Aromatic Tea Eggs Recipe: Secret Twist with Coke
Looking for a fresh twist to add flavour to your plain-boiled eggs?
Do you know the secret ingredient to this easy tea eggs recipe is the Coke you drink?
Check out my easy but special tea eggs recipe!
It is easy to make tea eggs, and there are a lot of easy tea egg recipes out there. But WHY is my tea eggs recipe special? Because I got a recipe secret from the industry when I was 19 years old, hahahaa. Here is what happens:
Tea eggs are a common daily life food in Taiwan. You can get them in convenience stores like Seven-Eleven or Family Mart. I used to go to a convenience store to grab a bottle of soy milk and a tea egg for breakfast every day while studying for my undergraduate degree in Taiwan. As I am one of those uni students who wake up early, around 6 am, while most uni students usually sleep until 12 pm, one staff at that time started to chat with me. He told me he did part-time jobs in different convenience stores, and the tea eggs taste good in convenience stores because they add ‘Coke’ with other ingredients to simmer it. Such an industry secret!!
I always keep this in mind, and when I started studying in Australia in 2017, there were no more tea eggs in convenience stores, and I had to make my own. I experimented with various ratios to perfect the balance of aromatic spices, savoury soy sauce, and the subtle sweetness of Coke for this tea egg recipe. In this tea eggs recipe, I will show you two ways to make it. One uses a Tatung Multifunctional Cooker, and the other uses a normal pot. They both work well while using a Tatung Multifunctional Cooker can be more convenient and safer. If you are curious about why I love the Tatung Multifunctional Cooker (and I promise this isn’t a sponsored post), you will find them at the end of the recipe.
I am excited to share this recipe with all of you today. Let’s get started!
Tea eggs
Difficulty: simple
Health features: eggs are superfoods, rich in high-quality protein and nature’s multivitamin
Serves: 12 -18 eggs (the marination can make up to 18 tea eggs)
Time: 1 hour for cooking and overnight for marination
Ingredients:
Eggs: 12-18 eggs
Black tea bag/tea leaves: 9g
Star anise: 8g
Cinnamon bark (also called Chinese cinnamon and Cassia bark): 2g
Black peppercorns (optional): 1g
Sichuan peppers (whole) (optional): 1g
Coca-Cola (Coke): 550ml
Soy sauce: 100ml (adjustable: you can add up to 150ml soy sauce if you prefer a saltier flavour)
Water: 400ml
Tips for choosing ingredients
Eggs: Here are 2 useful tips that you can apply in your daily life:
Use an egg that is a few days old when making tea eggs. A very fresh egg can be hard to peel, and often the egg white will come off with the shell when you peel it. Of course, we still need to make sure our eggs are still in the good condition.
Buy smaller eggs. The egg whites of smaller eggs have a better texture—they’re more chewy compared to larger eggs. In Australia and many other countries, the larger the egg, the more expensive it is. So, why not save money and enjoy better-tasting eggs? Hahaha!
Black Tea Bags: I prefer using English Breakfast or Earl Grey tea. Regular tea bags like Twinings from Coles or Woolworths are sufficient. However, the aroma of the tea you use will affect the fragrance of the tea eggs, so choose a tea you like. I shared this recipe with a friend, and she used high-quality green tea leaves, which made her tea eggs taste fantastic. So, the quality and aroma of the tea leaves you use will influence the overall fragrance of the tea eggs.
Star anise: You can get them in Coles or Woolworths. However, it is cheaper in spice shops and Asian supermarkets, hahaha.
Cinnamon bark (Chinese cinnamon and Cassia bark): You can get it in spice shops or Asian supermarkets. We do not use cinnamon powder in this recipe.
Sichuan peppers (whole): You can easily find Sichuan peppers in Asian supermarkets across Australia, available in both whole and powdered forms. For this tea egg recipe, we use whole Sichuan peppers. If you can’t find them, don’t worry—it won’t affect the flavour too much. Honestly, I have had times when I only realised I’d run out while making tea eggs, so I just skipped it, too—hahaha!
Coca-Cola (Coke): I recommend using classic Coke. Avoid flavoured Coke, as it will change the flavour of the tea eggs.
Soy Sauce: I suggest using regular soy sauce for tea eggs. There’s no need for premium soy sauce—it's too expensive! Hahaha. Don’t use flavoured soy sauces or those meant for specific purposes, as they will affect the flavour of the tea eggs. Want to learn more about the difference between soy sauces? Check out my blog post - Must Have Condiments for the Asian Cuisine.
Tea Egg Recipe Steps Quick Snapshot
Wash the Eggs: Gently wash the eggs to clean the shells without cracking them.
Prepare Spice Bags: Place tea leaves, star anises, cinnamon barks, black peppercorns, and Sichuan peppers into disposable filter bags.
Cook the Eggs: Cook eggs in a Tatung Multifunctional Cooker for 10–15 minutes or steam/boil them for 10 minutes.
Cool and Crack the Shells: Cool the eggs in cold water and gently crack the shells to create a marbled pattern.
Cook in Marinade: Simmer cracked eggs with water, Coke, soy sauce, tea leaves, and spices for 45 minutes in a cooker or pot.
Refrigerate and Marinate: Cool the eggs and refrigerate them in the marinade for at least 8–10 hours or overnight.
Serve: Serve the tea eggs with their unique aroma and sweet-spiced flavours.
Step-by-step guidance
1. Gently wash the eggs.
It’s important to ensure the eggshells are clean because tea eggs are made with whole eggs, including the shells.
