Deviled Eggs - with an Asian Twist

My friend, Matt, hosted an Oscar Night Potluck Party last year and I tried to find a fancy deviled egg recipe that would impress the crowd.  I plowed through Pinterest and Foodgawker but found delicious recipes that use the same set of ingredients.  I wanted a dramatically different one fitting for the Oscars.

 

That's when I came up with Deviled Chinese Tea Eggs with Shiitake Mushrooms!  I usually attempt to be humble, but I can't help but brag about this burst of creativity!

 

Ingredients

Boiled Eggs

Dried Shiitake Mushrooms (soaked in a bowl of hot water until plump)

Onion

Scallions

Jalapeno (optional)

Sesame Oil

 

For the Tea Egg Marinade:

Soy Sauce

Shiitake Mushroom Water

Bay Leaf

Dried Red Chiles

Star Anise

Five Spice Powder

Black Tea or Oolong Tea

 

I made hard boiled eggs first, cracked the shell but kept the shell on the eggs, and dunked them in a pot of simmering soy sauce, shiitake mushroom water (the warm water that I used to soak the dried shiitake to plump them back up), and various spices (see ingredients list).

 

Cracked Hard Boiled Eggs Simmering in Tea-Soy Marinade

 

I let the eggs simmer on low uncovered for 30 minutes, turned off the heat, and covered the pot to let it soak for another 2 hours. The longer they stay in the marinade, the more dramatic the cracked pattern on the egg and the more flavorful the egg whites get.

 

While the eggs were marinating, I sautéed some finely diced onions and some of the soaked shiitake mushrooms that I diced (make sure to slice some shiitake mushrooms for presentation) in some tea-soy marinade.  I put the sautéed mushroom and onion mixture aside and sautéed the sliced mushrooms with some marinade separately.



Happy with My Tea Eggs!

Once the eggs have cooled, carefully shell the eggs and reveal the gorgeous cracked pattern!

Isn't this gorgeous?

 

I halved the shelled eggs and scooped out the egg yolks into a bowl.  In the bowl of egg yolks, I spooned in the tea-soy marinade and mixed in the sautéed mushroom and onions.  I drizzled a little bit of sesame oil while mixing and added some scallions into the mixture.  Once the filling mixture was creamy, I spooned the mixture into the tea eggs and topped each off with a slice of sautéed shiitake mushrooms.

Deviled Chinese Tea Eggs with Shiitake Mushrooms and Jalapeno Deviled Eggs

Deviled Chinese Tea Eggs with Shiitake Mushrooms and Jalapeno Deviled Eggs