Fried Tea Leaves? Yes, Here Are 2 Recipes

Fried tea leaves? Oh yes, it exists! It is trendy to add tea into food these days, such as the dish tea-scented chicken we introduced recently.

Both brewed and fresh tea leaves can be used to make fried tea leaves. There are basically two ways of making it. One is to fry them directly, the other is to coat them in flour/cornstarch, or dip them in the batter and then fry, just like the way to make tempura.

The Taste of Fried Tea Leaves

How about the taste of fried tea leaves? It is simply amazing! Depends on the way and the degree of frying, the taste can be different, but a magnified tea fragrance and crunchiness guaranteed. The enjoyment doesn’t end after you finish eating – there’s an interesting aftertaste – similar as what you get when you are drinking tea. Unlike other fried food, the astringency in tea leaves “neutralizes” the greasiness which gives your palette a sense of balance.

The fried tea leaves can not only be eaten as a snack, but also can be added to some dishes to “elevate” their flavor, for example scrambled eggs, braised ribs, shrimps, etc.

Fried Tea Leaves Recipes

Are you already thinking about trying it out now? Let’s take a look at a couple of fried tea leaves recipes!

Fried Tea Leaves With Shrimps

Fried Tea Leaves With Shrimps

Ingredients:

• 8g of dry Tianguanyin tea leaves
• 300gof fresh shrimps
• 80mlolive oil
• 1 small piece of ginger, thinly sliced
• 3 garliccloves, finely chopped
• Soy sauce
• Salt

Instructions:

1. Brew all the tea leaves with boiling water for 5 minutes.
2. Take out the tea leaves, place them on a paper towel to dry. Cut into small pieces.
3. Heat the oil in thefrying pan with medium heat, gently place the tea leaves in the oil right after the heat is on.
4. Fry the tea leaves until they start sizzling, remove them with a frying sieve and place on a paper towel-linedplate to absorb excess oil.
5. Leave the oil in the pan, turn the heat from medium to high, then put in the shrimps. Make sure to dry excess water off the shrimpsbefore frying.
6. Fry the shrimps until the shells are crispy and slightly apart from the meat.
7. Place the shrimps on a paper towel-lined plate to absorb excess oil.
8. Leave around 10 ml oil in the panwith medium heat, sauté the ginger and the garlic until fragrant.
9. Put fried shrimps and tea leaves in the pan and quickly stir with the ginger and garlic, add soy sauce and salt to taste.
10. Place the dish one a plate. For a more enticing flavour, try sprinkle some roasted white sesame seeds on top!

Fried Tea Leaves With Egg White And Cornstarch

Fried Tea Leaves With Egg White And Cornstarch

Ingredients:

• 15g of dry Huangshan Maofeng tea leaves
• 1 egg white
• 50g of cornstarch
• 45 ml olive oil
• Sugar/soy sauce/chilli sauce

Instructions:

1. Brew all the tea leaves with hot water for 5 minutes.
2. Take out the tea leaves, place them on a paper towel to dry.
3. Place the wettish tea leaves in a bowl, put in the egg white. Mix well.
4. Put in the cornstarch and mix well. Make sure all tea leaves are coated in cornstarch.
5. Shake the excess cornstarch offthe tea leaves with hands.
6. Put the oilin the pan on medium heat.
7. Place the tea leaves in the pan to fry, turn the heat up slightly.
8. When the tea leaves turn light golden, remove them with a frying sieve and place on a paper towel-lined plate to absorb excess oil.
9. According to your own taste, choose sugar/soy sauce/chili sauce as the dipping sauce. Now it’s time to enjoy this crispy and fragrant snack!