Tea is unsurprisingly one of the most popular drinks on the planet. There are so many ways to enjoy different varieties of tea, from matcha lattes to iced Earl Grey. But did you know you can also use tea to bring a variety of flavours to your culinary creations?
Because tea is not only for drinking. Discover new ways to embrace tea with these ideas for cooking with tea to enhance your roasts, improve your puddings, and create tasty marinades.
It’s no secret – we love tea. We know how to drink tea and we are sure we understand how to brew it, but what about cooking with tea? Here are some tasty ideas.
- Tea in Cookies and Biscuits
What could be better than a nice cup of tea and a biscuit? You can enhance the experience by using tea within your buttery creations to add a rich flavour. Try putting matcha powder into cookie dough, or grind loose leaf tea into a fine powder and use to enhance shortbread and sugar biscuits. Buy the best quality leaves from a tea shop online to achieve the optimum flavour.
- Tea-Infused Dairy
Enjoy a relaxing drink of warm milk with the flavours of bergamot by infusing the milk with Earl Grey tea leaves. Just add the leaves or a tea bag to the milk or cream, heat it until it is just below boiling, then allow it to cool down before straining all the leaves from the liquid. Drink this neat, or add the infused dairy to a recipe to create stylish ice creams or puddings.
And why not try making tea butter? It’s a little like herb butter but without the strong taste. Simply mix together some butter which has been left at room temperature to make it mouldable with tea leaves.
- Create Flavourful Stir Fries and Roasts
Did you consider adding dried leaves to a smoking hot pan in order to create an intense taste sensation? The greens and vegetables will pick up the flavours of the tea leaves to result in a pleasant savoury experience that also works well with stir fried meat.
Tea leaves are also a great addition to savoury rubs for cooking steaks, as well as for slow-cooked meats like ribs and pork. In particular, the smoky lapsang souchong adds a delicious campfire flavour to meat.
- Enjoy Tea in Noodles
Eat green tea-infused ready-made noodles from Japanese food stores or you can even make your own pasta using green tea powder. This will turn it into a lovely green shade and will provide a delicious herby taste that works well with light pasta sauces.
- Use Tea as a Stock
Remove salty stocks from your cooking and swap with tea instead. Try brewing some leaves lightly and using this as a flavour enhancer for grains such as quinoa or wholegrain rice. You could also add tea in addition to stock to cut the salt content of dishes.
Tea is a versatile ingredient in all types of cooking. You are only limited by your imagination when it comes to creating tasty, inventive dishes with the help of the humble tea leaf. Experiment with flavours to create the perfect blends.
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