Hakka Thunder Tea – Famous Malaysian Cuisine

Hakka Thunder Tea Rice, also known as Hakka Lei Cha, is a dish of steamed rice served with a tea soup and various condiments. Sounds simple, right? It’s far more complex than it seems.

Springing from Southern Chinese Hakka cuisine, the complexity begins with the dish’s name.
It is something of a misnomer, as the Chinese characters for “thunder” and “pounding” are similar. For accuracy’s sake, it should be called “pounded tea rice.”

Whatever its name, this rice dish is quite laborious to make. Creating the tea soup is the most important and time-consuming element. Carefully selected Chinese herbs, including Thai basil, sawtooth coriander, mugwort and fu yip sum (a rare, ginseng-like medicinal herb), are pounded into a paste with leafy greens. This process takes more than 30 minutes – and strong arms! – which deters most people from trying it at home.

Once the paste is made, hot water is added to turn it into a soup or tea. A bowl of cooked rice is served topped with various condiments, such as water spinach and broccoli leaves, spring onion, tofu, shrimp, peanuts and more. The tea arrives separately, to be poured over the dish when you are ready to eat.

Hakka thunder tea rice is a great option for vegan or vegetarian eaters, and for those looking for a light meal, as its focus is on herbs and vegetables with a range of health benefits.

Shop name:
Hakka Lei Cha
30, Jalan Ambong 2, Kepong Baru, 52100 Kuala Lumpur,
Wilayah Persekutuan, Kuala Lumpur
016-9553155

Famous Malaysian cuisine is a 50-video series produced by Masters of Malaysian cuisine(MOMC) in partnership with Tourism Malaysia.

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