Hakka Lei Cha

Lei Cha (擂茶; léi chá; literally “pounded tea”) is a famous Hakka delicacy which I really love. As we all know, I love~~ green tea. And the fact that this delicacy is a tea-based gruel consisting of mixture of varies vegetable, tea leaves, herbs, nuts, grains, or seeds. The fragrant in sesame seeds and roasted nuts are all in a unique combination to bring out the fresh and savory texture of the vegetables and tea. Hakka Lei Cha was entirely a vegetarian dish and after years of improvisation accustoming to the local taste and favorite, most Lei Cha are served with fried diced bean curd and dried shrimp. This is smart as this provides the nutrient in replacement to meat source. I guess vegans can request to eliminate the dried shrimps.

There are many places serving Hakka Lei Cha, but this stall serves great Lei Cha rice. The ratio of vegetable, nuts and seeds to white rice is moderately perfect. Texture of the rice was to my liking. Not hard. Besides, the tea and herb combination was amazingly bright. When it comes to tea, astringency is somewhat significant especially if it were to go with rice.  Polyphenols and tannins causes this and often create a puckering on the tongue. Personally I dislike that in tea, hence my liking to the LeiCha rice served here. In summary, it was brisk, not brassy and not astringent. It is truly my cup of tea.

I was told that it is not difficult to make this, but it would be rather time consuming to have to dice and minced the ingredients. So I am grateful that I found this stall located in Puchong. Anytime of the day, should you have craving for Hakka Lei Cha, worry not. The stall serves all day, all year- so I was told by the owner.

 The stall is located in a hawker restaurant near Tesco puchong. There is no air condition, so pst… you might want to go at night.