Hakka Lui Cha 客家擂茶

MEANING OF 擂 . 

This Chinese character擂 , consists of 16 strokes. Definition: beat / to grind, beat (a drum) (léi, lèi) 擂 [ beat / to grind] ; 擂 [ to beat (a drum)]

This 雷 (13 strokes in writing,十三笔书写 ) is Chinese character for 'thunder' but pronounced as the same as 擂 (grind/beating).

In Hakka dialect pronounciation, Hakka Lui Cha 客家擂茶, preferably served with 7 types of vegetables. The name of this dish is not really "thunder tea" (as interpreted literally) but instead, it means "ground tea" 擂茶.

We grind tea leaves inside a clay pot which has very rough surface inside , using a guava stick. 

我们使用番石榴棒在内部表面非常粗糙的陶罐中研磨茶叶。

Most people are familiar with the Cantonese’s custom to have 'yee sang' toast salad with raw fish on the 7th day of Chinese New Year. but my grandmother, being of Hakka origin practises the tradition of having Hakka Lui Cha on the 7th day, preferably served with 7 types of vegetables. The name of this dish is not really “thunder tea” (as interpreted literally) but instead, it means “ground tea”. The original way of making the base for the soup is to grind/pound the ingredients using a branch off qthe guava tree into powder. However, my generation has long ago embraced the modern way, i.e. using a blender. lol. And I am sure  version is modified to suit our family’s tastebuds, which is very different from the original one.

And here’s roughly how my grandmother makes her lui cha :

Herbs for the soup base;

1. thai basil (九層塔)

2. mint (薄荷)

3. coriander / cilantro (香菜/芫荽)

4. laksa leaf / vietnamese coriander (越南香菜/叻沙葉)

5. perilla

6. sawtooth herb

And tea leaves (茶葉),ikan bilis (dried anchovies), peanuts (花生), sesame seeds (芝麻).

Blanch all the herbs and grind them in your blender, along with the rest of your ingredients for the soup base. then pour the entire thing into a huge pot and add water. Bring to boil and voila, the soup is ready.

The accompaniments is relatively easy. choose leafy vegetables and chop them up finely before stir-frying with garlic and salt. Our usual choices are :

1. long bean (长豆)

2. leek (蒜)

3. garlic chives (韭菜)

4. chinese chard / bok choy / choy sum (菜心)

5. cangkuk manis – can’t find any name in english/chinese but it’s a dark green leafy vegetable that tastes sweet and is normally served with pan mee.

6. qiao tou (荞头) – i don’t really know what this is called in english, but google seems to suggest its buckwheat greens? but the whitish bulbs are more like onions than buckwheat.

the must-have accompaniment is the salty combination of dried beancurd (豆乾 – diced & deep-fried), dried shrimps (虾米) and dried radish (菜仆干- diced). the trio is stir-fried until fragrant before being served.

I’ll normally only take a little rice, then take a nice scoop of all the accompanying vegetables, together with the fried dried-trio, add some roasted peanuts before pouring the soup over everything. Mix well and dig in! However, the taste of the soup is an acquired taste and most first-timers tend to take the soup separately.

Chris on August 3, 2008 at 9:23 pm

Hi! Could you tell me how much herbs to be used for each type in order to make this dish? Hope to hear from you soon, thanks! Chris

Reply:  we normally buy these in bunches from the market. 1-2 bunches of each will do the trick.

Doris Yong on September 30, 2009 at 8:49 am

Hi

Can you let me know translate in chinese “perilla” and “sawtooth herb” as I need to let the vegetable stall holder know what I want to buy. Plse also let me know how much to buy for each type of ingredient (estimate for about 8 people). Thank You and Best Regards.

Mumsie on January 26, 2010 at 4:23 pm

i tasted it for the very first time today and i liked it!…:-)

julie on September 6, 2010 at 1:47 pm

i like to eat lui cha very much.only in kuching i can taste lui cha. there are stalls selling them but majarity of them don’t taste nice. where i can buy those herbs (young plants to plant) so that i can make my own lui cha.

Cindy Chen on June 14, 2011 at 2:54 am

Hi! Both my parents are Hakka and I remembered fondly of festivals filled with running kids, mahjong pieces clacketing away and tables crowded with, yes, Hakka dishes. The staple – Ham Cha (or to most people Lui Cha). Anyway, to cut the story short, I’d just like to contribute a little to your article above:

1) Sawtooth herb is also known as Hak Chee Farang (Thai) or Ketumbar Jawa (Malay) – probably easier to buy in a Malay stall with loads of ulam

2) Cangkuk manis is also known as Sayur Manis or Shu Jai Choi (Cantonese)

3) Qiao Tou – not sure what this is, but in our family, we use Choy Pou (Cantonese) which is preserved radish

My hubs and I loves this dish. Quite an acquired taste yet, funny enough, we have quite a few Mat Salleh friends who love Ham Cha too! 😀

epicuriousgirl says: great hearing from you re lui cha. we have a lot of friends who have fallen in love with it too… we also use choy pou but the qiao tou is this bulb vegetable quite similar to chives/spring onions.

Nila on July 22, 2011 at 6:02 pm

Hi all…

I really like hakka lui cha, Im Hakka people from Indonesia. My big family always meet and eat lui cha, most favoried menu for us…..

qiao tou (荞头) if indonesian languange said “KUCAI”

Lui Cha we loved it….. ^_^ (Nila)

cindy on March 20, 2014 at 6:43 pm

wondefull

Johnathan Oh on August 13, 2011 at 10:38 am

Great stuff! Be making it for dinner tonight. Wish me luck! 😀