BAK KUT TEH ( NON HALA FOOD)

BAK KUT TEH ( NON HALA FOOD)

Hi! folks,

The weather of this morning is cold and wet, it triggers me to have Bak Kut Teh to keep me warm,however, I enjoy this delicious food. Bak Kut Teh, which is basically pork cooked in herbal soup has Klang as its birthplace. It began with cooking meat in herbal soup so as to give strength to the hard working labourers who worked at the port. Later on it evolved into so many varieties, thicker, thin soup and dry type as well. 

Now, it is so famous that you can find Bak Kut Teh stalls in most parts of Malaysia and Singapore, with their signboard of “Klang Bak Kut Teh” to attract customers.

Kedai Makanan Seng Huat, popularly known as the Restaurant “Under the Bridge”, is located along the same row of shophouses next to the Port Klang KTM station. The other landmark you can look for would be the Ibu Pejabat Polis Daerah Klang. 

One obvious thing you will notice, when you walk into this restaurant, is that many kettles are placed strategically around the tables. These kettles are used to boil water for customers to brew their Chinese tea, which customer bring along or select from the basketful of tea leaves in bags by its waiters.

Then you will be given a number of small Chinese tea cups, depending on the number of your group, with one equally small tea pot for you to brew your tea. Here, can someone tell me why tea is chosen as companion of Bak Kut herbal soup?

There are variety of pork, from different parts of pig's body, you can choose from: fatty, lean, half-fat / half-lean, ribs, leg, spare parts such as intestines, stomach. You may eat with either white plain rice or mixed rice with fried shallots for a fragrant taste.

The soup is flavourful, with a reasonably strong hint of herbs though not overwhelming and the meat is really tender, which sort of melts in the mouth as a result of long hours of cooking. To add more excitement, you may add Yau Char Kuey (deep fried rolls). If you prefer it to be slightly crispier, then I suggest that you don't expose it in the herbal soup for too long. Nothing beats eating Yau Char Kuey shortly after it is fried.

The shop is open everyday from 7.00am till about 1.00pm and reopen from 5.00pm till about 11.00pm.

Here, I like to stress that tea is so highly appreciated everywhere and even the herbal soup best goes with Chinese tea, as its name suggested. Tea again is regarded as a good companion, as good contributor, in the Chinese community as it sets good example to its people.  

So, next time if you go to Klang, make sure you try this. Otherwise, your trip will not be complete without it. 

James Oh

Skype me at james.oh18

10 WAYS TO REALLY FIND TEH PRICE OF TEA IN CHINA

Hi! Folks,

Recently I also received an email from a blogger called Jessica Hulett who is so kind to share with me the article that they had just posted on their own blog.

Her kind thoughts and proposal for posting of her article in my blog is well accepted by me to mark a good kick start our co-operation to enrich my blog readers further. Thank her so much for her concerns and action.

As such, I am without any hesitation agree to it and append below is her article. Hope you enjoy it.

10 Ways to Really Find the Price of Tea in China

Posted on March 17, 2011 by admin

If you grew up like I did you may have heard your parents say a few times “What does that have to do with the price of tea in China?”  Well, I must confess that I have started using that same saying on my children and guess what?  They are now old enough to call me on it and throw it back in my face.  So now we have banter back and forth around variations of the “price of tea in China” saying.  Before I knew it, the whole thing got a bit out of control and I simply had to find out how I could know the price of tea in China daily. And thus, this list of 10 places to find the price of tea in China online was born:

