Description
The ultimate Hakka health drink (eaten as soup) where green tea leaves, sesame, peanuts, and grains are thoroughly pounded to powder in a mortar, then mixed with hot water into a gooey paste.
Restaurants serving Hakka Pounded Tea
Researching
We are researching restaurants that serve this dish.
On this site you can check dictionary details and, later, places to buy or eat related items.
The Recipe section below is a general reference, not a recipe from the listed shops.
Recipe
Ingredients
- Green tea leaves
- White/Black sesame
- Peanuts
- Various nuts
- Hot water
Instructions
- [Authentic Recipe]
- [Mortar & Pestle Prep] Prepare a special grooved mortar and a thick pestle made of guava or camellia wood.
- Put green tea leaves (or Oolong), white sesame, black sesame, and roasted peanuts into the mortar.
- Hold the pestle with both hands, apply body weight, and pound powerfully 'grind grind' until oils release into a paste (very physically demanding).
- Add pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, pine nuts, etc., and keep pounding until completely fine powder (paste).
- Portion this paste into bowls, pour boiling water (or hot tea) over it.
- Optionally float a little sugar or puffed rice (Mi Xiang), slurp with a spoon to finish.
Learn more Spice, substitutes, tips
Key spices
Tea aroma and intense nut savoriness
Substitutes at Japanese supermarkets
Store-bought Leicha powder (just dissolve in hot water)
Pairing
Hakka Mochi(Traditional Hakka rice cakes)
Trivia
[For Health Conscious] Originated when Hakka people, fleeing war to the mountains, pounded available grains/tea for nutrition (preserved food). Closer to an 'eatable soup' than a 'drink'. A superfood condensing vitamins, minerals, and good fats into one cup.
Eating tips & etiquette
[Unique Eating] In Taiwanese tourist spots, 'DIY Leicha experiences' grinding it yourself are hugely popular. Dipping puffed rice (Mi Xiang) into the Leicha you sweated to make is the ultimate luxury!
Allergen
Peanuts, Sesame, (Other nuts)