3 Tea Recipes for the Festive Season

Minhong black tea prepard with jujube water, topped with wolfberries

For the festive season, we have these tea recipes to offer: Almond Cream Longjing is a satisfying tea for the warmth of cream and sugar, but balanced with a green tea. Jujube Minhong is a great tea supplement for those with cold hands and feet. A push for the Qi, in another word. A suitable tea even for the folks "down-under" in the southern hemisphere in their summer right now, because of its clean, crisp gastronomic quality. The Ginger Wuyi Shuixian is based on a traditional recipe for hangover and the colds and flus, just in case. Let me know how you like these recommendations. Have a great holiday!

Almond Cream Longjing

What you need to make two large cups of the drink:

• Non-sweetened almond powder: 2 flat tablespoons
• Longjing green tea: 8 ~ 10 grams
• Full cream milk, half & half, or cream: 5 tablespoons (2 if cream), or to your person preference
• 85°C water for brewing: 500 ml (or roughly two large cups) and more for warming teapots and cups etc
• Brown sugar: to your personal preference
• Two teapots
• Two cups

This recipe is inspired by a very old tea drinking style, much older than the history of Longjing, when much coarser tasting green tea was produced for the folks. There was no almond powder or granulated sugar either. People put all the raw ingredients in a mortar, that included the rough tealeaves, the whole almonds, and the sugar lumps, and any other grains, condiments or spices, and ground them into a rough powder before adding hot water to whisk them into a lime green tea soup. I did that a few times myself and think it is a bit too unrefined for the modern tongue.

You can simply stir powdered green tea, such as a matcha, with almond powder in hot water for the purpose, like some tea drink vendors do in Taiwan do. This is convenient when you have to prepare for a large crowd. However, if you would like the taste a bit more special for a cozier time, here is my way of doing it:

1. Pre-warm one of the teapots
2. Put in the tealeaves and then about 430 ml (a tad less than two cups) of the hot water to infuse the tea for 5~6 minutes. Now you may notice that I am recommending a higher temperature than the guideline in the measurement guide. That is because I want the tea a bit sharper to balance the strong tastes of the other ingredients.
3. In the other pot, put in the almond powder and 70 ml of hot water to stir into a smooth paste.
4. When the Longjing is infused, decant into the pot with the almond paste and stir slowly to homogenize.
5. Serve in large pre-warmed cups with the cream and sugar.

Jujube Minhong Black Tea

Raw sugars in granulated form (front) and compressd slab form, (top). In TCM term, raw sugars, as different from refined sugars, clears heat toxins in the blood. Raw sugar is also known as Muscovado sugar. It s the rawest form of sugar available in the retail market, and the most nutritious one.

What you need to make two large cups of the drink:

• Dried jujubes: 6~8
• Minhong tealeaves (such as a Xiaozhong or Bailin Gongfu): 4~5 grams
• Raw sugar: one heaped tablespoonful, or to your preference, optional
• Dried wolfberries: 16, or to your preference, optional
• Fresh ginger root: a small slice, optional
• Water 550 ml
• A small deep saucepan with cover
• A strainer
• A prewarmed teapot
• Two large prewarmed cups
• Two teaspoons

This is a great tea for those who have cold hands and feet and for ladies after the period. Good also for those with poor digestion.

Both jujubes and wolfberries are available as fresh fruits nowadays but they are not to be used in this recipe. The dried form should be used for both the taste and the supplementary TCM values. They are available in traditional Chinese herbal shops and health food stores. Some cities have them even in markets and grocery stores.

I used to get (without my mom's notice) dried jujubes for a snack from the wooden cabinet where my mom stored all her dried ingredients. Called red dates by some, these dried fruit is a great ingredient for a great array of Chinese dishes, desserts and soups. Remove the pits if you have an overtly "hot" TCM composition.

Dried wolfberries are used for supplementing a person's yin foundation in TCM formulae, and some think it boosts sexual energy for both male and female. It is great for all time use in dishes, desserts and soups, even as a snack after marinating with rum or sherry. Refrain from the temptation of having too much all of a sudden though. An unbalanced dietary intake of anything is bad.

1. Crush the jujubes with the side of a kitchen knife before putting them into the saucepan.
2. Add water (and the ginger slice, if you want) to the pan and bring to a boil, covered.
3. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
4. Turn off the fire and add the sugar. If you are using a compressed raw sugar slab (use at most half a slab if you are making two cups), add the sugar about 5 minutes earlier before turning off; the slab needs time to dissolve. Make sure you are using real raw sugar and not refined sugar coloured with molasses. If you do not want the strong cane sugar taste in the tea, use rock sugar instead.
5. In the prewarmed teapot, put in the tealeaves. A good Minhong is recommended because they are found to be lower in caffeine than other black tea. This is important because some people like to have this jujube recipe in the late evening or even before bed. The taste also marries better with jujube.
6. Decant the jujube water into the teapot, strained. Let brew for 5 minutes.
7. Add the wolfberries into the prewarmed cups (optional)
8. Decant the tea into the cups and serve with a couple of the boiled jujubes in the cup.

Ginger Wuyi Shuixian

What you need to make two large cups of the drink:

• Fresh ginger root slices, about 1 mm thick: 8~10 large slices (30 g/1 oz), more if you are tolerative of the spicy hot taste
• Wuyi Shuixian tealeaves: 5 grams
• Raw sugar: 2~3 heaped tablespoonfuls
• Green onion whole: two, optional (for those with colds or flus)
• A small deep saucepan with cover
• A strainer
• A prewarmed teapot
• Two large prewarmed cups
• Water 500 ml

This is developed from a traditional recipe for hangover and colds and flus. Some use salt instead of sugar for the latter ailment. The sugar is a must for hangover. Do not use a fine Shuixian though, this strong tasting recipe spoils the tastes of fine teas. The tea variety is needed for its TCM quality though, so do not use other tea as substitute. The only exception may be rebaked Phoenix oolongs, but I do not yet have extensive customer feedback from their experience for this one, so I can say only maybe; it works for me. However, Phoenix oolongs alone, especially the bouquet style ones, are the best of all teas for colds and flus if you drink it prepared in the gongfu style, in small cups quite continuously, but that's another subject.

1. Put water into the pan and then the ginger slices.
2. Bring to a boil. Add sugar now if you are using the compressed form. You may also skip sugar if you want to use salt later. Let simmer for 3 minutes. If you do not slice the ginger thin enough, simmer longer to compensate.
3. Turn off the fire to let stand for one minute or so. If you use this for your colds, julienne the green onion and add them immediate before turning off the fire. Please note that the white of the onion needs to be stripped so the contents come into the water readily.
4. Meanwhile put the tealeaves into the prewarmed teapot. Decant the ginger water into the pot and let brew for 5 minutes.
5. Serve in prewarmed teacups with the raw sugar, if you have not add the compressed form in the simmer. Or salt if you use this recipe for easing colds and flus. However, some people find using the sweet is effective also for colds. You may also substitute the green onion with lemon slices.

Happy Holidays!

All recipes developed by Leo Kwan © 2011 All rights reserved