Cultural traditions brings us together. As someone from an Irish background now living in the Gulf, I find we share the common love of drinking tea…just like the Chinese. And when Umi Tea Sets contacted me asking if I would like to receive one of their traditional Yixing clay teapots and tea to enjoy, I happily accepted. Apparently the blog post on Irish Tea Bread prompted the contact.
A few weeks back and safely packaged from Yixing in China, the teapot and tea arrived. Wanting to know more about this small teapot, I visited Umi Tea Sets website. This traditional Yixing Da Hong Pao Clay Pine teapot is made from a special purple clay (ZiSha) and highly valued for tea brewing. Apparently the flavor of tea is enhanced due to the porous and aroma absorbing nature of ZiSha clay. It is recommend you dedicate your Yixing clay teapot to only one type of tea.
On sipping my first brew of Black Tea Lapsang Souchong (by Colorful Tea), I did not experience the intense smokey flavor or aroma I was expecting. So contacted Umi Tea Sets for some clarification on the tea I had received. Umi Tea Sets mentioned how different origins and degree of smoking affects the taste of a Black Tea Lapsang Souchong. This black tea is lightly fermented, with almost no smoking. The taste profile is light in fragrance with a more prominent tea taste with floral and fruit aromas. I thought the tea was very pleasant to drink and enjoyed this particular variety. Good to note that not all Lapsang Souchong teas have the same taste profile. The heavily smoked varieties I prefer to use with certain recipes, like this Prawn Ceviche dish I posted sometime ago.
Love the symbolic pine tree motifs on this clay teapot and in Chinese culture represents, resilience, longevity and good fortune. Thought this an uplifting symbol to ponder over while brewing a cup and also remembering, the scenic visits to tea fields and tea tasting on past travels.
Keeping with tradition, thought to include a recipe in this post. Also a good excuse to make Tea-Marbled-Eggs and enjoy another cup of tea brewed in my Yixing clay teapot. In Chinese culture this historic recipe traditionally uses a Smokey Lapsang Souchong tea as one of the ingredients but you can use other varieties of black tea if you wish.
The tea salt served alongside the marbled eggs is optional but adds another element of flavor. You can experiment with ratios if making the tea salt, I mixed one teaspoon of Lapsang Souchong tea leaves and one heaped teaspoon of flaked sea salt together and ground lightly using a pestle and mortar. I may not have perfected the art of marbling eggs but I guess not bad for a first attempt. I did like the flavor the tea liquid imparted on the eggs and the seasoning of tea salt when eating.
Tea-Marbled-Eggs
(Recipe adapted from the Culinary Tea Cookbook by Cynthia Gold & Lise Stern)
Ingredients:
- 6eggs
- 6 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon of dark brown sugar
- 2 and 1/2 cups cold water
- 1 and 1/2 tablespoons loose-leaf Lapsang Souchong tea leaves
- 2 whole star anise
- 2 inch piece of cinnamon stick
How to make:
- Place the eggs into a saucepan in a single layer. Cover the eggs with cold water and on high heat, bring to a boil. Once boiling, immediately remove the saucepan from the heat and let the eggs stand, covered with a lid for 9 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the eggs to a bowlful of iced water to cool. Discard the hot water from the saucepan used for boiling the eggs.
- Once the eggs are cool enough to handle, gently tap the shells with the back of a teaspoon. Your aim is to lightly crack the shell so the tea liquid will only stain the cracks. If you crack the shell hard you create a space for the tea liquid to seep in under the shell spoiling the marbled affect.
- Using the emptied saucepan you boiled the eggs in, add the soy sauce, brown sugar, cold water, tea leaves, star anise and cinnamon stick. Over high heat bring the contents of the saucepan to a boil and stir to dissolve the sugar.
- Lower the temperature and using a slotted spoon, place the eggs back into the saucepan. Simmer for 8 minutes, immediately remove the saucepan from the heat and leave the eggs in the tea liquid until cool. Chill the eggs in the tea liquid for at least 3 hours or overnight in the refrigerator.
- When ready to serve, remove the eggs from the tea liquid and peel, revealing the marbled effect. The eggs can be served as is or, with a toasted tea salt on the side.
Discover more from Food and Tools
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
