smoked eggs

12 Eggs

1/4 Cup Low sodium Soy Sauce

4 tablespoons of lapsong souchong tea leaves (I recommend putting these in a spice or tea bag)

Dried peel from 1 orange (or tangerine)

1 tsp cracked peppercorn

1 cinnamon stick

1/2 tsp Chinese 5 spice

4 whole star anise (these are optional for me... if you don't like star anise, take them out)

8 cups of water

Sugar to taste 

Salt to taste

1. Put eggs in room temperature water (just enough to cover), set to boil. Once the water is at a rolling boil, take eggs of heat, cover and let them sit for 10 minutes

2.While the eggs are sitting, make the soy sauce broth. Mix water, soy sauce, sugar, orange peel, cinnamon stick, chinese 5 spice, and star anise in a pot that will be large enough for the dozen eggs. Bring mixture to a gentle boil.

3. Then add tea bags. Let it simmer gently for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat. Cover and set aside

3. When eggs are done, pour out the water and refill the pot with cold water.

4. Gently tap each egg with a spoon to make cracks. Deep cracks create dark, dramatic lines so be gentle so you don't break into the egg but cracking the shell through the membrane is good.

5. Place cracked eggs into the broth and turn the heat on low. Allow it to simmer for 10 minutes.

6. Turn off the heat and let the eggs sit in the broth for 5-8 hours. At this point, you can refrigerate the broth and eggs all together. Just make sure to let the eggs soak in the broth for a long time.

7. After an extended period, peel the eggs and enjoy!