Tea-infused Recipes

Cooking with tea is a fantastic culinary experience that can infuse a wide range of flavours, aromas, and health benefits into your meals.

Here are two of our favorite ways you can add tea to your cooking:

Tea Leaf Salad

Tea-Leaf Dressing

• 2 tablespoons loose NEMI Green tea leaves

• 2 cups very hot water (about 90 degrees Celsius)

• 1 clove garlic, coarsely chopped

• ½ teaspoon salt

• 3 tablespoons fried garlic oil or canola oil

• 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar

Salad

• 4 cups shredded green cabbage

• 1 ½ cups roughly chopped cherry tomatoes

• ½ jalapeño or serrano chile, seeded and minced

• ¼ cup fried garlic

• ¼ cup coarsely chopped toasted peanuts

• ¼ cup fried yellow split peas

• 1 tablespoon fried garlic oil or canola oil

• 1 tablespoon lime juice

• 2 teaspoons fish sauce

• ½ cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro

• 2 tablespoons dried shrimp powder

• ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper

Instructions:

To prepare dressing: Steep the NEMI Green tea leaves in hot water for 3 minutes. Drain and press excess water out of the tea leaves. Let cool to room temperature.

Combine the tea leaves, fresh garlic and salt in a mini food processor; pulse to combine. With the motor running, drizzle in 3 tablespoons oil and vinegar.

To assemble salad: Make a bed of cabbage on a round, rimmed serving platter or in a shallow bowl. Spoon the dressing into the center. Arrange piles of tomatoes, jalapeño (or serrano), fried garlic, peanuts and split peas around the dressing. Drizzle oil, lime juice and fish sauce over the top and sprinkle with cilantro, shrimp powder (if using) and crushed red pepper. Mix tableside with 2 forks.

Source: https://www.eatingwell.com/recipe/262787/tea-leaf-salad

Sweet Tea Fried Chicken

For the brine

• 6 cups water

• 8 NEMI Earl Grey tea bags

• 1 cup (200g) white sugar

• 1/4 cup (75g) kosher salt

For the chicken

• 5 chicken legs, skin on

• 5 chicken thighs, bone-in and skin on

• 2 cups buttermilk

• 1 tablespoon hot sauce, optional but recommended

• 3 cups (420g) all-purpose flour

• 1 cup (160g) cornmeal

• 2 tablespoons cornstarch

• 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder

• 1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder

• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

• 1/2 teaspoon paprika

• 3 cups vegetable oil (corn, avocado, or peanut)

To finish

• Flaky sea salt, such as Maldon

Instructions:

• Make the tea brine

Bring the water to boil in a large stockpot. When it boils, remove from heat and add the NEMI Earl Grey tea bags, cover, and steep for 20 minutes.

Gently squeeze the bags to extract as much flavor as possible and remove them. Stir in the sugar and salt until they have dissolved. Leave uncovered for an hour or until it reaches room temperature.

• Brine the chicken

Place a gallon freezer-style resealable bag in a large bowl and open it up. Carefully pour the room temperature tea brine into the bag, holding onto the sides to minimize spilling (or just simply place it in a large bowl).

Place the chicken into the bag, and seal it, trying to squeeze out as much as air as possible. Refrigerate overnight (minimum 8 hours) or up to 24 hours.

• Preheat the oven to 200°C

• Place a wire rack over a rimmed baking sheet.

• Coat the chicken in breading

Combine the buttermilk and the hot sauce, if using, in a medium bowl. Whisk together the flour, cornmeal, cornstarch, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, salt, cayenne pepper, and paprika in a separate large bowl.

Remove one piece of chicken from the brine and dunk it in the buttermilk, turning the piece to coat it. Then coat the chicken in the flour mix, turning to coat completely. Move to a rimmed baking sheet and repeat with the remaining chicken. Discard the brine when done.

• Heat the oil

Pour the oil into an 11-inch cast iron skillet, straight sided sauté pan, or Dutch oven.

If you don’t have a thermometer, drop a 1-inch cube of bread into the oil. The bread should brown in about 60 seconds. If it browns too fast, the oil is too hot. If the bread takes longer than a minute to brown, it isn’t hot enough.

• Fry the chicken legs

Once the oil is at the right temperature, use tongs to carefully move the chicken legs to the pan, one at a time, making sure part of the chicken is submerged before letting go—this minimizes splashing.

Fry the chicken on one side for 4 to 5 minutes or until the bottom part of the chicken is golden brown. Flip the chicken with the tongs and cook the other side for an additional 4 to 5 minutes. Move the legs to the baking sheet with the wire rack.

• Fry the chicken thighs

Repeat the process with the chicken thighs, this time frying each side 5 to 6 minutes. Move the thighs to the baking sheet along with the legs.

• Bake until cooked through

Move the entire sheet with chicken into the oven. Bake for an additional 15 to 18 minutes, or until the thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thighs reads 75°C. If you don’t have a thermometer, pierce the thigh with a sharp knife. The liquid that comes out should run clear and not look red.

Serve and enjoy!

Source: https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/sweet_tea_fried_chicken