Apart from the natural ingredients to be used for standard colors (red, blue, yellow etc), one can make more innovative egg creations. The first method we used is mostly to decorate the inside of the egg, so when it breaks it has a marble look. The second method is to decorate the eggs using the natural ingredients in Part I.
Method 1
Ingredients
2 tablespoons of black tea (I used 2 Earl Gray tea bags)
1 tablespoon of peppercorns
2 star anise
1 long or 2 short cinnamon sticks
100mL of soy sauce
2 spoons of sugar
2-3 cloves
Boil the eggs for 3-4 minutes by themselves. Remove the eggs and add the ingredients to the water in the pot. Tap the eggs with a spoon so that the shell cracks but remains intact (to allow the liquid to penetrate slightly). Add the eggs to the pot and boil together with the ingredients for at least an hour. Leave the eggs in the solution overnight for them to absorb it well.
Results:
I hadn’t realized the decoration will be in the inside of the egg, so when they came out in a slightly uneven brown-ish color I was disappointed. Only when I removed the shell I realized that the décor was on the actual egg, giving it a yellow-ish color with a marble effect.
This is good if you want to make something different and move away from the bright colors and surprise people with the funky eggs on the inside.
Method 2
This is using a similar method to the onion skins in Part I. It is not difficult, but make sure to keep the skin as intact as possible when removing it form the onion. Wrap the raw egg with onion skin as in the picture, but inside it add dill leaves and a little bit of raw rice. After that, wrap it with a piece of cloth and tie it with a string to keep it all together. Put it in the pot with water and boil for 30-45 minutes.
Results
This is like making drawings on the eggs, especially because of the dill leaves. The issue is that some come out messy, and some really cool so it is better to make a lot just to be safe.
