Nian Gao cake is a gorgeous glutinous health-conscious Chinese New Year rice snack. Eat it with fresh grated coconut or in a yam or sweet potato sandwich, deep fried. It’s sticky & sweet to seal up the mouth of the tittle-tattle Kitchen God. This is my Mom’s recipe using her mom’s own caramel recipe. At Chaya teahouse we’re pairing it with intenser, darker oolongs & Chinese fruits. We wish everyone ‘Nian Nian Gao Sheng’: Increasing Prosperity Every Passing Year!
Nine of us gathered with our own tea-sets in a silent & serene tea-sharing circle round the Kyoto Garden’s stunning lake. I spent a restorative, meditative 45 min at Holland Park enjoying a simple ritual of sharing tea with eight amazing people! Rain stayed away and the sun came out for last Sunday’s 1st open-air medTEAtation in beautiful Kyoto Garden Holland Park! The ducks, squirrels and tourists were curious & bemused as we sat in the park to brew our teas for medTEAtation. Holland Park medTEAtation went so smoothly, all were delighted, & we came back to Chaya Teahouse for more tea & chitchat.
Tea since Ming era integral to weddings: bride & groom ‘respectfully offer tea’ to guests/elders & perform 3 symbolic tea rituals (‘sancha’). Bride & groom eat date/lotusseed soup in setting-tea ritual to ‘stick together’ their hearts & drink ‘hehuan cha’ for life of conjugal bliss. On 3rd day of marriage new couple serve tea to wife’s parents & receive gifts including a cockerel and hen as pets (plus tea & jewellery!) Candied winter melon, candied persimmon or dried longans signify sweet, mellifluous marriage & red fruits are auspicious at weddings. Dropped teacups at wedding are very inauspicious. Good matchmaker immediately says luo di kai hua (hit the ground and blossom) to make it ok!
A blog post to mark the International Women’s Day by referencing the Bai Cha tea banquet ceremony which brings the village women happily together, with no men around! Many Chinese tea customs specifically involve women. Tea plays an important role for a woman at every stage of her life, in Chinese culture. Chinese bride must move in with husband’s family. On the 3rd day her parents pay a visit, with tea gifts for groom’s parents. Wives traditionally serve special sweet & salty teas during the 15-day spring festival.
A heartfelt thanks to everyone who helped us inaugurate chaya teahouse this weekend, after such a long gestation period! Here is a review by tea lover Erin in yelp.co.uk. And here are a few of the pictures.
Celebrating year of Golden Rabbit @ home in boiling hot Singapore & mom makingg Taoist offerings to gods & demigods (inc Tie Luo Han tea!) Helping my mom prepare New Year dinner but the numerous rituals she does on her own. A god 4 everything & each must get a gift from us! Mom offering sticky caramel glutinous rice cake to Zhao Sheng kitchen god so he can’t “tell tales” about our family to the Heavenly Emperor! Mom is burning gold paper to Cai Sheng, Taoist god of fortune, to ensure that we have prosperous New Year of the Golden Rabbit. Mom making New Year offerings to the Earth God of a nutritious sweet soup, glutinous rice cake & steamed cake that splits like a happy laugh! Neat little parcels of single portion Tie Luo Han oolong tea.
4 Nourishing brews to tide over this persistent winter chills. The Oolong Sweet Potato Congee with light oolong tea that is colourful and packed full of vitamins A and C. Roasted Rice Cha that is nutritious and very warming to the body. The Onion, Carrot, Potato and White Pepper Soup is a delectable peppery soup which sweet onions and carrots that is perfect with rice. Black Glutinous Rice with Matcha Coconut Milk Black that isbelieved to build up blood and strengthen the heart.
The festival of La Ba where a sweet congee is prepared to usher in the Chinese new year. The Koreans also has a similar dish made with 8 ingredients eaten around 3 weeks to the new year. Includes recipes for a sweet and savoury La Ba congee. The La Ba congee can nourish the spleen, enhance qi energy, clear the lungs and eyes and has calming, restorative effects.
“What temperature should I brew this tea at?” is one of the most frequently asked questions. This blog attempts to explain how the ancients “read” the temperature of water without a thermometer.
Matching tea with the various moon cakes – a delicacy of the much celebrated Mid-Autumn festival. Includes a recipe for traditional moon cakes with red bean paste. And Win a Tea Appreciation Master Class by answering 3 lantern riddles!
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