Green tea pairs well with lightly flavored dishes. Green teas such as West Lake Longjing, Huangshan Maofeng, and Biluochun are unfermented. The leaves are tender and aromatic with a pleasant taste, making them suitable for cooking fresh and elegant dishes like Longjing Shrimp and Green Minced Meat Tofu. When making Longjing Shrimp, first steep the tea leaves. When the shrimp is about 70% cooked, pour the tea leaves and their liquid into the wok, then add rice wine and a little salt, and stir-fry until done. For the tofu, simply sprinkle the ground green tea over the already prepared minced meat tofu.
Black tea is suitable for richly flavored and dark-colored dishes. Black tea is fully fermented, with Keemun black tea and Dianhong black tea being the most famous. Black tea has a slightly bitter and astringent taste, making it ideal for rich, dark-colored dishes as it removes fishy flavors and greasiness, and also has a certain protective effect on the stomach. Examples include Steamed Mandarin Fish with Black Tea and Black Tea Chicken Dices. When steaming the fish, wash the tea leaves and, along with other seasonings, place some in the fish's cavity and some on top of the fish, then steam until done. For the black tea chicken dices, you can stir-fry the black tea first and set it aside. Then, when the chicken dices are almost cooked, add the stir-fried black tea and toss to combine.
Oolong tea is a good match for greasy dishes. Oolong tea is semi-fermented, with a strong and lasting aroma, a mellow and smooth taste, and aids digestion. It is also suitable for rich and greasy dishes, such as Tieguanyin Stewed Duck. This dish uses tea liquor; simply add the steeped Tieguanyin tea liquor to the water when stewing the duck.
Finally, it should be noted that the ratio of tea to ingredients is generally controlled at about 1:100, and you can adjust it according to your own taste.