1. Chinese Tea Store: This site offers a wide variety of authentic Chinese teas for a reasonable price. You can order as little as 25 grams or as much as 200 grams of tea.
2. Tea Trader: This tea trader site lists its Chinese teas in Canadian dollars and sell as much as 500 grams per premium tea.
3. Yixing Teapot Sale: This tea seller has a wide assortment of aged teas and special grade teas for a reasonable price.
4. Golden Teahouse: Check out Golden Teahouse’s collection of fine Chinese teas and monthly specials you don’t want to miss!
5. Chinese Tea Wholesales Center: If you’re looking to buy your tea at a good price, you need to check out this wholesale center that offers premium Chinese teas in bulk.
6. China Tea Mall: China Tea Mall gives you a thorough price guide and detailed tea description to make purchasing even easier.
7. Grand Tea Company: This Hong Kong-based company offers a wide variety of traditional and specialty teas in several different weights.
8. The Whole Leaf: The Whole Leaf sells just that – whole leaf tea, not tea bags. This purer form of tea is sold by the ounce or quarter pound.
9. Chinese Tea: This site offers a wide variety of traditional and aged teas and a dose of tea history for you to enjoy.
10. Chinese Culture: Check out what this online market has to offer and shop around for their special tea deals.

If you aren’t familiar with the origins of the saying, it’s not particularly complicated and dates back to the 19th century when the price of tea in England was particularly high.  It was actually highest when the first ship arrived back from China after their harvest. The ship owners would pay for the crop in China and then race back to England to try to get there first (since the first ship back got the highest payment and each subsequent ship got less). 

This became known as the tea clipper races.  So basically the saying evolved from those last ships that made it back complaining of the price they were getting in England and the response being what does that (the current price of tea in England) have to do with the price of tea in China?

Please share with us your view/experience. Thanks and stay tuned.

LOW FAT GREEN TEA LATTE

LOW FAT GREEN TEA LATTE

Hi! Tea Folks,

The two all-time-favourite beverages from Starbucks, Green Tea Latte and Caramel Macchiato, caught me by surprise as it never strike my mind to have tea and its stuff at the Starbucks.

After further investigation, I found that the above two beverages have a lighter option -- Low Fat Green Tea Latte and Low Fat Caramel Macchiato,

The Low Fat Green Tea Latte is a lightly sweetened blend of high quality green tea powder from Japan with steamed low-fat milk and topped with foam, making it appears smooth and creamy. Please share with us your experience with both, if you have tried them out.

I was also made to understand that its’ Low Fat Caramel Macchiato which is sweet and buttery, is made with freshly steamed low-fat milk too. It is also layered with rich espresso and drizzled with Starbucks's signature caramel sauce.

This healthy and popular espresso beverage takes on a lighter dimension with low-fat milk as its formula, rather than the standard whole milk, specially caters for customers who prefer a less creamy beverage.

In addition to the above two low-fat milk beverages, Starbucks's new full-leaf teas are available in five different flavours -- Mint Blend, Chamomile Blend, Spearmint Green, English Breakfast and Earl Grey. It really pampers its customer with choices, so as to deliver their commitment of the highest quality beverages to support their lifestyle.

With the above introduction, I do hope you don't make the same mistake as I did. Just drop at its nearest outlets and try these new menus. Hope you enjoy it.

Thanks and seeing you again

James Oh

Skype me at james.oh18

TEA SHAMPOO

Hi ! Everyone.

 Big congratulation to you for coming to the blog talk about tea, which is second most HIGHLY consumed after water.

This article I decided to illustrate further how tea has been closely associated with our daily life. It has been widely recognized and accepted as one of the important beverage. Its dried tea also can be used as pillow, fertilizer and etc.

Today, my article is going to touch on tea essence shampoo. No doubt, tea has also been widely accepted as a nutritious product in my country, today it is also used to produce tea essence shampoo and is easily available in Malaysia. Perhaps you may find such products in your country. Please update us in the comment column provided below. Thanks.

This uniquely formulated shampoo, with the antioxidant properties of tea, especially Green and White tea essence is able to revitalize hair. Here, anyone would like to share your thoughts or experiences in this aspect. You are always more than welcome here. No doubts, there have been lots of scientific proofs of such properties found in tea leave. Not surprising that some of you may have read or be aware of it..

Append below please find such a product which are available in my country for your viewing pleasure.

Thanks and look forward to seeing you again.

James Oh

Skype me at james.oh18

WATER

WATER

Hi ! Tea folks,

As some of you may be aware that water is the main component of brewing the best possible tea, apart from having good quality tea. As such, we cannot afford to ignore the significant importance of water. It has two great impacts on tea in term of type of water used and at what level the water is boiled.

