Guidelines for Brewing the
Perfect Pot of Tea
Your tea will only be as good as your water. It is best to use filtered or spring water only. If you must use tap water, take water during the day time from a tap and leave it out overnight. An electric kettle is best but if boiling water on the stove, as water comes to the boil, take off the lid of the pot, turn fire down to low and continue to heat for 5 minutes.
Add a small amount of the boiling water to an empty teapot to warm the pot to the optimum temperature to hold the tea. Empty the pot.
To the warmed teapot add one slightly rounded teaspoon of your favorite tea (I recommend Yorkshire Tea if you can find it) or PG Tips (which is more readily available locally) per cup plus one teaspoon for the pot. Or use one tea bag in the pot for each cup. When the water in the kettle has reached a rolling boil, pour it in the pot and allow the tea to steep for three to five minutes.
Chocolate Earl Grey Truffles
1/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces and softened
2 teaspoons loose Earl Grey tea leaves
6 ounces fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), chopped
1 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
Bring cream and butter to a boil in a small heavy saucepan and stir in tea leaves. Remove from heat and let steep 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, finely grind chocolate in a food processor and transfer to a bowl. Pour cream through a fine-mesh sieve onto chocolate, pressing on and discarding tea leaves, then whisk until smooth. Chill ganache, covered, until firm, about 2 hours.
Spoon level teaspoons of ganache onto a baking sheet. Put cocoa in a bowl, then dust your palms lightly with it. Roll each piece of ganache into a ball (wash your hands and redust as they become sticky). Drop several balls at a time into bowl of cocoa and turn to coat. Transfer as coated to an airtight container, separating layers with waxed paper.
Easy Cream Scones
¼ cup butter
1 cup flour
3 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 beaten eggs
½ cup cream
Sift flour, add baking power and salt and cut butter into dry mixture. Combine eggs and cream and add to dry mixture. Pat to ¾ inch thick. Cut in squares or triangles, sprinkle with sugar (cinnamon too if you like) and bake at 375 degrees until lightly brown, about 20 minutes. Serve hot.
Tea Marinated Prawns
2 Tbsp. Lapsang Souchong tea
2 cups water
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 lb. Shrimp or prawns
Steep tea in boiling water to desired strength, then strain. Add lemon juice to the tea. Cool tea to room temperature. Marinate shrimp or prawns in tea for at least 30 minutest, then grill or stir-fry.
Tea-Marbled Eggs with Soy Balsamic Mayonnaise
Tea-marbled eggs are a time-honored part of Chinese cuisine.
12 large eggs
3/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
3 cups water
4 Lapsang souchong tea bags
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar, or to taste
1/2 cup mayonnaise
Garnish: watercress sprigs
Cover eggs with cold water by 1 inch in a 2 to 3-quart saucepan and bring to a rolling boil, partially covered. Remove from heat and let eggs stand, covered, 10 minutes. Transfer eggs with a slotted spoon to a bowl of ice and cold water and let stand 5 minutes (to cool). Gently tap shell all over with back of a spoon to lightly crack (do not peel). Do not tap too hard or tea liquid will seep into shell instead of just staining cracks.
Bring soy sauce, sugar, and water to a boil in saucepan, stirring until sugar is dissolved, then add tea bags. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, 10 minutes. Add eggs (and more water if eggs are not completely covered by liquid) and simmer, covered, 10 minutes. Remove pan from heat and let eggs stand in liquid, uncovered, until cool, then chill at least 2 hours. Lift eggs from liquid and peel. Reserve 2 tablespoons cooking liquid and discard remainder.
Whisk vinegar and reserved cooking liquid into mayonnaise and serve with eggs. Present eggs whole, then quarter for dipping. (Yolks may have a dark ring).
Hot and Sour Green Tea Soup
3 Tbsp. lite soy sauce
1-1/2 Tbsp. rice wine
1 Tbsp. minced fresh ginger
½ tsp. sesame oil
¾ lb. skinless, boneless chicken, cut in strips
½ lbs. soba noodles
3 cups brewed green tea
¼ lbs. snow peas cut in thin strips
1 medtium leek thinly sliced
2 Tbsp. Umeboshi vinegar
2 Tbsp. chopped cilantro
Combine soy sauce, rice wine, ginger and sesame oil in a medium bowl. Add chicken strips, tossing to coat, and let marinate for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, cook noodles in boiling, salted water in large saucepan for 10 minutes. Drain and transfer to chicken mixture bowl and cover. Using the same saucepan, bring the tea to a simmer. Add the chicken mixture, snow peas, and lees and cook over low heat until the chicken is just cooked through, about 3 minutes. Stir in vinegar and cilantro and lade into bowls. Yields 4 servings.
Cucumber Tea Sandwich
1/2 seedless cucumber, peeled and very thinly sliced (about 32 slices) /2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup coarsely chopped watercress leaves
16 slices best-quality white bread
Salt to taste
1/2 cup alfalfa sprouts
Place cucumber slices between layers of paper towels to remove excess moisture. In a small bowl, combine butter and watercress; spread on one side of each slice of bread. Lay cucumber slices onto the buttered side of 8 slices of bread. Sprinkle with salt. Cover each with 1 tablespoon alfalfa sprouts and top with the remaining slices of bread, buttered side down. Carefully cut the crusts from each sandwich with a sharp knife. Cut the sandwiches in half diagonally and then cut in half again. Yields 8 whole sandwiches or 16 halves or 32 fourths.
Scallops Poached in Chamomile Tea
9 tablespoons rice vinegar
5 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoons salt
3 tablespoons water
1 seedless cucumber
1 quart water
1 ounce chamomile tea, loose
1 pound fresh scallops
Salt and fresh ground pepper
In a nonreactive pot over a medium heat stir the rice vinegar, sugar and salt and water until the sugar and salt are dissolved and the liquid is clear. Cool the liquid. Slice the cucumber very finely and toss with the shari(pickling liquid) let sit for 5 minutes.
Bring one quart of water to a boil. Add the chamomile tea and let steep for 5 minutes then strain the tea. Salt the tea and keep it simmering. Add the scallops to the salted chamomile tea and let poach until barely cooked. Remove the scallops from the tea and serve over the pickled cucumbers.
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