Thunder Tea Rice Soup (Clear Soup)

Again, this is the improvised version of the thunder tea rice soup. The traditional way of making this soup is much more complicated, by using wooden pestle to grind all the ingredients until powdery. Then, hot water is poured into these ingredients like groundnuts, sesame seeds, green tea leaves, coriander, ngai etc. We just don’t have the luxury of the time!

What I did was, place the basic ingredients like basil leaves, mint leaves, coriander, and ginger with water in pot and bring to a boil to extract their contents, then mixed with green tea powder and the rest of the ingredients. It is easier, isn’t it?

Some herbs had been left out in this recipe, due to the difficulties in getting them. If you can’t find basil leaves, you can consider by replacing more mint leaves and coriander.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 8 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 50g-75g basil leaves (stems removed before weighing)
° 50g mint leaves (stems removed before weighing)
° 1 stalk (25g) coriander, with root
° 2 slices ginger
° 500ml water
° salt, to taste
° ½ teaspoon green tea powder, or to taste
° 1-1½ teaspoons roasted/toasted sesame seeds, finely pounded
° 1-1½ teaspoons peanut powder (optional)

Method
1. Place the basil leaves, mint leaves, coriander, ginger and water in a pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 3-5 minutes. Remove all the ingredients with a slotted spoon and discard.
2. Season to taste with salt. Stir in the green tea powder, sesame seeds, peanut powder and mix well.
3. Ladle the soup into individual serving bowls, sprinkle few sesame seeds and serve hot.