Happy 2016! I’m finally back in Madison after a relaxing stint at home. I always used to resist my parents’ attempts to pamper me, insisting that I was grown up enough to take care of myself. But now, I just embrace it; it’s inevitable and a win-win situation anyway. As SNL aptly puts it, I’m a back home baller. But nevertheless, I have returned and am excited to celebrate the new year! In many Asian cultures, it is customary to eat eggs during the new year as they symbolize a fresh start, the beginning of something new. One of the hands down prettiest eggs dishes I’ve ever had are Chinese tea eggs; hard boiled eggs are cracked then steeped in tea and other fragrant spices, yielding delicate, gorgeous designs. They are incredibly easy to make but like many things, become even more beautiful with time. I steeped mine for about 3 hours but it is not uncommon to let the eggs continue to steep in the refrigerator for several days.

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Start by boiling eggs until they are hard, about 9 minutes. Carefully remove them from the pot and crack the shells to create the designs. The trick is to lightly tap the hard boiled eggs with the back of a spoon to create as many cracks as you possibly can without any pieces of shell falling off. It’s okay if a few small pieces are lost in the process. After all, the beauty in art is often in its irregularity.

Cracked Tea Eggs

After the eggs have been cracked, allow them to simmer in tea and spices for at least 3 hours. When you remove the shells, you’ll discover that they are just as beautiful as the eggs. Making these tea eggs reminds me of kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with silver and gold, celebrating that something can be more beautiful for having been broken. It is an important thing to keep in mind as we reminisce on our strife of the past year and leap into the new year, older, wiser and ready for even more adventures.

Tea Egg Shells
Tea Eggs
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Tea Eggs

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