3 Cool Ways to Cook with Green Tea Leaves

Green tea is being proven as a wonder beverage to start your day with. From boosting metabolism to lowering the risk of diabetes and heart attack, green tea leaves have immense health benefits. Plus, the uncomplicated preparation methods and refreshing flavor of green leaf teas make them increasingly popular. And you can enjoy all these benefits in a number of ways. As long as green tea leaves are present in your recipe, you are going to get all those magical features. Here are some extremely yummy ways to enjoy the healthy green tea in a variety of flavors.

1. My-Chai

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon green tea leaves

6 cups of water

1 spring of fresh mint

2-inch piece of fresh ginger

2 cinnamon sticks

4 green cardamom pods

1 star anise pod

1 teaspoon fennel seed

1 teaspoon whole clove

½ vanilla beans (extract)

1 teaspoon dried lavender

Milk (cream)

Honey

Method:

Bring water to boil in a kettle.

Cut off ginger, peel it and smash with a mallet.

Place a tea basket in a teapot and fill it with all the ingredients except milk and honey.

Pour the boiling water over the mixture of spices and herbs and allow to steep for 3 to 5 minutes.

At the bottom of each mug, put around 1 tablespoon of honey and around half an inch of milk or cream. Stir vigorously to let honey mix well with the milk or cream.

Pour the tea in the mug over the mixture of milk and honey and enjoy!

This chai is a great alternative to a post meal coffee and works also great with cookies and cakes.

2. Scallop Tea Rice

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups of short-grain rice (sushi)

2 tablespoons of green tea leaves

3 tablespoons of soy sauce

2 ½ cups of bottled clam juice

3 tablespoons of sake

1 teaspoon sugar

2 teaspoons peeled and minced fresh ginger

½ teaspoon kosher salt (optional)

2 cups of boiling water

4 ounces of salmon roe (caviar)

8 ounces of sea scallops (side muscles removed)

1 green onion (thinly sliced)

2 teaspoons of white sesame seeds (roasted)

Wasabi paste

Method:

Rinse rice in a strainer under cold running water till the water runs clear. Drain well. Take rice to a heavy medium-sized saucepan. Add 2 cups of clam juice, 1 tbsp sake, 1 tbsp soy sauce, salt, ginger and sugar. Bring to boil. Lower the heat to medium, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from flame and let stand, covered, till all liquid is soaked and rice is tender, around 10 minutes.

Place the green tea leaves in a medium teapot. Pour 2 cups of boiling water over them and let steep while you prepare scallops.

Bring the remaining ½ cup of clam juice, 2 tbsp soy sauce and 2 tbsp sake to boil in a small skillet. Add scallops. Cover and lower the flame to medium. Cook for half a minute. Turn scallops over, cover and cook for another half a minute. With a slotted spoon, transfer scallops to a plate. Keep the cooking liquid in the skillet. Slice each scallop into half horizontally to form 2 rounds.

Divide rice into 4 shallow soup bowls. Spoon the reserved scallop liquid around the rice. Arrange scallops, with the cut side up, on top of rice. Sprinkle the salmon roe, green onion and sesame seeds over. Strain hot tea over scallops. Serve with wasabi alongside.

3. Green Tea Mango Sorbet

Ingredients:

3 mangoes (ripe)

1/3 cup of green tea leaves

2/3 cup of water

½ cup sugar

3 tablespoons of fresh lime juice

Method:

Take green tea leaves and water in a saucepan. Heat to bring just to a boil. Take away from flame and let it steep for 5 minutes.

Strain disposing of the leaves. Don’t squeeze to extract more liquid, as that will add a bitter taste to the liquid.

Transfer tea to a clean saucepan. Put in sugar and bring to boil, till the sugar dissolves, around 1 minute.

Remove from flame and let cool for half an hour.

Peel mangoes. Cut them from pit. Puree them in a blender or food processor together with lime juice.

Add tea and mix till smooth. Pour in a 9-inch glass baking dish and freeze up for approximately 3 hours.

Take the mango mixture into a food processor and pulse till smooth, about 30-40 seconds.

Serve immediately or store it in the refrigerator for up to 2 months. If stored, soften for 10 minutes prior to serving.

These are only 3 of the many amazing green tea leaves recipes. You can even find out your own through which you can have the wonderful benefits of green tea, along with feasting your taste buds.