Every Chinese Way To Cook Eggs

This is the world's most popular ingredient and everyone thinks they know how to cook it. But if you find yourself at a very Chinese time in your life, you have to learn the five Chinese ways to cook an egg. The weird ones. The spicy ones. The comforting ones. And the classics. Let's start with the most beautiful egg on this list. Tea egg. Into the pot goes the holy trinity of Chinese spices. Two dried chilies. I'm Chinese so chilies aren't actually optional for me. Next, five grams of black tea. So cheap teabags are totally fine. But it has to be black tea for that deep color and flavor. Now for the umami bomb. Dried shiitake mushrooms. I've rehydrated these in warm water for 30 minutes. Do not throw away that brown water. This is liquid gold. And now my secret weapon. A can of Coke. This is a replacement for the rock sugar and caramel. Which saves you so much time by using a Coke instead of making caramel sugar by yourself. Pour the whole can in. Add the mushroom water. Five tablespoons of soy sauce. Let's add one more cup of water. Bring it to a boil. Then lower your eggs. I'm going to cook eight eggs here. But this recipe could cook between six to twelve eggs. The only thing you need to adjust is the amount of water. As long as the eggs are covered, you are fine. We are boiling these for exactly six minutes. Timer goes off. Boom. Into ice bath. We want to stop cooking immediately to keep that yolk creamy. By the same time, keep that pot simmer. Because we need to concentrate the flavors. Here is the most important part. Dry the egg. Grab a spoon. And gently shatter the shell like this. So you want thousands tiny cracks. Not big peeling holes. This is how the flavors gets in. Transfer the liquid into a non-metal container. Because the salt water reacts with metal over time. Add the eggs. Cover. And let them steep for at least six hours. Put them in the fridge overnight is the best. Hello. This is the future Lionel. The eggs have been steeped overnight. Let's check them out. I'll open it first. Get one out. And dry a little bit. I love the smell. I'm so excited. The moment of truth. Look at that beautiful marbling. Let's check the inside. Look at those yolk. The white is savory. The yolk is very jammy. And you get that head of tea and spice. That literally get into your nose. It's the most interesting hard-boiled eggs you'll ever eat. From 12 hours of waiting to just 15 minutes. Silky steamed eggs. This is Chinese comfort food. If you do it right, it should look like glass. The ratio here is everything. Crack two large eggs. To get a silky texture, we need a 1 to 1.5 ratio of egg to liquid. For two large eggs, that's about 165 ml of chicken stock or water. Whisk it until fully combined. If you steam it now, it'll look like the surface of the moon. To get a mare-like finish, strain it through a fine mesh sieve. This kills the bubbles. Cover the bowl with a plate to stop water from dripping onto the egg. Steam for five minutes. Turn the heat off and let it sit for another five minutes. Do not open the lid. While it rests, mix one teaspoon of sesame oil. One teaspoon of soy sauce. One splash of chicken stock or water. Now is the moment of truth. Open the lid. Oh my god, look at that jiggle. Sauce it and garnish it. Don't tell me this doesn't look like an art piece. It's literally pudding. It just melts in your mouth and you don't even need to chew. Let's move to something that you can actually hold. This is Chinese crepe. We want a thin batter today. One cup of flour. Three eggs. Half cup of water. And some finely chopped green onions. Whisk until it's super runny. I'm going to add another half cup of water. It will be one cup of water in total. Whisk it till it's super runny. This helps us to spread it thin to get that delicate texture. Get a pan to medium heat. I'll coat it with a little bit oil. Pour in a ladle of batter and swirl it immediately because you want that perfect circle. Wait for the top to set. If you see the edge start curling up, you can give it a shake test. And if it slides around the pan freely, it's time to flip. Boom, look at that. Perfect. Cook the other side till lightly golden. And I'll transfer it to the plate. Ta-da! Look at that. I like to paint mine with a little bit chili oil. A pinch of salt. Add some julienned carrots for crunch. And roll it up like a burrito. Soft, chewy, crispy veggies with chili oil. It'd be a tortilla wrap any day. Let's make something spicy next. Like this Sichuan tiger skin eggs. First, we fry the eggs, but we aren't being gentle. High heat. Plenty of oil. Eggs in. We want the edges to bubble and crisp up until they look like tiger skin. Fry all five and set them aside. Next, for our aromatics. Three cloves of garlic, crushed and finely chopped. A few slices of ginger. Three Thai chilies, chopped into rings. Five green onions, white and green part separate. Cut into two-inch sections. Set the white part with the aromatics. And the green part for itself. Next is our sauce. One tablespoon of soy sauce. Half tablespoon oyster sauce. A teaspoon of sugar. One teaspoon sesame oil. One tablespoon of starch slurry. Mix until well combined. Get your wok back to smoking hot with a little bit oil. Add the aromatics. Saute for 15 seconds until it's fragrant. Add eggs back to the wok. Toss. Then add the sauce to the wok. The starch slurry will thicken instantly and coat every inch of those crispy eggs. Finish with the green onions. One last toss. And serve. Did you hear how crisp and crunchy that is? The crust soaks up all the spicy sauce. It's spicy, savory, and my personal favorite. And finally, the national dish of China. Tomato and eggs. To get the tomatoes perfect, roast them over a flame to peel the skin. Ta-da! I hate the skin. If you don't have gas stove at home, boil them will have the same effect. Chop them into cubes like this. Crack five eggs into a bowl. Here is the technique. Whisk your eggs with a pinch of salt and a little bit cornstarch. Heat up a wok with a good amount of neutral oil or high smoke point oil. Pour the egg from high up along string. As soon as it hits the oil, it puffs up. Swirl it fast. We're making edible clouds here. Once it's puffy, remove it immediately. Drain the oil from the eggs back to the wok. Turn the heat back on. Fry the tomatoes until they start to break down and become jammy. Add two minced garlic and one finely chopped green onion white. Toss. Then season it with a tablespoon of soy sauce, half tablespoon of oyster sauce, one tablespoon of ketchup. It fixed the issue that tomatoes doesn't taste like tomato nowadays. And now, throw the fluffy eggs back in. Toss them gently so they absorb the tomato sauce. And you're done. Garnish with some freshly chopped green onion. Ta-da! Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot, hot, hot. Mind-blowing. It's sweet, savory, a little bit acidic. And the egg acts like sponge for all that juice. Perfect. Hey, before I go, I have a personal goal I'm trying to hit. My mom asked me to come home for Chinese New Year next month. And I'm trying everything I can to make it happen. Since I haven't been working recently, money is a little bit tired. If you found the values in my videos and want to help fund my take-home and get some authentic travel content in return, there is a donation link in the description. No pressure at all, but any help will be deeply appreciated. Thanks for watching.