When cooking with tea, it is generally done with tea powder or tea water. The tea water should not be too strong; it should not overpower the original flavor of the dish, yet it should allow the dish to retain the fresh aroma of tea.
China is the homeland of tea. Ancient medical records state: "Tea is the medicine for ten thousand ailments and the king of a hundred herbs." Common people also often say, "For running a household, the seven essentials are firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, and tea." Modern science has proven that more than 300 components in tea have health benefits, the most important of which are tea polyphenols, flavonoids, catechins, and tannins. There are many ways to consume tea. When used properly, it can add to the health of the entire family.
Many people are aware of the benefits of drinking tea and have developed the habit of drinking it, and the tea they drink is getting stronger and stronger. Some elderly people, in particular, often call it "ingesting more effective ingredients." To achieve this goal, they brew tea with half a cup of tea leaves in a cup of water. Everything should be in moderation, and drinking tea is no exception. Drinking light tea can be beneficial to one's health. Drinking strong tea, however, is detrimental to health as it can hinder the body's absorption of iron and is also likely to cause constipation. Usually, 3-4 grams of tea leaves per cup is sufficient. In addition, there are many ways to absorb the effective ingredients from tea without the hazards of drinking large amounts of strong tea. For example, cooking rice with tea water and cooking dishes with tea.
Cooking Rice with Tea Water
Cooking rice with tea water can make ordinary rice fragrant. The tea broth used for cooking rice is relatively low in concentration but large in volume. This way, the benefits of drinking tea are retained without the drawbacks of drinking strong tea, and it also has the benefits of cutting grease, freshening the breath, aiding digestion, and preventing diseases. The method is simple: First, steep 1-3 grams of tea leaves in 500-1000 grams of boiling water for 5 minutes. Take a clean piece of gauze to filter the tea water and set it aside. Next, put the rice in a pot, wash it, and pour the tea water into the rice cooker until it is about 3 cm above the rice. Cook and it is ready to eat.
Helpful Tip: You can use either green or black tea for cooking rice, but green tea water generally tastes better. Many people say that overnight tea should not be drunk, but it is actually okay to use overnight tea for cooking rice. Overnight tea itself is not harmful, but because tea leaves are easily oxidized, tea stains are often left on the cup. If it is summer, the temperature at night is also high, and the tea leaves can easily be contaminated by bacteria, becoming moldy or spoiled, which can easily lead to diarrhea after consumption. Therefore, overnight tea should not be used to cook rice in the summer.
Cooking Dishes with Tea
Like Longjing Shrimp, a classic Suzhou dish made with new Longjing tea, it features exquisite ingredients and is complete in color, aroma, and taste. It is a typical seasonal dish that combines tea culture and food culture. Its preparation is simple: use freshly shelled shrimp, stir-fry them in salad oil at a temperature of 40% (approximately 100°C), and cook them with the tea water from the second steeping of new Longjing tea. When plating, garnish the shrimp with a few tea leaves and arrange the remaining Longjing leaves around the edge for a dish that is both beautiful and delicious. In addition, there are other tea-infused dishes such as Longjing Clam Soup, Longjing Abalone, Longjing Scallop Slices, Longjing Boiled Shredded Chicken, Fragrant Tea Crucian Carp, Camphor Tea Duck, Green Tomato Soup, Fragrant Tea Smoked Eel, Maofeng Smoked Shad, Biluochao Silver Fish, Tieguanyin Stewed Chicken, Fragrant Tea Beef, Black Tea Beef Slices, Silver Needle Steamed Shredded Pork, Oolong Smoked Chicken, Dongding Braised Tofu, Bud Tea Shredded Potatoes, Tea Stewed Pig Heart, Black Tea Eel Pot, Boiled Fragrant Tea Fish Fillets, and more.
Helpful Tip: When cooking with tea, it is generally done with tea powder or tea water. The tea water should not be too strong; it should not overpower the original flavor of the dish, yet it should allow the dish to retain the fresh aroma of tea.
A Variety of Other Ways to Eat Tea
There are many other alternative ways to eat tea. For example: using high-quality black tea to cook Dongpo Pork and finally pouring on a thick sauce made from the black tea; stewing spare ribs with jasmine tea; marinating meat with green tea and beer; pickling shrimp with flower tea and yellow wine; soaking bitter melon with Kuding tea; and smoking pig ears with Oolong tea. It's not just tea dishes; there are now fragrant tea cakes, tea biscuits, and other tea pastries. People make tea泡饭 (ocha-han) and tea congee with tea powder, mix tea powder with flour to roll out tea noodles and tea wontons, and make their own tea drinks. In short, a full range of tea dishes and tea banquets has been formed.