Lemongrass Tea

The last time I saw someone get a gift of Adagio lemongrass tea, I thought that $12/8oz  + shipping is a lot to pay for something you can make yourself. Lemongrass tea is just the chopped up, dried form of the plant. It takes about a week (during autumn/winter) to dry at room temperature on trays. The fresh stalks are typically sold fresh in Asian grocery stores or supermarkets that also carry Asian cuisine ingredients. A bundle of 3-4 lemongrass stalks will cost about $1.60-$3.00, depending in where you shop.

The seafood market (ABC Seafood) in Portland is where I last picked up this culinary herb.  It is typically used to make the lemony part of Tom Yun soup (a hot & sour soup originating from Thailand/Laos). 

After processing the lemongrass stalks, it would be better to make the tea while the stalks are fresh rather than when they are dried if you want a more lemony taste to the tea. A hot cup of tea made from the dried, cut stalks tastes a lot like water that has been mixed with a light lemon essence. But, if a non-citrus lemony tea is what you want to relax with, lemongrass tea is also non-caffeinated.

TheFoodening Blog: lemongrass stalks, all chopped up
and ready to be dried for tea

After trimming the stalks of the rough, woody root part and the tops, peel off any of its 'leaves' that have dark spots on them. Use a sharp knife or kitchen shears to cut the stalks into 1/2" to 3/4" pieces. Use a sharp knife to quarter (vertically) each piece. This will help the lemongrass dry faster.

Don't try to chop these later in a food processor after they have dried. It does not work.

Tibetan Butter Tea ("po cha")

After landing at the small airport in Lhasa, Tibet in 2001, one of the first beverages consumed was butter tea; graciously offered to us by the hotel our group stayed at. A truly authentic butter tea would be made from yak milk, yak butter, and a special black tea that has been compressed into a brick. In the US, however, yaks are pretty hard to come by and zoos aren't about to give up their yak milk for this recipe. The taste aspect that you lose from using dairy cow milk is the pungent and strong aftertaste from traditional butter tea. You could substitute cow milk for goat milk, I suppose.

2001, Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet
You could say that I am standing on the roof of the "Roof of the World". 

This recipe ratio comes from Lobsang Wangdu, Tibetan cookbook author of "Tibetan Home Cooking".

Serves: 2

Ingredients

4 c water

2 heaping teaspoons of good quality black tea

1/4 tsp salt

2 tbsp unsalted or salted butter

1/3 c half 'n' half or whole milk

Directions

1. Bring water to a boil in a small pot. Add tea and let steep for a few minutes. Add salt and stir. Then strain out the loose tea, unless using a mesh tea ball or teabags. Add milk. Remove pot from heat.

2. With an immersion blender (or stand blender), mix the tea liquid with butter and churn (or shake in a lidded container) for 2-3 minutes.

Tea is best served when it is very hot.