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Tea for cooking

 

Tea has been used as food in different part of the world. Not only fresh leaves but also processed leaves, powdered tea, extract and tea flowers are used for cooking. In some part of China, tea leaves are used as an ingredient for making stair fried dishes or steamed dishes. They are often cooked with fish, pork, or shrimps. In Thailand or Myanmer, people eat picked tea which is known as "mian" or "lapet-so". In Myanmer, people use the picked tea and mix them with nuts and sesame seeds. In Japan, there are several traditional dishes which use tea as an ingredient, such as tea porridge or tea pilaf. They are usually seasoned with salt, and often beans or diced yam are added. (See picture 1) It is traditionally said if tea is used for cooking meat or fish, it can make meat or fish tender. Also tea can take some odor out of fish or meat. Nowadays, the uses for tea in cooking have been expanded to include many dishes. For example, items such as tea-soba, tea-noodle, tea-bread etc・・・are readily available at stores.

(Junji Tsubouchi)