How to Cook with Tea
The rich and illustrious history of tea conjures up thoughts of elegantly executed and flavourful dishes when we introduce it to modern cuisine. It inspires us to imagine luscious dishes like Earl Grey Clam Chowder. Tea has traversed the globe and thus lends itself to fascinating fusion such as Lap Schong Smoked Duck over Parmigiano Reggiano Risotto.
It isn’t tricky to cook with tea, or even that uncommon, but it does sound intimidating at first. There are many things to consider when cooking with tea: which type of tea to infuse into what ingredients, and how to accomplish this using common cooking methods. Simply follow the three steps below and you’ll be fearlessly cooking with tea in no time.
1. Choose the Tea
Tea
|
Flavour profile
|
Chinese Green Tea
|
toast, sweet and savoury
|
Japanese Green Tea
|
grass, hay, seaweed
|
Oolong Tea
|
floral, dried fruit
|
Black Tea
|
rose, smoke, wood, chocolate
|
2. Choose your complimentary flavors and ingredients
When pairing food with tea, we follow the same rule as we do when pairing food with wine: highlight flavours by matching flavour profiles, and balance the dish by contrasting them. Some examples are given below, but feel free to explore ideas outside the box.
Tea
|
Complimentary Flavours and Ingredients
|
Chinese Green Tea
|
game meats, couscous, miso, rice, barley
|
Japanese Green Tea
|
seafood, pork, chicken, lemon, kale, seaweed
|
Oolong Tea
|
seafood, duck, squab, elk, quail, blueberries, jus
|
Black Tea
|
beef, dairy, lavender, thyme, orange
|
- The Appropriate Infusing Method
Tea
|
Infusing Method
|
Chinese Green Tea
|
smoke, poach, marinate, braise
|
Japanese Green Tea
|
smoke, poach, marinate, braise
|
Oolong Tea
|
smoke, poach, marinate
|
Black Tea
|
smoke, poach, marinate
|
a. Aromatic Smoking - As with any smoking, make sure you are in a well-ventilated area. A quick and easy shortcut to infusing your meat with smoke is to first poach, marinate or braise the meat using tea according to the instructions below. Once cooked, heat a cast iron pan on the stovetop until hot. Add approximately 3/4 cup (75 grams) of tea and heat until it begins to smoke. (Using a smoked tea such as Lapsang souchong adds extra smokiness to your dish, which is beneficial when the meat is smoked for only a short time.) Add your cooked meat, and cover. Smoke for 5 minutes, then remove from the heat, brush off any tea leaves and serve.
b. Marinating - Make a marinade using oil, tea leaves and some ingredients and seasonings of your choice. Marinate for 2-6 hours, then wipe off the marinade using a clean cloth, and pat dry before searing in a pan or popping in the oven.
c. Poaching - To prepare a poaching liquid, make a large batch of tea (1-2L) using the guidelines below. Once the tea leaves have been strained add some flavour boosters such as onions, celery, bay leaves or thyme. Simmer the meat or vegetables in this liquid until cooked, then use a slotted spoon to remove from the liquid. Poached foods are quite delicate in flavour, and so they pair nicely with fats and creams. You can also poach fruit in a tea for both sweet and savoury applications. For example, you could poach some prunes in Oolong tea to add as a finishing touch to a Moroccan lamb casserole, or you could poach them in black tea and sugar to create a floral sauce to accompany a custard tart.
d. Braising - Make enough tea to cover the bottom half of the piece of meat when it is in a roasting pan. Add flavor boosters of your choice such as onions, garlic, herbs. Choose the braising time and oven temperature according to a recipe for the size and type of meat. Black tea is not recommended for this application, as it has a high amount of tannins, which may result in bitter-tasting meat.
Tea Brewing Guidelines:
Use 1 tsp/ 2 grams of loose tea leaves for every six ounces of water. After steeping, do not squeeze the tea leaves to extract more liquid as it will impart a bitter taste. This goes for any type of tea.
Tea
|
Water temperature
|
Steeping Time
|
Chinese Green Tea
|
160℉/ 70℃
|
2-3 minutes
|
Japanese Green Tea
|
160℉/ 70℃
|
2-3 minutes
|
Oolong Tea
|
203℉ / 95℃
|
3-5 minutes
|
Black Tea
|
203℉ / 95℃
|
3-5 minutes
|
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