lui.cha.擂.茶

another childhood dish. another nostalgic moment.  another memory journey.  another old photo. 

mum made this quite often when i was young.  i have to help with chopping, cutting, pounding... i also remember my uncle (from my mum side) made this dish rather differently.

on our recent trip home, he is constantly craving for lui cha in the night, while this dish is generally serve more as a breakfast or brunch.  so on the next morning, we got to this home stall where their lui cha has been featured on astro television. 

the broth is great, creamy and not greasy, so as the vegetables, fragrant but without grease. 

 the soup is think, rich in body and complexity of taste, lui cha such a palate cleansing meal. he loved it so much that he ordered the second bowl.

and a day after, we were at my SIL's kopitiam where my uncle (my mum's younger brother) has a stall selling lui cha.  uncle uses puffed rice (when he made it at home) and a really bitter grinned tea...  from young, i never enjoy my uncle's version as i was not use to the bitterness of the  soup back then.

my uncle's version is alright, the broth is thinner but the vegetable bowl comes with generous dried anchovies.  the soup is a lot bitter but less texture and complexity. we got the broth recipe from my uncle but we will never be able to reproduce this in the lowland as some of the herbs used in the broth is nonexistence here.

on our very last day in kota kinabalu, my sister brought us to a stall in foushan for the lui cha but this is really a disappointing greasy bowl. although i ordered an extra bitter broth but the grease in the vegetable bowl ruined the entire lui cha experience.

on the contrary, i enjoyed mum's simpler and lighter version, just using steamed rice and very hot and strong oolong tea as the broth.

of course living in the europe, some of these ingredients don't come easy and is depending on the season.  we eat this so often that we can improvise and substitute some ingredients but still maintain the taste of this heritage dish. we couldn't find the native green here, kaylan is the closest but is usually expensive and only sold in asian grocery stores, so we finally substitute with brussels sprouts as both give the bitter after tone that is needed for lui cha.

and as a result a home made lui cha is attainable at home.