PHOTO BY WANG XIANG

Health and history

The 57-year-old Liu says she hasn't caught a cold for 20 years. She also doesn't have a single grey hair. Liu believes it must have something to do with her 50-year-long tea-drinking habit: Green tea is in the morning, oolong tea for after lunch, pu'er tea for the evening, and Keemun black tea when she feels a cold coming on. "All tea is good," she said. "The point is to find your tea, the tea that fits well with your body."

There are over 6,000 types of Chinese tea. These are divided into six brewing categories. Normally, green tea unbrewed is used for reducing inflammation and internal heat, while black tea fully brewed helps weak intestines and the stomach. Oolong tea is good for people with a balanced constitutions. Due to their diverse properties, adding the right kind of tea to a dish is very important. Green tea is usually added to soups, Tieguanyin, an oolong tea, is used in chicken dishes, and Keemun black tea is for braised pork in soy sauce.

In China, tea is dubbed as "the gentleman of drinks." Different from the strict ritualism and deep religious faith involved in Japan's sado, which places more stress on the tea ceremony, the Chinese tradition is about drinking the beverage for relaxation.

"What I emphasize most is this 'gentleman' characteristic," said Liu. "In tea cuisine, cuisine always comes first, tea after. Its emergence  is not only a current trend, but also a continuation of traditional tea culture." 

PHOTO BY WANG XIANG

Tea cuisine: Chanong Chunyun

(Egg-wrapped minced chicken breast)

The "tea bag" in this dish represents a farmer's joy over a full harvest.

Ingredients: egg, chicken, mushroom, ham, bamboo shoot, green tea, celery, Chinese wolfberry, cucumber, mashed vegetables, and sugar

>  Stir the egg white until it becomes thick, pour it into a flat pan to form a pancake. After it's fully cooked, cut it into a 10cm×10cm square.

>  For the filling, dice the chicken, mushroom, ham and bamboo shoot, then add green tea liquid, salt and sugar. Stir the mixture.

>   Place the filling on the egg white pancake, then tie it with the shredded celery so that it is in the shape of a tea bag. Garnish with Chinese wolfberry, then place it into bamboo steamer. Cook until well done.

>  Use the cucumber to make a "bamboo raft," place the "tea bag" on it, sprinkle the "brook" (a mixture of mashed vegetables and tea water), then decorate the raft with a "teaplanter" made of cucumber and egg.