Cooking With Tea

Cooking with tea is just like using a new spice, seasoning or new vegetable. Tea can be used to replace the old standards. Thinking outside of the “box” and being creative will be your best teacher. You can brew the leaves and use the liquor in place of water in most recipes or use the dry leaf as you would a seasoning rub/spice or the brewed wet leaves as a vegetable. With over 10,000 known teas in the world we can experiment with different teas with specific nuances to achieve different results. Of course just like you would not use bad wine to flavor/season a sauce, using poor quality tea will not enhance your dish.

In Japan the first tea of the season is called Shincha (shin means first and cha is tea) Shincha is a very tender and fresh Sencha. This tea is often enjoyed first as a brewed cup and then as a side dish. You can eat it just as it is or add a dressing and enjoy as a “salad” I like the Japanese dressing called Aojiso. You can find it in gourmet shops and will recognize it by the big green leaf on the label. Aoji is the leaf you often seen on tempura dishes.

When using tea dry as a seasoning perhaps as a rub on fish or in your wok to season the pan or simply tossed into your steamed rice I tend to use Lung Ching which is also called Dragonwell, this is a Chinese tea that is a large leaf with a sweet taste that can handle the heat and not bring out the bitterness. If you want a black tea flavor perhaps in a sauce I would suggest Keemun Hao Ya This is a tiny black tea that has a very robust flavor. Jasmine Green tea is WONDERFUL used both for the liquor and the leaf when you want a sweeter somewhat exotic twist in a dish. Your brewed Oolong leaves are wonderful to toss into stry-fried dishes or cut them up and add uncooked into any vegetable dish or pasta. Oolongs are not good to use un-brewed as they are tightly rolled large leaves and you can not enjoy the flavor without brewing.

The most important this is to just TRY different teas in any dish.

Dinner and Music Hosted by Philip Gelb

Philip Gelb is a Vegan Chef, a Master of the Shakuhachi (an Japanese flute) and Teacher. He regularly host a Dinner and Music event where he prepares the meal and invites a special musician as the entertainment. The June event featured Cha-no-Aji Teas as an ingredient in every course accompanied by a tea selected by the Tea Docents. See the menu prepared by Chef Philip, click here.

Green Tea Ginger Sauce

This is nice with fish or over veggies.

¾ cup brewed green tea (the liquor) Japanese tea will give this a lighter flavor; Chinese greens such as Lung Ching will have a stronger green taste. Also Jasmine green is wonderful if you want an added sweetness.

½ cup shredded ginger

½ cup sake

¼ cup rice vinegar

1 Tablespoon sesame oil

1 minced green onion

4 cloves of minced garlic

Mix all together and shake well. You can store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks or use immediately. Try different teas to create totally different flavors. Remember the tea is your spice!

Green Tea Veggie Stock

It is very convenient to have this on hand for soups/stir-frying or with pasta or rice.

6cups 195 degree water (just under boiling)

6 Tablespoons Lung Ching (Dragonwell)

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil

2 teaspoons sesame oil

Salt and pepper to taste

2 Tablespoons chopped ginger

1 cup minced shitake mushroom

1 cup minced red pepper

1 cup minced yellow pepper

5 minced green onions, using the entire onion, white and greens

25 baby carrots sliced diagonally into thin sliced

2 cups of small tomatoes cut into quarters (I love the sweet ones)

Brew your tea and then chop up the leaves set liquor aside. Heat both oils in wok and swirl to coat the pan. Add the brewed leaves, ginger, mushroom, peppers and green onions stir-fry to 1 min. add the carrots and tomatoes, cover and cook about 2 mins. Add the tea liquor and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer covered for about 30 mins.
Strain the liquid through a tight colander pressing out as much as possible into a storage container. You will have about 5 or 6 cups which can be frozen into small containers to be used as a “base/seasoning” for soups or other dishes. I love to use one cup of this when I fix rice in place of the water. Or I will cook fresh pasta in two cups of this place on my dish and garnish with additional bits of spent Dragonwell leaves.

Lapsang Lettuce Cups

Lapsang is a wonderful spicy tea that has been pan-fired over pine, giving it a warm distinctive flavor.

¼ cup veggie oil

2 teaspoons minced ginger

2 Tablespoons DRY Lapsang leaves

1 package firm tofu (drained dry)

1 cup minced mushrooms

½ cup minced carrot

½ cup minced green apple

½ cup minced water chestnuts

½ cup toasted pine nuts, chopped

Lettuce leaves

Honey (I use the flower honey that is in season)

Heat oil in wok, swirl to coat your pan. Add ginger, and tea and stir-fry until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add mushrooms, tofu and stir-fry another 2 minutes. Add carrots, apples and water chestnuts. Stir-fry about 30 seconds. Add pine nuts and cook until the apples and carrots are soft. To serve spoon into lettuce cups and garnish with honey.

Dragon Well Grilled Broccoli

This is fabulous, quick and very easy. Serve with steamed rice or noodles for a main dish, OR eat them right off the grill as an appetizer.

1 large bunch of broccoli or the broccolini (the small stock/flower)

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil

2 Tablespoons Lung-Ching (Dragonwell)

3 Tablespoons sake

Salt and pepper to taste.

Cut the broccolini in half lengthwise. If you are using broccoli you may need to cut into quarters. I prefer the smaller broccolinis. Heat the oil on a stove top grill salt and pepper it first and then toss your Dragonwell onto the grill Once the aroma begins (about 30 seconds) place your brocolini and grill. Turn and grill the other side and drizzle the sake over the tops.
Asparagus is also WONDERFUL done this way. The Dragonwell adds a nice sweet/green flavor.