In today's article, I am going to focus on the latter to ease the understanding. So, the question arises here is to what level the water should boil at. To answer this question, we need to know what type of tea you are brewing. Append below I have listed down  some useful guide for the respective type of teas:-

a) about 70-80 degree C for green tea;
b) 85 degree C are good for white or lightly oxidated Oolong teas;

It is interesting to know that the ancient tea masters, prior to invention of thermometer,  used visuals or hearing to determine the correct water temperature, for steeping tea, as appended below:-

a) when you see the bubbles like small fish's eyes or crab's eyes, that translate to about 70-80 degree, suitable for green tea.

b) When the bubbles grow bigger and like the size of crystal beads or pearls, indicates to 85 degree C, suitable for white and lightly oxidated Oolong teas.

c) As the billows surge wildly in the kettle, with the size of longans, the water is nearly reaching the boiling point and perfect for for steeping black or Pu'er teas.

That's the main reason for my preference of glass kettle, which I have blogged much earlier. You may read it again at the link below.

Before I pen off, I like to take this opportunity to share a useful Chinese poem in this connection which closely associates the sound of water gurgling in the kettle with other natural sounds from the wind or water flow as belows:-

a) "wind blowing through pine leave" which translates to water boiling at 75 degree C. b) Whereas sounds resembling "spring water spurting out of the stone ' which would be 85 degree C
c) "waves crashing on the shore", translate to 91 degree C.
d) When the water reach the boiling point, there is No sound at all.

Lastly, can you guess which step makes the most noise. Scroll down for the answer.



e)  However, half-boiled water makes the most noise. This phrase I believe is the most well known phrase in life and still applicable in today's world. Here, I write to congratulate those who answered it correctly.

Trust you find the above article not only entertaining, but also enriching as the name of this blog suggests. Please feel free to let us know as how to make this more entertaining and enriching should you have any idea/suggestion. Your valuable feedback is greatly appreciated.

Hope to seeing you again,

To your success in enriching life,

James Oh

Skype me at james.oh18

TREASURE OF AGED TEA

VERY WARM WELCOME HERE,

I  had always been approached and asked "What are the differences between  aged and new tea?"

In this article, I decided to address this question below in the hope that you have a better understanding.

New tea as opposed to aged tea, is usually harvested, produced and sold in the same season. As for aged tea, it is usually kept for a few years or even decades.

Naturally, the characteristics of new tea are fresh, sweet and astringent with aroma. As a consequence, the new tea is more exciting to your stomach and much easier to refresh your brain. Due to these similar reasons, new tea is not recommended for the elderly to drink.

The next question arises as how to take good care of the aged tea?

You may know that the aged tea is stored for long periods, so the taste is not fresh, and other tastes may be lost as well. Although the aged tea comes with the light flavor, its' taste mellows slowly and consistently.  It is worthy to note that high quality aged tea does not taste unpleasantly old or musty.

Append below please find the most common ways to age tea.

a) Sealing tea in the pot and then put in the cellar or
b) Bury into the ground.

In the above manners, tea will change favor slowly and naturally.

Lately, you may find some people prefer roasting out the tea every few years after starting the aged process in order to prevent bad odour. Please inform us more about this newly invented way, which I am sure it is of great assistance to the readers of this blog.

However, no matter which way tea is aged, if you don’t use the high quality tea, do not expect the poor taste tea to change to better ones. Hence, the high quality tea base is the most crucial for aged tea.

Interestingly to note that aged tea will tend to appreciate, similar to wine. Not surprisingly that it has been used as one of the hedging tools against inflation, which has become the current phenomena worldwide. These aged teas have increased in value many folds recently and big congratulations to those who have made a windfall. For those who have not, please spare some time to learn this hobby and you too can make such similar fortune.

Here, I must confess that I am very fortunate that my investment in the aged tea and apparatus had been successful and I can be well rewarded if I were to realize them. However, I still prefer to keep them and continue to learn more of this hobby.

Thank God and those who had assisted me in such a rewarding investment and hobby.

Stay tuned and look forward to hearing from you,

James Oh