Lei Cha is a traditional rice dish accompanied by several sides of vegetables
Toppings
– nuts (15g)
– dried tofu (100g)
– cabbage (125g)
– preserved turnip (100g)
– dried shrimps (125g)
– kai lan (125g)
– long beans (125g)
The whole thing is then drenched in tea soup
I made the paste and add hot water to my liking. The paste consist of Thai basil, mint, coriander, peanuts and sesame seeds.
I missed Singapore so much that I’ve started to cook food I missed in Singapore. This is not typical Singaporean food. It’s a Hakka cuisine but I love it.
Don’t think it is a dish for everyone but I personally love this. I am so lucky to find this recipe online (sharefood.sg). Please visit their website for more recipes.
Personally, I think recipes are very precious. I only share them when the owners gave their permission to. I think it is basic respect.
It was a challenge to get the ingredients in Hong Kong. So thankful to my helper to get them for me.
Personally, I prefer to get better grade ingredients. Hence, I prefer to get them myself. However, when it comes to Asian food, I need more flexibility.
It looks like a simple meal but there are many steps to it. You need to stir-fry all the vegetables individually.
I reduced the quantity of ingredients as we do not eat much rice. Hence, I made adjustment and halved everything.
Garlic Rice (1.5 cup)
- (Add some oil) Pan fry garlic till brown
- Add rice, a pinch of salt & 1/2 teaspoon of chicken powder
- Add 250ml of water
- Pour it into the rice cooker
- Top up the water till required level for 1.5 cup of rice
Toppings
- Clean and chop the toppings
- (Add some oil & garlic) Pan fry toppings individually
- Put each topping in a separate bowl
Lei Cha Paste (Thai basil 100g, mint 100g, coriander 60g, peanuts 120g and roasted sesame seeds 30g)
- (Add oil) Add root of coriander and stir-fry
- Add the remaining coriander, Thai basil and mint (chopped)
- Just a quick stir and off the heat
- Stir-fry the peanuts
- Add all the above into a blender
- Plus 1 teaspoon of chicken powder
- Add water accordingly to your needs as each blender requires different amount of water (However, make sure it
is paste-like texture
The whole process took me more than an hour as I was taking my time to make sure I got the steps right.
Place the garlic rice at the bottom on the bowl. Lay out each ingredients. Sprinkle some roasted sesame seeds. I just add the paste without any hot water as I like it drier.
However, the usual is to add the hot water to the paste. Stir it and add into the bowl of garlic rice and ingredients. Mixed them well and enjoy.
I will share where I got the ingredients later.
Husband tried it and liked it.
Till then…
Jessica Tamaki 