Thunder Tea Rice: One for the Ladies?
With Damien and smart
Thunder Tea Rice or Lei Cha Fun is one of those dishes that are bound to get very mixed responses. My two makankakis that day wouldn't even spare a calorie to eat it spewing expletives like "It's like prison food" and "Hospital food tastes heaps better". Others are actually hooked on the dish and expound on its wonderful virtues of being able to lower cholesterol, detoxify the body, relieve stress, aid digestion, combat flu, boost the immune system etc etc etc. (With food like this, who would need a doctor?)
OK, so it is a dish which polarizes seemingly homogeneous Singaporeans into two opposing camps just like supporters of Liverpool and Man U. Another assertion made by my makankaki (I shall not reveal which one) is that Thunder Tea Rice is a dish for health conscious ladies. Such statements only serve to ruffle the leg hair of women libbers. Hey some women like their Pork Lard too, OK!
For those in the DON'T know, Thunder Tea Rice is called Thunder Tea Rice because of the bowl of Tea which accompanies the rice. The Tea is made from a mix of Green Tea, Basil, Mint and another herb called Yomogi. These are all ground up in a special bowl and then made into a tea which is to be added into your rice. The other ingredients such as pickled radishes, long beans, peanuts, dried shrimps, fried tofu are all prepared and topped onto the rice.
For those who have not eaten this before, I think your reaction would be similar to my two makankakis. How can pouring a bowl of slightly bitter and astringent Tea into rice be nice? Plus its all veggies man! And it ain't even fried rice!
OK, it wasn't all bad. It was quite ok and tastes even better when you think to yourself "Detox, lower cholesterol, lose weight, unclog arteries, clear complexion.......". Ohhh yum yum. But seriously, peanuts and pickled radishes do go quite well with rice and you do get your carbo rush. But for me, tea in rice really is an acquired taste which I found no absolute need to acquire. 3.5/5
Conclusion
I will think about eating this whenever I am in one of my health conscious moods or when I am out to play a prank on some unsuspecting foreigner looking for "die die must try" Singapore food. But seriously (again), for those who really are looking for healthier choice hawker food, this is really not bad.
Thunder Tea Rice
Stall 86 Maxwell Road Food Centre
10.30am to 3.30pm daily
24 comments:
As a foodie, I love to try new and different food items. Chance upon this Thunder Tea Rice thingy at Suntec Food Republic.I'll only try this once...regardless the health benefits!..... And I'm a health concious lady.
I prefer the original one at Amoy Street or Far East Square.
I'm a Hakka, the making of thunder tea rice is one of the family bonding experience.
For such a simple dish, the work of dicing, etc.. is no joke.
Thunder Tea Rice is an acquired taste dish.
// We're trained from young.
My hubby(he's a teochew) always says that he's modified version is better.
Instead of using vegetables, use different type of meat.
(bacon, minced pork, shredded chicken, ham, etc...)
Next time, try the home cooked version, it's much nicer than the commercial ones, esp if you can get the one w crispy rice puff. =)
the suntec food republic's thunder rice is not bad indeed. they serve it with a choice of white or brown rice, and a set consists of a side dish of egg omelette and fried tofu with minced meat on top.
i'm a hakka as well, though i've never been brought up to eat such stuff.
i love it nonetheless! =P
tasted it once and ill never eat it again unless its the last meal on earth.
erm... not my cup of tea lah...
I guess it's hard to find a real good tasty "thunder tea" in Singapore, that's why many people do not like the taste (which I feel is not of the original taste). Being a pure Hakka person, I've been eating thunder tea since young and the taste of the thunder tea sold outside is nowhere near the thunder tea that my family makes. The homemade thunder tea is very fragrant and the original recipe is passed down through generations. But the time and effort to make good thunder tea is tremendous, maybe that's why my family do not make thunder tea that often.
For example, when grinding the ingredients for the tea, my family insisted on using a thick branch from a guava tree to grind it with a big special type of grinding bowl. I do not know the reason behind it but this tradition has been passed down from my ancestors.
As a Hakka thunder tea lover, I feel quite sad that Singapore do not sell delicious thunder tea (uncovered gem?).
