This is not the green tea for drinking.  I have been longing to eat the Green Tea Soup with rice. The Chinese name for this delicious vegan dish is called "lui cha".  Lui is green and cha is tea. It's vegan, healthy, low fat, high in fiber, filling and delicious. This meal is gluten free if you do not use tofu as one of our accompaniment dish.

The key is the green tea paste to make the broth.  Here's the preservative free green tea soup paste recipe:

1 cup Thai basils 

1 cup fresh mint leaves 

1/4 cup cilantro 

2 tea bags of Lipton decaffeinated green tea

1/2 cup dry roasted peanuts

1 1/2 tablespoon dry roasted sesame seeds

2 cloves of garlic - chopped

1 teaspoon of black pepper 

1 teaspoon of sea salt, or to taste

1 teaspoon of grapeseed oil

1 cup of cold water

(Serves 2 - 4 people)

1.  Coarsely chop basil, mint and cilantro.  Heat a medium size saute pan with grapeseed oil.  Add chopped garlic and saute until it's fragrant. Add the chopped basil, mint and cilantro and saute for 30 seconds add black pepper and sea salt to taste. Remove from pan. Cut open the tea bags and add the refined green tea into the mixture.

2.  Put the peanuts and sesame seeds in a chopper or grinder.  Blend until it is very fine.  Add herb mixture and cold water, blend until it's smooth.

3.  To serve, scoop two tablespoons of the green tea soup mixture and add 1 cup of hot water to dissolve the mixture. Scoop rice in a bowl, add your favorite stir fry veggies and pour the green tea soup over rice. Top with more peanuts for crunchiness.  

(Herbal Green Tea Soup Mixture)

(Green Tea Mixture Dissolved)