Jiexi Lei Tea
Nanguancheng was later known as Hepo Town , Jiexi County , Jieyang City , Guangdong Province . Lei Cha is still a staple food in that area. The Hakka people in Jiexi have a custom of making Lei Cha. In summer and autumn, when the weather is very hot, people often don’t feel like eating after working, so they often eat Lei Cha as lunch. At noon, when guests come to visit, the host must cook Lei Cai to entertain them. Before a girl gets married, all the neighbors who accept the wedding candies will also cook a bowl of Xianglei tea for the bride to express congratulations. In addition, when the sickness in the family recovers, they will also cook some and invite the neighbors who have taken care of the sick to express their gratitude. .
It’s not complicated to make
The production of Jiexi Lei tea is not complicated. The main ingredient is rice or popcorn, but the ingredients are complicated. Put peanuts, sesame seeds, tea leaves, Jinbuhuan or bitter-spicy cores in a beating bowl, beat them into a paste with a tea stick, rinse with boiling water, and then fry some dried radishes, cabbage , green onions, shallots, soybeans , Vegetables, etc. Or add some lean shredded pork, shrimp rice, squid, etc., and finally mix cooked white rice (or popcorn). Such Lei Cha tastes sweet, sour, spicy, bitter, and salty, which is very appetizing and flavorful.
Especially on the seventh day of the first lunar month every year, every household eats Leicha. Because it uses seven kinds of vegetables on the seventh day of the first lunar month, it is called “seven kinds of vegetable tea”.
Long history
Jiexi Lei tea has a relatively long history. Lu Yu ‘s Book of Tea, Volume 3, “I heard that there was a poor Shu woman in the south who sold tea porridge .” Combined with the legend of Hepo’s place name, this Shu woman may refer to He Po. Lu Yu is from the Tang Dynasty and has a history of more than a thousand years.
What he calls tea porridge is to grind tea leaves into fine rice, add rice flour, oil and salt, and make tea balls or tea cakes. Onion, ginger, pepper, cinnamon and other seasonings are boiled with water and boiled into a large pot of tea porridge for everyone to eat. This is the original Lei Cha.
Wonderful legend
Jiexi Lei Cha has its wonderful legend. During the Northern Song Dynasty, Pan Renmei went south to conquer the Southern Han Dynasty on the order of Song Taizong , and sent a small team to attack Guangzhou via Jiexi. When he arrived at He Po, because most of the soldiers were from the north, and the weather was hot and the water and soil were unacceptable, the soldiers were vomiting and diarrhoea, and the generals were in a hurry, but they were helpless. “Drinking Lei tea cures illness. According to her needs, she ordered some people to pick tea leaves, some to dig for ginger, some to grind rice, and some to go for a bowl and a stick.
After all these things are done, a large amount of Leicha will soon be made. Because of the use of a beating bowl, it is called “leicha”. Mrs. He said that each of the fallen soldiers would drink a large bowl of scalding tea, and then sleep with their heads covered. Woke up the next day, everyone was sweating profusely and sneezing. Strangely enough, the patients recovered. Later, some of the troops who conquered the south stayed in the fields, so Lei tea was handed down not only in Jiexi County , but also in places where Hakka people lived in northern Guangdong, western Hunan , and southern Gansu, and became a major feature of southern food and folk customs.
