AN INSIGHT INTO JAPANESE TEA CULTURE
Tea drinking has been a pillar of Japanese culture for over 1000 years, and Shizuoka is one of the largest green tea growing regions in the country, home to several tea auctions for the buying and selling of tea leaves. The famous Shizuoka Japanese Tea Market is the only tea market that handles tea from all over Japan, working with a large number of tea buyers across the country.
Farmers pick tea leaves in the afternoon and roll them at night before sending the freshly rolled tea to the tea market early the next morning. Hand-rolled tea is a special form of Japanese craftsmanship, and though the craft typically yields a much smaller volume, it results in a better aroma than when machine-rolled.
Tea buyers participate in a rigorous selection process to decide which tea leaves they wish to purchase. The selected varietal of tea leaves are then steeped in boiling water for a short period of time, after which the leaves are tested for aroma and the tea for taste. The final step is analysing the colour and the clarity of the brewed tea to determine the quality of tea leaves—the clearer the liquid, the better the quality.
PROCESSING TEA LEAVES
This story is from the November - December 2019 edition of WINE&DINE.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the November - December 2019 edition of WINE&DINE.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
New Blood
The next-generation is breathing new life into the forgotten art of spice-mixing, peppering the traditional trade with renewed ideas and fresh perspectives.
Sharing Is Caring
Compared to its flagship at Serene Centre, Fat Belly Social at Boon Tat Street is a classier and bolder affair, in more than one sense.
Nutmeg's Role In Singapore's History
From tales of it being used to ward off the plague in mid-1300s Europe to one of the ingredients in dessert, we have all known, tasted, or at least heard of nutmeg. But not many know of the spice’s role in Singapore’s history.
New And Improved
The ever-profound chef-owner Kenjiro ‘Hatch’ Hashida finds more room, three to be exact, to express a Ha Ri philosophy at Hashida Singapore’s new location at Amoy Street.
Pairing Spice-Driven Cuisines With Wine
Pairing spice-driven cuisines with wine has long been a challenge but with a little imagination, it doesn’t have to be.
Let Land Grow Wild
Niew Tai-Ran has worn many hats: aeronautical engineering major, investment banker, avid surfer, and, for the last 14 years, winemaker. Discover how this Malaysia-born, Singapore-native is championing the “do-nothing farming” philosophy at his vineyard in Oregon.
The South Asian Misnomer
Incredibly diverse and varied than most know, Indian food is far more intriguing than butter chicken or thosai. Here is a crash course on the extensive cuisine from region to region, recognisable for the seemingly infinite ways of using spices.
Keepers Of The Spice Trade
From its glory days along trade routes to pantry staples all over the world, spices have become so commonplace that we’ve taken them for granted. For these three trailblazers, however, spice is their livelihood and motivation: Langit Collective working with indigenous rural farming communities in Malaysia; IDH’s Sustainable Spice Initiative; and chef Nak’s one-woman mission to share forgotten Khmer cuisine.
Sugar, Spice And Everything Nice
Like food, spices bring vibrancy and variety to alcoholic beverages. Surfacing in unexpected ways on the palate, find everything from cumin to tamarind, cloves to cardamom enriching these drinks.
Building Blocks From The Archipelago
For the smorgasbord of dishes found in Indonesian cuisine, it is a little known secret that the modest bumbu, in all its variants, is the bedrock of such flavourful fare.