Tea and Cooking

If you have been coming to the shop often enough, you have probably noticed that I love to drink and talk about tea all day long. Then the conversation will switch back and forth between food and tea.

It's been a while since I have had the idea to put two of my favorite things together and to share my experiences. But can I cook? Not really. Two years ago, however, I was lucky to meet Maggie Blake. Maggie was born in Taiwan and trained as a chef in California. We hit it off right away. Over time, we talked about our love of tea and cooking and talked about collaborating on a project related to both of our passions.

It is our new adventure to work together and share my love of tea and her love of cooking.
We will explore Taiwanese Oolongs region by region, and also post our delicious recipes for cooking with tea. Enjoy!

The first Taiwanese tea we will use is a Baozhong tea from Pinglin. In my next post, I will be covering my tea experiences in Pinglin and the basic historical facts for this tea. But first, I wanted to share a recipe with you while I still have it fresh in my memory. Please give us feedback to let us know how this turns out for you when you have the chance to try it out.

Cod with 13 year old aged Baozhong(serving two people):

Sauce:
-1 small onion, sliced
-2 cloves of garlic, chopped
-1 stick of celery, sliced
-1 cup of stock (chicken or vegetable)
-1 Tb of aged Baozhong

Steps:
-Saute onion for 2 to 3 minutes on medium-high heat.

-Add garlic and celery; saute until all the aroma comes out and the onion is translucent.

-Add the stock and tea. Let it boil, then simmer for about 15 minutes.

-Drain the sauce, discard the vegetables and tea, and set the sauce aside.

Fish:
You can use Black Cod, Halibut or Sea Bass (8oz to 10oz fillet). Season the fish with salt and pepper. Sear and cook until the fish is done.

Side Dish:
-One package of Udon noodles
-10 to 15 sweet peas (split them into half lengthwise)
-2 green onions, bias cut
-2 cloves of garlic, minced
-5 shitake mushrooms, sliced
-1 Tb of soy sauce
-1/2 Ts of sesame oil
- Salt and Pepper

Steps:
-Bring a pot of water to a boil.

-In a pan, saute the shitake mushrooms for a couple of seconds.

-Add garlic, then the peas.

-Put the package of udon noodles in the pot of boiling water and cook for a minute. Remove the noodles and put them into the pan.

-Add soy sauce and mix it into the vegetables. Add additional seasonings if desired. Add the green onions and sesame oil. Mix and toss all of the ingredients well.

Before serving the dish, put the sauce back into the small sauce pan and heat it up. Adjust seasoning if desired. Thicken the sauce with butter (cut into small pieces, add them slowly to the sauce and whisk constantly to emulsify the sauce).

To serve:
Place the noodles and fish nicely on the plate, drizzle some sauce on the them and place the sauce on the side. We finished the dinner with a cup of Jin Xuan Oolong and some green salad. It was very satisfying.