Chinese Tea Eggs

Place the eggs in a saucepan, cover with cold water by 3–4 cm, bring to a boil, and cook for 8 minutes.

Transfer the eggs to cold water for 5 minutes to cool them and make peeling easier.

Gently tap each egg all over with a spoon or the blunt side of a knife to create fine cracks over the shell, but do not peel it.

In a separate saucepan, combine 500 ml water, black tea, soy sauce, salt, sugar, star anise, and a cinnamon stick; bring the mixture to a boil.

Lower the cracked eggs into the hot tea mixture, reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer gently for 60 minutes so the liquid barely bubbles.

Remove the pan from the heat and let the eggs cool completely in the liquid, then chill them in it in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours.

Before serving, remove the eggs from the liquid and peel off the shells — the whites will have a distinctive marbled pattern — then serve cold or at room temperature.