Thunder tea rice (Lei Cha Rice)
A colourful variety of flavourful veggies, pulses, greens and tofu around a hot bowl of steamed rice served with a tea soup is a Chinese style buddha bowl
Following up on the thunder tea rice on the glocal page, I decided to try my hand at making this wholesome bowl of plant goodness at home. And why not? It is clean eating, has fiber and protein and best of all, is totally customizable. Make your own bowl with endless varieties of veggies, pulses and greens.
Basically, this is another recipe just like handvo and muthia which I can call it fridge friendly. A quick stir fry of any veggie you have in your fridge; half a carrot or some zucchini, maybe some lettuce and even an eggplant. And even pulses of your choosing – chickpeas, black eyed beans or even rajma (kidney beans). It will taste delicious any which way you prefer to go.
I am a huge fan of Korean bibimbap, for its flavours, use of vegetables and that scrumptious gochujang sauce it is served with. And if you are anything like me, you would love this one as well. It is similar to bibimbap or for that matter a buddha bowl for its serving style and use of vegetables. In a thunder tea rice, fresh as well as preserved/pickled vegetables are used to create textures and for that intense kick of salty and sweet flavour. It is indeed a labour intensive recipe as the veggies need to be chopped finely but the cooking is mostly all a quick stir fry. Regular white rice can be used but I would definitely recommend brown or a mix blend of rice for this recipe as it adds another layer of texture to the dish.
And now let’s talk about the heart of the dish – the tea soup. As I mentioned earlier, I found the tea soup slightly bitter and herbaceous for my taste so in my recipe, I have modified it using broccoli. The original tea soup calls for tea leaves that are pounded with some nuts and herbs into a thin watery soup. Keeping that in mind, I added coriander, mint and basil to a broccoli +melon seeds puree and then thinning it all down with a concoction of green tea leaves. It is surely not the original tea soup but, in my family, we preferred a slightly mellow version of the tea soup and the broccoli-tea soup fitted the bill.
Do try this amazing bowl of goodness and don’t forget to rate the recipe.
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Recipe Card
Thunder tea rice (Lei Cha Rice)
Recipe Rating
AUTHOR
Hema B Kathrani
CUISINE
Asian
PREP TIME
1.30 hours (without pickling time)
COOK TIME
45 minutes
SERVINGS
serves 4
Author: Hema B Kathrani | Cuisine: Asian | Category: Healthy Options
Prep Time: 1.30 hours (without pickling time) | Cook Time: 45 minutes | Servings: serves 4
A colourful variety of flavourful veggies, pulses, greens and tofu around a hot bowl of steamed rice served with a tea soup is a Chinese style buddha bowl
Ingredients
- 2 cups rice *see notes
- For the veggie mix:
- 1 cup long beans, finely chopped
- 1 cup green onion, finely chopped
- 2 cups spinach, washed and dried
- 250 gm tofu/paneer, cut in cubes
- 4 tsp sesame oil
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 tsp red chili powder
- Salt and pepper to taste
- For the pickled radish:
- 1 cup radish, julienned
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup vinegar
- ¼ tsp salt
- For the soup:
- 1 tsp green tea leaves
- 1 cup broccoli
- 1 cup melon seeds
- 20 mint leaves
- 10 basil leaves
- ¼ cup of packed coriander with roots
- Salt to taste
- 1 cup roasted peanuts
- ¼ cup toasted sesame seeds
Method
- Make the pickled radish:
- Bring ½ cup water mixed with ½ cup sugar, ½ cup vinegar and salt to boil.
- Turn off the flame and mix well, ensuring that all the sugar has dissolved.
- Add julienned radish to the brine and mix well.
- Remove in a sterilized container and keep it aside to cool.
- Put the lid on and keep it aside for at least 3-4 hours, preferably a day to pickle before using.
- Make the soup:
- Bring 1 cup of water to boil.
- Turn off the flame, add the green tea leaves and keep it aside for 5 minutes to infuse.
- Strain the leaves and keep the tea water aside.
- In another pot, combine broccoli, melon seeds with 1 ½ cups of water and bring it to boil.
- Cover the pot with the lid and let it simmer for another 5-7 minutes or until broccoli is cooked.
- Turn off the flame and cool the mix.
- Once cooled, grind the broccoli mix with mint, basil and coriander roots. Use the tea water to grind it into a paste.
- Add salt and pepper and adjust the seasoning.
- Use additional water only if necessary, to achieve the consistency of a thin soup.
- Cook the rice:
- Wash and soak the rice for at least 30 minutes.
- Bring 4 cups of water to boil.
- Add the soaked rice and bring it to boil.
- Lower the flame and continue to cook the rice on simmer till the water as evaporated (about 12-15 minutes)
- Turn off the flame and keep it covered until ready to serve.
- Prepare the veggie mix:
- Cooking long beans:
- In a pan, place 1 tsp sesame oil to heat at a low flame.
- Add half of chopped garlic and sauté for 2-3 minutes or until aromatic.
- Combine long beans, salt and ½ tsp red chili powder and cook until just cooked or for about 3 minutes.
- Remove from the pan and keep it aside.
- Cooking spinach:
- Tear the spinach roughly in bite sized pieces.
- In the same pan used for long beans, place 1 tsp sesame oil to heat a low flame.
- Add the remaining chopped garlic and sauté for 2-3 minutes or until aromatic.
- Combine spinach. salt and the remaining red chili powder and cook for 2 minutes on a high flame.
- Remove from the pan and keep it aside.
- Cooking green onions:
- In the pan, place 1 tsp sesame oil to heat a low flame.
- Add chopped green onion, salt and pepper and sauté for 2 minutes.
- Remove from the pan and keep it aside.
- Cooking tofu/paneer:
- Bring a pot of water to boil. Add salt.
- Place cubed tofu/paneer in the boiling water for 30 seconds.
- Drain the tofu/paneer and keep it aside.
- In a pan, heat 1 tsp sesame oil at a low flame.
- Add tofu/paneer, salt and pepper and saute for 1 minutes.
- Remove from the pan and keep it aside.
- Cooking long beans:
- Serve:
- In a pasta bowl or a plate with rimmed edges, place the rice in the middle.
- Arrange long beans, green onions, spinach, tofu/paneer, pickled radish and roasted peanuts around it.
- Generously sprinkle toasted sesame seeds over the rice and veggies.
- Serve it with a hot bowl of broccoli-tea soup.
Notes
- Pickled radish can be made in advance. It stays well in the fridge for a week.
- You can substitute melon seeds for cashew nuts.
- I used mixed rice (brown and black rice) in this recipe for the nuttiness and the nutritional value that it provides. However, you could choose any rice of your choice.
- For this recipe, I cooked the rice using absorption method, however you could cook the rice in instant pot, pressure cooker or in a rice cooker.
- Cook the veggies until just cooked as the overcooked veggies can affect the texture of the dish.
- This dish can also be served at room temperature. All the elements can be prepped in advance except tofu/paneer as it will become chewier with the time. Prepare the bowl with rice and veggies and toss the tofu/paneer just before serving.
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