo, paprika, kosher salt, and pepper, then mix well. Evenly disperse heaping teaspoons of the yolk mixture into the egg whites. Keep in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Garnish
Just before serving garnish with more paprika. If you want to make, spooky little critters like I have, grab a few pitted black olives and shape them in to little spiders to crawl on top of the eggs.
This little snackaroo are very precious to me. Growing up I remember eating them often because my mom’s Chinese friends would always send these along with so many assortments of delicious dim sums.
Then few years ago, I decided to throw an epic viewing party for the show finale to Game of Thrones. Although the show itself had a disastrous ending that we will never get over, my viewing party was literally one for the books. I made so many Game of Thrones inspired dishes. This was my take on Daenerys’ Dragon eggs aka spooky deviled eggs! I will eventually get around to sharing the menu, the food and pictures from the party, someday!
Anyway, hope you all have a fun and spooky Halloween filled with lots of yummy treats! Stay safe!
Ps. the comment section is now open, so if you guys have any questions or thoughts, post them below! And we will get back to you with our answers.
If you do recreate our recipe, be sure to
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