Yeah either you LOVE it or HATE it. I quite like it but then again have only eaten the one at China Square. I don't use up all the soup though, it makes the flavours too diluted. The ikan bilis in the rice is critical in flavouring the soup! The soup on its own is not as nice. I know some people say it tastes like Colgate! lol
oooo....I love the lei char fun from China Square Food Centre, will order an additional tau kwa with "minced meat" filling and the lot goes well with chopped chilli padi..:)
My wife who is Hakka ate too much, that's why she has THUNDER THIGHS, haha. Ladies, you've been warned :)
Is that the reason why this is a local phenomenon ? No wonder we had to import in talents
i happen to find the vegetarian version Thunder Tea Rice sold at Pine Tree vegetarian stall (Harbour Front Food Court) and Ci Yan Vegetarian Cafe (Smith Street), the best, much much better than the non-vegetarian versions at Maxwell, China Square, Amoy St, Golden Shoe.
I would try it at least once.. ;)
i'm absolutely wif e "hate it" party!!!
i would never try or eat it, unless like wat ken mun said: it's e last meal on earth!!!
i just can't stand "greeny-colored 'juice'" like thunder tea or wheatgreen or chlorophyll juice!!!
yucks! e tot of it sends chill to my spine n made me shiver!!!
Hey it is incorrect to call this "Thunder Tea".
The "Lei" in the "Lei Cha" means "grind". It is not even the correct Chinese word for "thunder".
I know the stall has gotten it wrong but still...
LOL
I've had some perfectly horrific versions such as too much chye poh or "soup" that was too dilute but the place that serves up the dish best (and consistently) would be this one at Geylang
ia Xiang Ho Po Hakka Lei Cha Fan
134 Sims Ave S387456
(Near Lor 17 Geylang)
I tried this after reading your blog. It happened to be after lunch time, was queueing behind a lady than suddenly the lady said, "i ordered this 40mins ago and yet its still not ready!"...one china guy, "will it shorten ur life while waiting somemore time." GEEEESSSSSSSSSSSH wat an attitude!...gd buiz doesnt mean you can show your attitude to your customers...
Anyhow, i ordered what was recommended in the blog, its nice and refreshing but abit salty for me. And the soup, thank GOD i tried it before pouring into the rice (which was recommended by some people)..yuckky yuckky n more yuckky...overall, its still an ok meal for me but unless really needed, if not, i dont think i will go back to there again...first due to the svc attitude and lastly, the colors of the presentation just put me off.
Hiya,
Glad someone is talking about Lei Tea [as what "other said..." not Thunder Tea, lah?!? ;^) but very funny or should it be apt?].
Being a Hakka myself, I only discover this dish while I was shopping in JB. Since then, whenever I have a yearning for Lei Tea, I always go back JB to eat it. Because I have yet to find a stall in Singapore that does as good as theirs.
Cheers,
viv
I must agree that Lei Cha is an acquired taste. (Even if I'm technically half hakka, compliments from my mother.)
Anyway, I do like the one from Bukit Batok East Ave 4. (There's only one.) The vegetables & tou-kan are nicely stir-fried and the roasted peanuts add a lovely crunch to it as well.
The thing is, I dont pour the tea into my rice as I hate mushy food.
I order take away and they pack the 'sauce' separately. Unlike the conventional method to eat Lei Cha, I dont add hot water to the 'sauce'. Instead, I mix the green 'sauce' into my rice directly. (Amount to add, is based entirely on your personal preference. I add 3/4 of the entire portion.)
The result is fragrant rice plus an interesting texture from the vegetables, without the mucky, unappetising presentation. I'd suggest you can drink the tea/soup separately.
I'm a Teochew and I like it. Maxwell one is the only one I've ever tried though. I went there one evening and it's a fatherly uncle who's very friendly who served me. I believe he's the boss. No rude China guy...hee...
Tried it and I felt like a cow eating grass. I'll rather have a plate of stirred-fried veggies.
Jan
yet to try but sounds similar to what the Japanese have on their menu as Ochazuke (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ochazuke)... yet to find a Japanese place that offers this dish.
they are not there anymore. Closed some months ago.
I like Lei Cha Fan at Food Republic @ Vivo. The perfect carbo rush especially after a tough gym session. Just don't pour the soup into the rice dish. Go for the brown rice version. Yummy.
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