snake

Even though I'm halfway around the world and away from my family I still like to celebrate Chinese New Year. Last year I was actually in Hong Kong, spending evenings making braised pork with my grandmother and drinking jasmine tea cross-legged on the floor of their tiny apartment in Wan Chai. Chinese New Year always makes me miss my family, my mum and my dad and my brothers, but especially my mum, who although not chinese, married one and tries very earnestly to give us a proper Chinese New Year celebration. So this week I made some tea eggs for lunch and boned up on Hong Kong history (my honours thesis area) to assuage some of that homesickness. Tea eggs are one of those crazy Chinese specialty dishes that you either love or you hate. I am fan of them - and the way that they fill the house with the smells of soy and black tea and ginger - for hours as you make them. The patterns that form on the egg are so intricate and so elegant, they would make a beautiful print on a scarf. Mimi has a pretty good recipe for tea eggs, although I tend to leave out star anise and add ginger instead (my favourite), the more the better. They're really easy to make and are the best snack! Perfect for a little lunar new year celebration. Gong Hei Fat Choy!

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