In the past, because of war, migration, and lack of materials, the Hakka people had to be ingenious in order to maintain their tradition of being very hospitable when guests visited. They would have only a small amount of grain in the house, and worried about the poor reception for the guests, they would fry the grain, add a little tea and place the mixture in a mortar and slowly ground the ingredients with a pestle, until it becomes powder form. Then they would brew the powder with hot water, turning what was originally a little grain into a fragrant tea that was full of aroma and able to quench hunger and thirst.
The mortar
and pestle is the main tool for making Lei Cha (擂茶). The mortar is made from clay
and used to grind food and medicinal materials. The interior of the mortar has
a special groove pattern radiating to the center, which is good for grinding
the ingredients. The pestle used is a wooden stick with a diameter of about 5
cm and a length of about 50 cm for grinding food and medicine. It’s mainly made
with wood from the camellia tree, followed by wood from the guava, grapefruit
and olive trees. Other trees cannot be used because the flavor of the pestle
will also be added during the grinding.
Traditional Lei
Cha is made from simple ingredients such as green tea, sesame seeds, and peanuts,
but because of its rough taste and not-delicious-enough flavor, after years of
improvement, in addition to the original three ingredients, other material are added,
including pine nuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, wheat, buckwheat, oats,
soybeans, black beans, mung beans, red beans, and all kinds of grains. This has
not only enriched the taste of Lei Cha, but also made it more delicious and
popular than before.
Fried Sweet Lei
Cha Dough Ball
Ingredients:
30 grams of medium-gluten flour, 50 grams of sugar, 50 grams of cream, a little water, 20 grams of Lei Cha powder, 20 grams of egg powder:
Cooking method:
1. Mix the medium-gluten flour, sugar, cream, and ice water into a dough and divide into several portions.
2. Cook the Lei Cha and egg powder together until it becomes a filling. Wrap the filling with the dough and fry the ball-shaped bundle.