Tea Leaf Recipes

by Jacqueline M. Newman

Beverages

Spring Volume: 1999 Issue: 6(1) page(s): 25 and 30

Over the past three years, several dozen requests asked about tea as a health food, the kinds and origins of tea, use of tea in dishes, and of course tea for drinking. This first issue of Volume 6 has much information about tea. It is appropriate, therefore, that recipes for its use be included, as well. Tea is used in dough and in and on dishes. Here are a handful of suggestions, all excellent cold starters alone or together before dinner or as a luncheon medley. Though this article is categorized under beverages, the recipes use a beverage or theleaves to make one, but in and of themselves are not beverages.

Tea in Pancake Rolls
Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon green tea leaves
1/2 pound all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon corn oil
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup water
Preparation:
1. Pulverize half of the tea leaves with a grinder or a rolling pin.
2. Brew the rest, with half cup of water, for three minutes, then cool to lukewarm.
3. Mix the flour and as much brewed tea as kneaded to make a dough. Knead well then make it into the shape of a cigar and press it flat, then roll it into a rectangular shape. Cut into quarters.
4. Heat the oil and pan fry one or two until lightly browned, then quickly put them on a plate and fry the rest. Sprinkle them with the rest of the tea leaves and the sugar and roll each one loosely.
5. Cut each of them on an angle into one inch pieces and serve.

Tea Rice Rolls
Ingredients:
1 cup steamed rice
1 egg, fried then slivered
2 Tablespoons jasmine tea leaves, pulverized
1 teaspoon red vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 small red pepper (hot or sweet), slivered
1/4 cup bean sprouts
2 sheets of dried seaweed, purple preferred, each about eight inches square.
Preparation:
1. Mix the rice with egg slivers, half of the tea leaves, vinegar, sugar, and the pepper slivers. Divide into two equal amounts.
2. Spread one of the rice mixtures on a sheet of seaweed, top it with half of the rest of the tea leaves and half of the bean sprouts. Roll each of them and then cut each roll into four pieces, then serve.

Crispy Tea-flavored Shrimp
Ingredients:
12 large shrimp
dash of coarse salt
1 teaspoon Fukien rice wine
1 teaspoon minced green scallion
1/2 teaspoon minced ginger
2 teaspoons white tea leaves, ground fine
1 egg
3 Tablespoons plain or tapioca flour
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 cup corn oil
Preparation:
1. Shell and devein the shrimp, then mix them with the salt, rice wine, scallion, ginger, tea leaves, egg, flour, and sesame oil. Let them marinate about ten minutes.
2. Heat oil. Remove a shrimp from the batter mixture and deep fry for one minute. Do not fry more than a few at a time. Drain on paper towels. Repaet until done, and when all are fried, serve.

Tea Leaves and Corn
Ingredients:
1 teaspoon Tung Ting tea, ground
1 can baby corn, blanched in boiling water just before use
1 small hot pepper, minced
dash of salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
Preparation:
1. Cut each corn in half lengthwise.
2. Mix the warm corn and all the other ingredients and serve.

Bean Curd and Black Tea Leaves with Soup
Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon tea, lychee black or Keemun preferred
2 star anise
2 inches of whole cinnamon
2 slices ginger
1 scallion, minced
2 Tablespoons dark or mushroom soy sauce
1 teaspoon Chinese brown sugar, crushed
2 Tablespoons rice wine
1 cup chicken broth
one piece of cheesecloth about twelve inches square
4 squares brown bean curd, cut across the flat way
Preparation:
1. Put tea, anise, cinnamon, ginger, and scallion into the cloth; tie it loosely but in such a way that nothing will fall out.
2. Put everything into a saucepan and simmer for twenty minutes. Remove the cheesecloth bag and discard, and put the bean curd in the bottom of each soup bowl and pour the liquid over them. Or serve the bean curd as a side dish and serve the soup separately.

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