He Po Hakka Lei Cha 河婆客家擂茶饭 (Lui Cha Rice)

A few days ago, I was invited to an event when my Hakka friend was invited to showcase her heritage food on a TV show.  I have eaten this He Po Hakka Lei Cha 河婆客家擂茶饭 cooked by her many times but never really see how it was prepared.

So it was an eye-opener to see the preparation.  The amount of vegetables involved tells you how healthy this dish is.  Also, the knife skill must be good as you need to cut the vegetables as tiny as possible.

I also get to know a little history of this dish.  One of the most intriguing knowledge was that this dish was wrongly addressed by many.

According to her brother,  擂茶饭 should not call Thunder Rice Tea.  It is totally wrong!   擂 refers to ground or pound, whereas 雷 refers to thunder.  So whoever came up with this translation, obviously did not understand the meaning.  So going forward, I hope Lei Cha Rice aka Lui Cha Rice 擂茶饭 fans should learn to give this dish its proper name.

In the past, Hakka uses a special mortar and guava tree stem to grind the paste but with technology, my friend said it is better to grind it in the machine as this will yield a finer and smoother paste.

Besides knife skill, you also need to know how to cook your vegetable just right.  The vegetable should still be crunchy and green after cooking.  To serve elderly, then it is better to cook it a little softer.

For a vegetarian version, you can just omit the dried shrimp or the garlic.

For the paste, only use the leaves.

The paste consists of:

1) Thai Basil
2) Mint
3) Sawtooth Coriander
4) Koo Lek Xin (pick only the young leaves - also cannot add too much)
5) Mugwort
6) Roasted peanuts
7) Toasted white sesame seeds
8) Green tea powder (OSK brand)
9) Salt

Blend all with some ice to form a paste.

Before serving, combine 1 tbsp of paste with hot water.

Minimum 7 types of vegetables 配菜, all cut small.

The stems are smashed and then cut.

Heat oil, sautee minced garlic and add in the stem first before adding in the leaves.  Add a little water and cook until vegetable just turned dark green.

1) Chai sim 菜心
2) Kailan 芥兰菜
3) Chinese celery and spring onion 芹菜 / 葱 (stir fry with minced dried shrimp)
4) Wing beans 四角豆
5) Mani Cai 树仔菜
6) Long bean 长豆
7) Mustard Green 芥菜

Other condiments:

1) Black eye bean, soaked overnight and boiled until soft.  (stir fry with Thai basil)
2) Sweet and salty chai po, washed and drained (dry pan fry until very dry.  Add oil and fry until it is crispy.  Lastly add in minced garlic and fry until garlic is golden)
3) Tau kwa, cubed with chinese leek 豆干蒜 (stir fry with minced dried shrimp)
4) Toasted white sesame
5) Roasted peanuts (or dry fry with a little salt, no oil)

Rice:

Smash garlic and sautee until fragrant.

Add to the rice and cook as per normal.


Ways of eating:

Either you mix the rice with the vegetable and drink the soup later or you mix in the soup with the rice bowl.

Having eaten both ways, I prefer eating the rice bowl first and drinking the soup later as I am able to savour the different layers of flavour before cleansing my palate with a warm bowl of green tea soup.



Many thanks to my friend, Angie who so kindly shared her home-style recipe with us.  She has been featured many times for her Lui Cha Rice.


Hope you enjoy as much as I do.  It definitely warms your heart with this home style 河婆客家擂茶饭.