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Chinese Braised Eggs
5 from 18 votes

Chinese Braised Eggs

Chinese Braised Eggs are hard-boiled eggs simmered in a spiced mixture including star anise, bay leaf, cinnamon, soy sauce, and optional oyster sauce, creating a savory and aromatic treat. The eggs absorb the marinade overnight for deep flavor, often enjoyed chilled with rice. This method infuses the eggs with warm spices and umami from broth powder and soy, while keeping the yolks slightly soft if preferred.

Course: Side Dish, Breakfast, Appetizer, Snacks
Cuisine: Chinese

Ingredients

  • 6 egg See recipe post for how to cook them. Preferably cook them till they have runny yolks (not firm yolks) but don't stress too much. If you want to make more eggs, you'll need to increase the sauce quantities too, hard-boiled
Braising sauce ingredients (this sauce recipe is for eggs that will be left overnight in the marinade. For eggs that you want to eat immediately, refer to the notes.)
  • 3 star anise Substitute: you can replace the star anise and cinnamon stick with 5-spice powder.
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 2 Cups water Reduce this to 1 Cup of water if you want to eat the eggs immediately. You'll only be able to cook 3 eggs in this case. All the other braising sauce ingredient quantities are kept the same. (Alternatively, keep it as 2 Cups of water and 6 eggs but double the quantities of the rest of the sauce.) If you do this, don't store the eggs in the undiluted marinade or they'll be too salty!
  • ¼ Cup soy sauce Not the same as sweet soy sauce, dark soy sauce or thick soy sauce. (You can add 1 Tablespoon of sweet soy sauce or 1 Tablespoon of dark soy sauce to the recipe if you are making the eggs to eat immediately, light
  • 1 Tablespoon sugar You can omit this but we all know some sugar makes everything taste a bit better! Rock sugar is traditional but I use white sugar when I'm out of the former.
  • 1 pinch salt Optional. If you want to eat the eggs immediately, instead of leaving them in the braising liquid overnight to develop the flavor, you'll need a stronger marinade (so that the eggs can take on the flavor in a shorter period of time.) In this case, I recommend the salt.
  • dried shiitake stems
  • oyster sauce
  • chicken stock powder
  • garlic Optional. I add them if I have them on hand. For oyster sauce, 1 Tablespoon is good. For chicken stock powder, ½-1 teaspoon is good

Instructions

    Cup of Yum
  1. Hard boil the eggs. (See "Step by Step Instructions" in recipe post if you need more details on this.)
  2. Optional: over low or medium heat, lightly toast the star anise, cinnamon stick and bay leaf till fragrant.
  3. Add the rest of the sauce ingredients the pot and bring to the boil.
  4. Add the eggs and allow to boil for 20 minutes.
  5. After 20 minutes, switch off the fire and allow the eggs to steep in the sauce till cool then refrigerate in the sauce. Enjoy the next day with a bowl of rice.

Notes

  • Bring refrigerated eggs to room temperature in warm water before boiling to prevent cracking.
  • For runny yolks, watch cooking time carefully; exact boiling time affects yolk consistency.
  • Overnight marination in the braising sauce enhances flavor significantly over immediate consumption; adjust water volume if eating sooner.
  • Use light soy sauce for balance; oyster sauce and chicken stock powder add depth but are optional.