Yuan Mei, a gourmet of the Qing Dynasty, recorded the cooking method of tea eggs at that time in the book "Suiyuan Food List". The original text is: "A hundred eggs, boiled with one or two salt, coarse tea leaves, two A stick of incense is the measure. For example, if you have fifty eggs, you only need five cents of salt, and you can make snacks by adding or subtracting the number. "How long does it take to burn two sticks of incense?

Ancient tea eggs

There is no clock in the temple, and the monks use incense as the basis for calculating time. Note: There are twelve hours in a day, and one stick of incense is offered at each hour. When the incense stick is burned out, the hour ends, and so on, "two sticks of incense" last about four hours. Therefore, after four hours of boiling over low heat, the eggs have become "more tender as they are boiled." It is better to pick them up with the shells on when eating. It is better to eat them now and peel them.

Later, in order to restore its original appearance, chef Xue Wenlong changed the main ingredient to 50 eggs, the ingredients to 60 grams of tea, and the seasoning to 75 grams of salt. Shaoxing wine 30cc, four star anise. Before cooking, wash the eggs first, "boil them briefly in boiling water, put them into cold water, crack the eggshells, put them into a casserole, add tea leaves, salt, wine, water, bring to a boil over high heat, cover it, and use a small Cook over slow fire.”

Due to the high heat, the shell pine tastes natural, the egg whites look like patterns, the aroma of the marinade permeates, and the egg yolks are crispy and waxy, and people next door can smell its fragrance. If everyone tries to make it, using ancient methods today, it will definitely be refreshing.