Pinestone tea in recipes

Tea drinking culture in China is not only a key part of people’s social and leisure time but also an important aspect of any mealtime. You may be surprised to know that different teas are best drunk with specific foods, just like fine wines.

Rich and satisfying Chun Mee tea has a magical property that is good for digesting heavy dishes with its more acidic flavour and is especially good with a meat main course. Lung Ching (or Dragon Well) is the delicate all-rounder, whilst refreshing Jasmine tea is marvellous with Dim Sum, lighter starters as well as desserts because of its fragrance.

Astonishingly, tea is also a cooking ingredient in China. Back in the Tang Dynasty, the tea people drunk was ground and flavoured with salt and herbs. This form of tea is still available in many parts of China today, and in some cases, roasted rice and beans are added to make the tea drink more like a soup.

The most famous dish cooked with tea might be shrimp stir-fried with Lung Ching tea, a speciality of Hangzhou where the tea is from. Kevin Sui, founder of Pinestone tea, regularly cooks with teas and one of his creations is green tea mayonnaise for fish & chips and his regular breakfast is porridge with exhausted Chu Mee leaves.