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Harbison Deviled Tea Eggs in Kataifi Nests with Pickled Lotus Root

Kataifi, a shredded phyllo pastry, acts as a nest for this tiny deviled quail egg topped with pickled lotus root. You’ll need a mini muffin tin for this recipe.

Ingredients
  

DEVILED EGGS

  • 2 tea bags Lapsang Souchong a smoked tea
  • 2 cups hot water
  • cups soy sauce
  • cups mirin
  • 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
  • 24 quail eggs
  • 1 wheel Jasper Hill Farm Harbison cheese as ripe as possible
  • 1 ounce tobiko flying fish roe

KATAIFI NESTS

  • 8 tablespoons 1 stick salted butter
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 8 ounces kataifi phyllo dough

PICKLED LOTUS

  • 2 scallions chopped
  • ½ lotus root in brine sliced thinly
  • 2 tablespoons kosher salt
  • 1 pint ice
  • cups rice vinegar
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • ½ cup mirin
  • ½ tablespoon celery seed
  • ½ tablespoon coriander seed
  • ¾ teaspoon ground turmeric

Instructions
 

  • ►DEVILED EGGS: Steep Lapsang Souchong in hot water for 5 minutes, then cool. Remove tea bags. Add soy, mirin, and rice wine vinegar to tea and mix. Set marinade aside.
  • ►Bring a 4-quart pot of water to a boil. Meanwhile, prepare an ice bath. Gently lower quail eggs into boiling water and cook for 4 minutes. Remove eggs and immediately submerge in an ice bath. When cool, peel eggs. Add peeled eggs to marinade and refrigerate overnight.
  • ►Remove eggs from marinade. Cut eggs in half and transfer yolks to a bowl. Place whites on a sheet pan or other large, flat surface. Set aside.
  • ►Scoop paste of Harbison into a food processor and add cooked yolks. Pulse until smooth and creamy. Using a piping bag or a plastic bag with a corner snipped off, fill egg whites with the Harbison-yolk mixture. Garnish with tobiko.
  • ► KATAIFI NESTS: Heat oven to 325°F. Melt butter in a small saucepan. Add paprika and whisk to combine. Remove from heat and pour over kataifi. Cool slightly.
  • ►Mix with your hands in a pulling and folding motion in order to separate strands and coat with butter mixture. Place about a handful of the kataifi mixture into the cups of a mini muffin tin to form nests. Bake for 8 minutes, or until golden and crisp. Remove muffin tin from oven and cool nests inside the tin.
  • ►PICKLED LOTUS: Toss scallions and lotus root together in a bowl with salt and ice. Let sit for 1 hour.
  • ►Combine remaining ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Drain lotus root and add to boiling liquid. Return to a boil, then remove from heat. Let pickled lotus root sit for at least 1 hour at room temperature.
  • ►TO ASSEMBLE: Pipe a bit of the egg yolk-Harbison mixture into each nest, then place 2 egg halves on top. Serve with a pickled lotus slice.