HOW TO MAKE AUTHENTIC LEI CHAI: PART 1

(THUNDER TEA)
A family’s gourmet heirloom all the way from Johore Bahru

Mama Hung's Lei Chai or 'Thunder Tea'

Taught by Mama Hung and Written by Mrs. Money


http://jackson.typepad.com/taiwantiger/2005/07/_hakka_tea_in_m.html

http://hungerhunger.blogspot.com/2008/10/home-made-lei-cha.html

http://www.joymontessori.net/2007/05/my-favourite-hakka-lei-cha.html

http://www.recipemalaysia.com/thunder-tea-rice/

http://ieatishootipost.sg/2007/12/thunder-tea-rice-one-for-ladies.html

I heard of Mama Hung’s Lei Chai since ages ago, even a typical Foo Chow couple like my parents would appreciate Mama Hung’s Lei Chai. Finally after 4 over years I got a change to step in JB again last weekend for a wedding dinner in Pulai Spring, if a couple could return all the way from Seattle to invite relatives and friends to attend their wedding, of course it wouldn’t be too far for east Malaysians and Taiwanese friends to fly in for such a happy occasion.

In order to learn how to make this Lei Chai, I chose to fly in JB earlier by making my kids played hooky for a day. Mr. Money finally gave me a day off first time in almost eight years to baby-sit the two playful kids and they got good times too for their first time swimming and playing in pool.

Mama Hung owes a very successful and popular Chinese restaurant in Kulai (near Singapore border) with her siblings. The restaurant chef prepares few unique dishes that would attract customers to keep returning there, e.g. Fish with special sauce in lotus leaf (the sauce ingredients is a secret) or fried dao ken spinach etc.

Mama Hung retired from running the restaurant just before her grandkid was born 8 years ago and just recently her very smart daughter would master minded the restaurant during weekend as she works in a Singapore as a banker. But old ginger is always hot, before this Mid Autumn Festival, I was lucky enough even to see how Mama Hung supervised in making her most popular mama Hung’s Moon Cakes, these moon cakes were made without any preservative, very hygienic and with best pure ingredients. For their few decades operated Chinese restaurant, this is the first time Moon Cakes are being introduced to their customers.

Mama Hung also taught me the ultimate secret spices to add in satay sauce, I was told to grind the fried coriander and fennel seeds to powder.

She told me that to make Lei Chai it is up to an individual’s taste, for an example, if ones like celery, they can add it in but if ones don’t like it then they can just omit it.

Here I specially thank Mama Hung for teaching me how to make Lei Chai and other secret tips of cooking.



Note: Always can add optional ingredients like pine nuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds (Taiwanese version used lots of nuts), fresh beans and vegetables of all different colours. In option, some people would prefer to cook the rice together with pandan leaves. Mama Hung told me in old days they would make You Fun (Greasy Rice) for Lei Chai, the rice would be fried with pork fat right before steaming.

To prepare Lei Chai soup, these are the necessary herbs

(in option also can add shiso, Giaw Gu Lan or fresh tea leaves)

Chinese-Malaysia called this herb as 'Fake Cilandro', it smells like cilandro.

Bitter herb: Ku Lik Sim

Peppermint

Ai leaves


Basils


Indian mint


Fennel leaves




The following vegetables (you can add or omit in any other vegetables) would be fried with garlic and oil to enhance flavour
(for vegetarians they would always omitt garlic and onion)


'Money Chai'


Cabbage


Beans




Cut all vegetables finely, fry quickly with oil, garlic and salt



Chopped the herbs finely preparing to grind into paste


After saute vegetables


Put herbs, fried sesame seeds, fried peanuts, fried black pepper corns, fried ikan bilis and water to blender preparing Rei Chai paste


Tasty Rei Chai herbal paste


Finely chopped fried shrimp with dried minced daikon (dried minced white carrot), fried smaller peanuts but make sure got rid of skin (smell better)


Fried tofu cubes

Chopped dried daikon

Add oil and garlic to fry minced dried daikon and finely chopped dried prawns


Add more water to the paste, preparing boiled hot soup (some people would steam the soup)


Before adding herbal soup: Put rice, vegetables, beans, peanuts, tofu cubes, dried minced prawns, dried minced daikon in a bowl.


My sister would hide her rice underneath

After adding herbal soup, here it came Mama Hung's Lei Chai, simply Yummy!