Be careful not to crack the shells while washing. Even invisible cracks can cause the egg to leak when you steam or boil eggs.
2. Place star anises, cinnamon barks, black peppercorns, Sichuan peppers and tea leaves into disposable filter bags.
I recommend using 3 disposable filter bags: one for tea leaves, another for star anise, black peppercorns, and Sichuan peppercorns, and the third for cinnamon sticks.
Disposable filter bags are available at Daiso or on Amazon. They make it easier to remove the ingredients afterwards.
3.1 Use a Tatung Multifunctional Cooker: Place the eggs in the inner pot of the Tatung multifunction cooker. Add one rice cup of water to the outer pot (the area surrounding the inner pot). Press the button, and the eggs will be ready in about 10–15 minutes.
The Tatung Multifunctional Cooker comes with a rice cup. One rice cup of water provides approximately 15 minutes of cooking time.
The Tatung Multifunction Cooker is safe and convenient as it doesn’t require you to monitor the stove. Once you press the button, you can attend to other tasks. The cooker automatically switches to a keep-warm mode when cooking is complete.
3.2 Alternatively, you can steam eggs in a steamer or boil them in a pot of water for 10 minutes.
I recommend using a steamer because it is easier to manage and reduces the risk of eggs leaking during cooking..
If you prefer boiling eggs in a pot, place them in cold water rather than adding them to boiling water to prevent cracking. Use high heat to bring the water to a boil, then cook the eggs for 10 minutes once the water starts boiling. Gently stir the eggs occasionally to ensure even cooking.
4. Soak the eggs in cold water and crack the shells without peeling them. This step allows the flavours to infuse into the eggs and creates a beautiful marbled pattern on the surface.
Cooling the eggs in cold water also makes them easier to handle. If you're using a Tatung Multifunction Cooker, simply remove the inner pot and add cold water directly. For a steamer or standard pot, use a large ladle or strainer to transfer the eggs to a big bowl or pot filled with cold water.
Gently crack the eggshells to create as many cracks as possible, but avoid peeling them off. This is crucial for achieving the signature marbled effect of tea eggs and ensuring the tea and spice aromas fully penetrate the eggs.
5.1 Place the cracked eggs into the inner pot of the Tatung Multifunctional Cooker. Add remaining ingredients: water, Coke, soy sauce, tea leaves, star anises, cinnamon barks, black peppercorns, and Sichuan peppers. Cook for 45 minutes (3 rice cups of water).
Ensure the marinade covers 90–95% of the eggs to allow the flavour to be absorbed evenly.
Using the Tatung Multifunctional Cooker makes preparing tea eggs simple. If there is any leftover water from steaming the eggs, pour it away before adding the cracked eggs and ingredients to the pot.
Add 3 rice cups of water to the cooker’s outer pot, then place the inner pot inside. Press the button to start cooking, and you can return to your other tasks. There’s no need to worry about safety, as the cooker automatically switches to the "keep warm" mode once the cooking is complete.
5.2 Alternatively, put eggs and all other ingredients into a medium-large pot. Bring to a boil on a high flame. After boiling, turn down to medium and simmer for 45 minutes.
Make sure your pot is neither too big nor too small, so the marinade can cover 90–95% of the eggs. If the pot is too small, the marinade might overflow while simmering.
Every stove is different. If your medium flame is too strong, switch to a low flame to maintain a gentle simmer. The key is to keep it simmering steadily throughout the cooking time.
6. Cool it down and marinate it at least overnight or for 8 hours in the fridge
Marination (including tea leaves and spices) is key to ensuring the eggs fully absorb the flavours. You can start enjoying them after soaking in the marinade for 8–10 hours or overnight in the fridge. The taste will become even richer if you marinate them for 2 days. No need to pour always the marination after 2 days.
I usually transfer everything, including the marinade, into a container and store it in the fridge. I have 2–3 tea eggs a day, and they can last about a week.
7. Ready to serve!
Look at those beautiful marble-like lines! The blended aroma of star anises and tea, paired with a slightly sweet aftertaste from the Coke, makes these tea eggs truly unique.
Try this Coke tea eggs recipe today! Leave a comment below to let me know how you go—I would love to hear from you.
As a Taiwanese, I would love to share why I love and am proud of the Tatung Multifunctional Cooker from Taiwan —though I promise, this post isn’t sponsored, hahaha!
The Tatung Multifunctional Cooker is a must-have kitchen appliance for every Taiwanese family and for students studying abroad. This brand has been around for over 60 years in Taiwan and is known for being super durable. When I say durable, I mean it can last 10, 20, or even more years. Even if you want to replace it, it just keeps working perfectly—hahaha!
You can use this cooker for so many things: cooking rice, making soup, steaming eggs and dumplings, reheating food, and even reviving cold, dry bread to make it moist and soft again. It’s really safe and easy to use. Just press a button and walk away—it will switch to a keep-warm mode when it’s done.
In Taiwan, if you search for "Tatung Multifunctional Cooker recipes," you will find tons of ideas to make your meals. I will also be sharing some of my favourite recipes here on Bubble Foodex!
If you are in Australia, you can buy the Tatung Multifunctional Cooker from online stores like Amazon or Kogan. It comes in two sizes: one for 6 cups and one for 11 cups. I recommend getting the 11-cup one because it’s great for cooking larger amounts and steaming food more easily.
As a former international student, I used the 6-cup one for 7 years. Now that I have tried both sizes, I can say for sure: go for the bigger one—you’ll be glad you did! 😊