You can put tea in there!
So I find myself constantly scanning recipes looking for ways to use tea. I am eating a piece of the cake I made using 2 cake mixes last night. I made a chocolate cake but as a brownie (less water, one egg) and then I made a white cake and substituted the 1 cup of water in it with really strong coco chai rooibos. It’s AMAZING.
I also put a spoonful of Exotica directly into my lentil stew last night and it was AMAZING.
how are you using tea in the kitchen?
I mostly use tea in sweet dishes: matcha in angel food cake or toffee, steeping an ice cream base with Earl Grey Creme, chai chocolate bark, that sort of thing.
As for savory I haven’t experimented much, but I have blanched veggies in genmaicha (delicious!) and used Rishi’s Bergamot Sage as a seasoning in stuffing (yum!).
I’ve used various teas and also masala as a spice, in soups, and rubs for meat and fish. I also grew up with cooking grade matcha always around, though we did not use it much.
I’ve used bagged chai to make cookies three times. The first two turned out better. And I’ve made bread with matcha.
I use tea to make oatmeal and hot granola. I also use matcha in a lot of things, it’s really easy to mix it in with any type of batter, yogurt, smoothie, etc.
I used some tea the other day for oatmeal I make in my rice cooker. It was some bagged blueberry rooibos I had laying around forever. I emptied the bags in to the cooker with all the other ingredients and when it was ready, my oatmeal was gritty! Gritty like there was sand in it. Gross.
When I make oatmeal using tea I just brew the tea normally (or a bit stronger) and then use that liquid in place of any water called for. Maybe actual tea leaves could break down enough not to be too noticeable, but Rooibos is basically tree bark/stems, so I can see how that would be unpleasant!
I brewed it the first time, but I figured any bark would break down and be soft after cooking so I just dumped it all in there thinking I may get a stronger flavor. This definitely had some sandy filler of some sort.
This is pretty basic but I eat a lot of rice so I like to cook it with tea instead of just plain water. Jasmine is my favorite, but it’s really good with something tart and fruity like strawberry or blueberry bliss (Teavana).
These are all such great ideas! I have zero skills in the kitchen, so I am jealous. But even I should be able to handle adding jasmine to rice- I think I will try that soon :)
jasmine or any green tea over rice is a classic Japanese “home remedy” (not cooking the tea in the rice, which is also great) but pouring it over the rice to make gruel of sorts.
Lapsong Souchong is great for adding smokey flavors. I’ve used it with tofu, shrimp and split pea soup. First time soup ever made me caffeinated. :) I had to tell husband not to have the soup for dinner. haha Very tasty though!
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