Tea in all its variety: black, green, herbal, etc. We traditionally perceive it as a popular, tasty and healthy drink. However, its possibilities are much wider - few people know that tea can not only be drunk, but also … eaten.
While tea lovers are fiercely debating how to brew tea correctly, what dishes to use, how long to infuse this drink so that it fully reveals its taste and aroma, gourmets widely use black and green tea in cooking to prepare exquisite delicacies.
It turns out that tea leaves and teas made from them are an original, healthy and spicy addition to many dishes. The health benefits of this plant are obvious: black tea helps to strengthen the immune system; green - lowers cholesterol; semi-fermented tea (oolong) effectively strengthens blood vessels and helps fight excess weight; white tea maintains youthfulness of the skin and protects against viruses and bacteria; red - normalizes blood pressure.
The use of tea leaves in cooking is multifaceted: for example, "marble" tea eggs are very popular in China - supermarkets sell more than 40 million pieces of this exquisite delicacy during the year.
The preparation of this dish does not require complicated manipulations - it is enough just to boil a few eggs, and then gently roll them on the table so that the shell is covered with a network of beautiful cracks.
In a separate bowl, prepare a marinade from strongly brewed black tea - for 2 tbsp. l. tea leaves take such an amount of water that will cover the eggs, add 1 tbsp to the tea. l. salt, 1 tsp. sugar, some anise, cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, and two to three tablespoons of soy sauce.
Boiled eggs are immersed in the resulting marinade and simmered for an hour, adding water if necessary. After removing the shell, the finished eggs have beautiful marble veins and a rather unusual piquant taste.
No less original is the tea soup, which is in constant demand in Japan. To prepare such a soup, you need to boil a cup of rice and fry a slice of salmon in butter. After that, the skin and bones of the fish are removed and cut into small cubes. Rice is mixed with salmon, a little greens, white croutons and wasabi are added, the mixture is gently mixed and poured with hot or cold green tea. To add piquancy and pungency to the soup, you can add finely chopped pickled cucumbers or peppers.
To prepare fish with an original, slightly herbal taste, use a mixture of finely crushed black or green tea leaves mixed with salt, pepper and caraway seeds. The fish cut into portions is greased with olive or sunflower oil, rolled in a tea mixture and left for 10-15 minutes.
After the fish is slightly saturated with spices, it is fried in hot oil, sprinkled with lemon juice and served hot.
