Long Jing Chao Xia

1 lb Med-sized raw shrimp
2 ts Salt
1 tb Long Jing (Dragon Well) tea
-??any Chinese green tea 1 c Boiling water
1 1/2 tb Peanut oil
1 tb Rice wine or dry sherry

IF THE SHRIMP ARE UNPEELED, peel them by removing their shell, legs and tail. Devein them by making a surface cut down the back of the shrimp and removing the black, green or yellow matter. Rinse them well under cold running water and pat them thoroughly dry with paper towels. Rub the shrimp evenly with salt and set aside.

Put the tea leaves in a heat-proof measuring cup and pour in the hot water. Let the tea steep for 15 minutes. Heat a wok or large saute pan until it is hot and add the oil. Then add the shrimp and rice wine and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Pour in the tea and half of the leaves and cook for another minute. Remove the shrimp with a slotted spoon to a serving platter and reduce any liquid in the wok by half.

Pour this over the shrimp and serve at once

Fruit Juice Slush

2 c Boiling water
4 GREEN tea bags
7 c Water
2 c Sugar
1 cn Frozen orange juice (10 oz)
1 cn Frozen lemonade
2 c Rum, gin, or vodka

Put GREEN tea bags in 2 c. boiling water, let set and chill. Dissolve 7 c. water and 2 c. sugar together.

Mix all ingredients together and put in freezer for 24 hours or longer. Stir before using. Use 1/2 glass slush and 1/2 glass 7UP

Chicken Szechuan-Style with Sesame Paste

2 Whole chicken beasts,
Skinned and boned 2 tb Szechuan peppercorns
4 tb Sesame paste
3 tb Green tea
2 tb Wine vinegar
2 1/2 ts Soy sauce
3 tb Peanut oil
2 ts Crushed red pepper *
3 Slices fresh ginger, minced
1 Scallion (white part only),
Chopped 1 cl Garlic, minced fine
1 1/2 tb Dry sherry or
Shaoshing wine 1/2 ts Cayenne pepper
Lettuce leaves

* or you substitute 2 whole chili peppers, crushed.

In a pot, poach the chicken breasts in a little boiling water for 10 minutes until white and opaque. In a dry frying pan, toast the Szechuan peppercorns over moderate heat, then crust or grind them; set aside. Remove the chicken breasts from the pot, drain and cool them. Slice them, then shred the slices into julienne pieces. In a mixing bowl, combine the sesame paste and green tea (or the peanut butter and sesame oil -- See NOTE). Add the vinegar and soy sauce; blend well. Add the peanut oil, red pepper, ginger, scallion, garlic, sherry, cayenne pepper, and the peppercorns. Mix all ingredients very well. Toss the chicken strips in this sauce, to coat.

Refrigerate until 20 minutes before serving. Pass the chicken and the lettuce leaves separately, and let each guest place a small portion of the chicken in the middle of a lettuce leaf and roll it up like an egg roll to eat using fingers. Makes 6 appetizer servings.

NOTE: The authentic recipe calls for green tea to thin the sesame seed paste, but you may substitute chicken broth, or simply water, if you prefer.

Chestnuts Cooked In Green Tea

6 ea Peeled Chestnuts
4 ts Sugar
2 1/2 ts Green Tea Leaves
1 ts Soya Sauce

Cover the chesnuts with cold water and the tea leaves and bring to boil in a small saucepan. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes until the chestnuts show no resistance when pierced. Drain and wash under cold running water.

Leave the brown membrane intact. Put 3/8 pt of water, sugar and the chestnuts into a saucepan and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes, the stir in Soy Sauce.

Simmer for 5 minutes, remove from heat, and cool to room temperature before draining and serving

Cholesterol and Green Tea

Lowers Cholesterol

Green tea may be a possible solution for all those suffering from conditions of high cholesterol. Heart attacks are one of the most common problems associated with bad cholesterol. Drinking green tea could possibly lower this stunning high risk.

Green tea lowers the bad cholesterol’s levels, LDL cholesterol and prevents the occurrence of blood clots in the body. The LDL cholesterol flows through the liver and cells forming heavy deposits on artery walls.

The catechins in green tea help to decrease the amount of bad cholesterol. Also, the catechins help to maintain a healthy good cholesterol to bad cholesterol ratio improving the overall health of the body.

Healthy Teeth and Green Tea

Healthy Teeth

Green tea is well known for keeping teeth clean because of one of its ingredients, fluoride. The fluoride kills the bacteria in the mouth that causes plaque.

Also, fluoride helps to maintain healthy, cavity-free teeth. This helps to prevent general tooth decay inside of the mouth.

This cannot be about coffee which stains the teeth with an ugly yellow tinge. The oral health of teeth can be vastly improved with the consumption of green tea.

How To Brew Green Tea

To experience the utmost health benefits, green tea is preferably brewed rather than fermented. Fermentation is most likely used in black tea but never in green tea. There are basically three important reasons why brewing is used in green tea.

Reason # 1 – Brewing doesn’t eliminate the important nutrients, vitamins and components that comprises green tea. On the other hand, fermentation wastes there components leaving other beverages with nothing but the idea that it is tea and people can get something from it.

Reason # 2 – Brewing can bring out the best in catechin and theanin for these two elements contribute to a lower level of caffeine in your green tea.

Reason # 3 – Enhance taste and aroma. Indeed, brewing has a very enticing smell that can’t be found in fermented beverages.

If you wanted to have a good green tea, brew it. Although, if you keep on wondering why you’re green tea tastes a bit strange compared to other great tasting brewed green tea, maybe there’s something terribly wrong with how you prepare your tea.

Brewing green tea is easier contrary to what people think. To learn more on how to brew the best green tea, read the instructions below.

Step 1 – Water

Choosing what kind of water to use is a very important detail that you have to take note of. Ideally, manufacturers would prefer brewing green tea using soft mineral water or natural water. If you can’t afford purchasing bottled water daily, you can take into consideration tap water. Here, you would know how tap tasteless water can be converted into one soothing beverage. If you’re planning to use European bottled water, don’t. It’s because this kind of water are considered as hard water that is not suitable for brewing green tea.

Step 2 – Chlorine-free

Chlorine must not be mixed with the process. To remove it, just leave your water in your pot for a couple of hours before finally boiling it.

Step 3 – Boiling process

Depending on how much water you have put will be the time it will boil. The more water, the more time it will take to boil. When you have noticed that the water is already boiling, take off the lid of the pot and let it boil continuously for a few minutes more.

Step 4 – Temperature

It is said that correct temperature of boiling water will vary on the kind of tea that you are about to use. This is the moment when extraction of polyphenols take place.

Step 5 – Steep

Let your tea leave steep for about three to five minutes. With longer steeping time, the polyphenol level increases while if steeping time takes only for a couple of seconds, it will result to bring about more caffeine in the tea. The moment the caffeine content in your green tea is increased, it will result to a decreased polyphenol content which is one of the main reasons why antioxidants are made.

There is an additional knowledge regarding brewing.

Tea leaves

Research shows that it is better to brew green tea leaves that are smaller because of the fast infusion. Choosing large leaves or ones that are tightly curved can have a longer infusion time.

Teabags or loose leaves?

It is more advisable to use loose green tea than green tea teabags. Loose green tea enables polyphenols to freely float inside your cup of green tea instead of locking them inside your teabag.