Introduction: Green teas like West Lake Longjing, Huangshan Maofeng, and Biluochun are unfermented. The leaves are tender and aromatic with a pleasant taste, making them suitable for preparing light and elegant dishes, such as Longjing Shrimp and Green Minced Meat Tofu.
For more tea-infused recipes, we recommend the Meitian feature: Tea in Cuisine, Good Tea, Good Food.
Black tea pairs well with richly flavored and dark-colored dishes. As a fully fermented tea, black tea is best represented by Keemun and Dianhong. With its slightly bitter and astringent taste, black tea is suitable for strong-flavored and dark-colored dishes. It removes fishy odors and greasiness and has stomach-soothing properties, as seen in dishes like Steamed Mandarin Fish with Black Tea and Black Tea Chicken Cubes.
When steaming fish, wash the tea leaves and mix them with other seasonings. Place some in the fish's cavity and some on top of the fish, then steam until cooked. For Black Tea Chicken Cubes, stir-fry the black tea first and set it aside. Add the pre-fried tea to the chicken cubes when they are almost done.
Green tea is best paired with light-flavored dishes. Green teas like West Lake Longjing, Huangshan Maofeng, and Biluochun are unfermented. The leaves are tender and aromatic with a pleasant taste, making them suitable for preparing light and elegant dishes, such as Longjing Shrimp and Green Minced Meat Tofu.
To make Longjing Shrimp, first steep the tea leaves. When the shrimp is 70% cooked, pour the tea and its liquid into the pan, then add rice wine and a little salt, stir-frying until cooked. For the tofu, simply sprinkle ground green tea over the prepared minced meat tofu.
Oolong tea is suitable for pairing with greasy dishes. As a semi-fermented tea, oolong has a strong, lasting aroma, a mellow and smooth taste, and aids digestion. It is also suitable for pairing with rich and greasy dishes, such as Iron观音 (Tie Guan Yin) Braised Duck. This dish uses tea liquor; the tea used to steep the Tie Guan Yin is simply added to the water for braising the duck.
Finally, it should be noted that the general ratio of tea to ingredients is about 1:100, which can be adjusted according to personal taste.