HOME & GARDEN CONSUMER GUIDE

Cooking With Tea

Although most Americans think of tea as simply a beverage that can either stimulate and refresh or sooth and relax, tea is also a remarkable and versatile ingredient. The great variety of types also means it is infinitely varied in flavor. An almost universal beverage in countries from Tibet to England, tea can be as common as drinking water or an exclusive luxury. Tea is also an essential to the culture of countries as diverse as England, Morocco and Japan.

Also important are tea’s significant health benefits. Thanks to antioxidant compounds called flavonoids and polyphenols, tea helps protect against heart disease, stroke and some cancers. And for all this, you need only steep a tea bag in hot water for about three minutes to enjoy a nice, bracing “cuppa,” as the Brits would say.

You do have to use real tea, meaning the dried leaves of Camellia sinensis, an Asian evergreen bush related to the camellia. This is an important point since we often refer to herbal drinks as tea when they are really infusions steeped from herbs. While herbal teas have their virtues, they do not provide the same health benefits as green and black teas.

Green teas are made by steaming freshly picked tea leaves so they do not ferment before being dried. Black tea leaves, on the other hand, are fermented before roasting. Green tea, produced mainly by China, Japan and Taiwan, makes a delicate, pale brew and, depending on the type, any of a wide range of aromas, from floral to sharp. Black tea, grown mainly in South Asia and Africa, brews dark and hearty, but can vary in flavor. And black teas are often sold already spiced up with additional flavorings, like orange peel and spices like cinnamon and cloves.

Tea is often used in cooking. Chinese tea eggs are hard-cooked in tea and soy sauce. In Vietnam, a tuna and pork dish is simmered in either lotus-flavored or black tea. The Japanese make delicate sweets with green tea. I follow my Russian grandmother’s custom of making a fruit compote by soaking and simmering dried fruits in black tea and spices. The following fruit-studded rice dish uses a spiced black tea, too. Serve it in place of cereal for breakfast, as a salad for lunch or dinner, or a light but filling snack.

Tea Rice with Fruit and Nuts

• 1 orange spice tea bag
• 2 1/2 cups boiling water
• 3/4 cup long-grain brown rice
• 1 Fuji apple, cored and chopped
• 1 can (11 oz.) mandarin oranges, drained
• 1/2 cup dried currants
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 Tbsp. canola oil
• 1/3 cup pecans, chopped

Place the tea bag in a medium saucepan. Pour in boiling water and steep 5 minutes. Remove tea bag. Add rice and set the pot over medium-high heat. When liquid boils, reduce heat, cover and simmer 35 minutes. Remove from heat and let rice sit, covered, for 10 minutes. Drain rice in a colander, letting it sit 15 minutes to cool slightly.

Meanwhile, place the apple, orange sections and currants in a large mixing bowl. Add orange and lemon juices, salt, and pepper. Mix in the oil.

Add warm rice to the fruit and combine, using a fork. Transfer mixture to a serving bowl. Sprinkle pecans on top and serve.

Makes 6 servings

Per serving: 338 calories, 12 g. total fat (1 g. saturated fat), 57 g. carbohydrate, 5 g. protein, 6 g. dietary fiber, 593 mg. sodium.

By Dana Jacobi for the American Institute for Cancer Research
“Something Different” is written for the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) by Dana Jacobi, author of The Joy of Soy, and recipe creator for AICR’s Stopping Cancer Before It Starts.