Ingredients
To grind
- 3 tbspgreen tea leaves
- 80 groasted peanuts
- 60 gwhite sesame seeds
- 30 gblack sesame seeds
- 40 gpumpkin seeds
- 1small handful fresh mint
- 1small handful basil or perilla
- 1 tspsalt
To serve
- hot water
- cooked rice
- diced tofu, green beans, cabbage, carrot, dried shrimp, pickled radish, all stir-fried separately
Equipment
- a lei bowl, the ridged clay mortar
- a guava or camphor wood pestle
Directions
- Toast the sesame seeds, peanuts and pumpkin seeds separately in a dry pan until fragrant, and let them cool. Toast each one separately.
- Put the tea leaves and salt into the ridged clay bowl first and grind them to a powder with the wooden pestle.
- Add the sesame seeds and keep grinding, pressing the pestle in circles against the grooves.
- Add them in order of hardness, softest last. Nuts ground after soft herbs simply slide around in the paste and never break down.
- Keep grinding until it becomes a thick, dark green, oily paste with no gritty pieces left. This takes twenty to thirty minutes of real work and it is traditionally shared around a table, everyone taking a turn.
- Spoon the paste into bowls, about two heaped tablespoons each.
- Pour hot but not boiling water over it, around 90°C (195°F), and stir until it emulsifies into a thick pale green soup. Each topping is cooked separately and kept separate, which is what makes the bowl look the way it does and lets each keep its own texture.
Technique
- It is a meal rather than a beverage in its full form, and it is genuinely substantial.
- Ready-ground lei cha powder is sold and saves the half hour, at real cost to the aroma.
- The grinding bowl is specific and cheap in Hakka areas; a mortar with a rough surface is the nearest thing.
Substitutions
- A food processor followed by a mortar to finish, which is a fair compromise.
- Packaged lei cha powder.
Variations
- Drunk as a savoury tea without rice.
- With more herbs, which is the Hunan style.
- Sweetened, which some modern shops offer and traditionalists reject.
History
A Hakka tradition revived in Hsinchu’s Beipu township, where visitors grind the seeds themselves in ceramic mortars with guava-wood pestles.
Frequently asked questions
What is Lei Cha?
Lei Cha is a drink from Taiwan: hakka ground tea of green leaves, sesame and peanuts pounded and mixed with water. A Hakka tradition revived in Hsinchu’s Beipu township, where visitors grind the seeds themselves in ceramic mortars with guava-wood pestles.
How long does Lei Cha take to make?
Lei Cha takes 30 min of preparation and 10 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated medium to make.
What can I substitute in Lei Cha?
Yes, within limits. A food processor followed by a mortar to finish, which is a fair compromise. Packaged lei cha powder.
What is the most important thing to get right in Lei Cha?
Add them in order of hardness, softest last. Nuts ground after soft herbs simply slide around in the paste and never break down.
