Beans in tea? I never really considered it until Kris Martins, a Brazilian-American food journalist in Washington DC interviewed me. She was researching beans in beverages for her zine about beans, Le Legume. She asked about the Hakka tea, lei cha (pounded tea). This tea gets its name from the pounding process to make it. With a mortar and pestle, pound tea leaves, nuts, and seeds to make a nutritious paste. Whisk in boiling water to make tea.
Beans in lei cha
In The Hakka Cookbook, I featured two versions of lei cha–one savory, one sweet. As I review the recipes, I see beans, although in rather minor roles.
In Singapore and Malaysia, they add lots of fresh herbs to the tea-nut-seed paste to make a green herbaceous tea. A bowl of garlic rice topped with mounds of peanuts, preserved radish, tofu (made from dried soybeans), and a variety of stir-fried veggies (including fresh green beans) accompany the tea. To eat, pour the creamy green tea over the rice and mix together for a healthy and satisfying meal.
Another version I encountered in a Taiwan tea house is sweet. The pounded tea paste includes tea leaves, pumpkin seeds, peanuts, pine nuts, walnuts, and sesame seeds. It has no fresh herbs. Embellish the small bowls of the creamy grey-green tea with puffed rice and a sweet mixture with red beans, red dates, tapioca, goji berries, and candied ginger.
Beans play a part in tea in the past and today. As I read Martin’s article, my view of beans in tea expands. In her article I learn mung beans were used in tea as early as the 14th century. And the custom of eating tea as a meal likely started more than 3,000 years ago according to Miranda Brown, professor of Chinese Studies at the University of Michigan. In Taiwan today, the company Leichacha expands the role of beans in lei cha. It blends a variety of roasted ground beans with tea to imbue the tea with a velvety texture and nuttiness.
If you love beans, follow Le Legume as Martins explores how beans serve as a door to explore other cultures and cuisines. To get a copy of the article and Le Legume, click this link.