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What is Lei Cha

The beater is also the grinder. Leicha is a health-preserving tea drink made by putting tea leaves, sesame seeds, peanuts and other raw materials into a bowl and then brewing them with boiling water. Lei Cha, popular in Shanwei City, Jieyang City, and some areas in Guangxi and western Hunan, is one of the ways to receive guests grandly and economically in the old days.

Its production method is: first put the tea leaves into the tooth bowl (a special kind of pottery with sawtooth pattern on the inner wall), after moistening, make a hammer (wooden pestle) about 3 feet long with hard wood such as pomegranate wood or lychee wood. Stir and mash, then put the cooked peanuts, sesame seeds, mint leaves, etc. into the tooth bowl to make a paste, add an appropriate amount of salt, and pour boiling water into it, so it is also called Lei Cha.

Then the host puts big handfuls of fried rice into a bowl of salted tea, and brings them steaming hot to the guests. Everyone sits in a circle in the living room, drinking and chewing, chatting about household chores, or talking about current events, while the host graciously adds salted tea and fried rice to persuade them to drink from time to time.

Regarding the origin of Lei Cha, there is a modern saying that it is a street snack sold by an old lady He Po in Nanguan City, Hepo Town, Jiexi County, Jieyang City, Guangdong Province. At that time, Nanguan City was the only way for Chaoshan and Huizhou to do business, and He Po’s Leicha relieved the fatigue of businessmen, so its reputation spread far and wide.

Lei Cha is distributed in six provinces in South China. The places where the ancient customs of Lei Cha are preserved include: Taoyuan, Linli, Anhua, Taojiang, Yiyang, Fenghuang, Changde and other places in Hunan; Hailufeng, Yingde, Luhe, Jiexi, Wuhua and other places in Guangdong Province; Jiangxi Province Ganxian, Shicheng, Xingguo, Yudu, Ningdu, Ruijin and other places in Fujian Province; Jiangle, Taining, Ninghua and other places in Fujian Province; Hezhou Huangyao, Guild, Babu and other places in Guangxi; Hsinchu and Miaosu in Taiwan and so on.

In addition, in Hehu, Luoshan, Jiaokeng, Railway, Luoshi, Xiushi and other places under the jurisdiction of Fengcheng City, Jiangxi Province (that is, the so-called Hedong area locally), Nanfeng County (Sangtian, Taiyuan, Taihe) in Fuzhou, Jiangxi Province ) and other places, there is also the custom of Lei Cha, but it is still unclear when its spread began. Its production method is much simpler than that of Hakka Lei Cha.

Lei Cha production methods vary from place to place, especially in the selection of ingredients. According to regions and ethnic groups, it can be divided into two categories: Hakka Lei Cha and Hunan (non-Hakka) Lei Cha.

For example, the folk Lei Cha in northwestern Fujian is made by putting tea leaves and an appropriate amount of sesame seeds in a pottery pot, grinding them into fine powder with tea sticks and adding boiling water; Qingyuan, Yingde, Shanwei City, Jiexi, The Hakka Leicha drunk by the Hakka people living in Puning and other places is to put the tea leaves into a tooth bowl (a Leicha pottery pot with lines on the inner wall) and grind it into powder, then add cooked peanuts and sesame seeds in turn, grind and grind it, and then add Add a little salt and coriander, and brew with boiling water.

There is a special custom of drinking sesame Lei Cha in Taohuayuan area of ​​Hunan Province. It is to grind tea leaves, ginger, and raw rice in a mortar made of hawthorn wood, and then wash it with boiling water for drinking. If you can put some sesame seeds and fine salt in, the taste will be more fragrant and delicious. When drinking Lei Cha from the Qin Dynasty, you should drink it while it is hot, and drink it slowly.

Taojiang Leicha in Hunan is mainly made of sesame seeds and peanuts, which are crushed in a mortar, brewed with boiled water, and then added with some sugar. Lei Cha is as sticky as a paste after it is made, the color is light coffee, the aroma is tangy, and the mouth is smooth, soft and sweet. The preparation method is roughly the same as Taoyuan, but the eating method is different.

Taojiang Lei Cha is usually sweetened with sugar, making it a “sweet drink”. Taoyuan Leicha uses salt, which is mostly “salty food”. Women in Taojiang have a special custom of drinking Lei Cha after they become pregnant. It is said that the more Lei Cha they drink, the whiter and fatter their babies will be.