I have succeeded in preparing the straight-up bonkers beverage known variably as Mongolian tea, Kalmyk tea, Suutei tsai, nomads' tea (the latter name might be a Russian-only thing) and it turned out...
Well, s̀̒u̐̈͒̈̓͊r̍̀ͪ͌̐ͬpͥ̈́ͦ̈̃ͤrͥ̈́̽̐ỉ̾ͨ̚sinͩg͗̓̂̅l̅ͧ̏̉ͤy̿ g̥̹̺͖͕ͧ̌̉̐̀ͬͪo̝̲ͧ̓̒͋͆ͭ͑o̟͓͕̖͌d̮̥͖̔ͣ͊ͭͨ̒.͎̙̫̓̆̓̽̌͌ I̲͝ ̲̋ͩ̿̿͑́̚c̴͈̖͒ͣa̛͋ṇ̪̣̻̔͗ ̲̩̳̃s̗̘̭̙͇ͮe̷̯̗͔̰̱͎͍̿e̜̦̩̹ͧ͑ͤ̑̎ͯͅ ̫͙͈̅ͦ̍͒ͫ̄̚ą̳̟͇͍̠̞̑͆̃l̸͙̰̗͕͎̹͛̂̂ͥͪͅl̟͆̾͋ͬ͒ ̢̦̭̬̠̜t͔̪͙̬̣͂̐͒͡ͅh̏̈́̃͊͆͂e̻͕̩͓̤̩ͦ̄ ̮̤̫̭̙̞͍̑͊̈́͌w͓̑͗ͯ͂͒͆a̻̰̙̲͙ͨͩ̾͢y̗͉̣̹̳͙̎͛͞ ť͏̸͖̦̼̭̜ơ̤̣̪͕͈̾ͯ̉̄͆ͩ͜ͅͅ ̡͚̯͉̎̊ͦ͜͠t̟̜̮̏̅̿̏̈̄͗͆̎͞ḩ̛̲̘͕̲͍̩̘ͭ̌̓͗͛e͛̅̓ͫ͋́̎̔͏͉̝͘͘ G̻̫͈̞̞͔͖̞̭͙̰͓̪̟̟̼̲̜͂̈́̎̐ͫͬ́̉ͦ͛̏̑͘͘͜o͊̄͊̿̾̊̇͑͊̚͏̛͏͓̬̰̬̮͈͈̝l̶̖͍̺̦̰̟̲̼̥̯ͪ̅̉͒̑̿̅̎́d̢̜̫̘̟̠͓̤͚́̈́̈ͭ̔̒͡ͅȩ̶̶̧͇̲̯͙̭̞͇̩̠͔̥̟̖̳̖̭̐ͦ̃̑͛̅ͩ͋͆̄̾̂̾̒́̾n̛ͭ͊̽̆̐ͩͤ͜͢͝҉̗̤̘̦̣̮ ̨̢̘͚̤̟̞͕͍̤̱͇̳̳͖͍͎̘̦̝̫͆ͫ̍̄̌ͨ̓͛̈́ͦ͠Ç̶̺̱̻̹͖̹̘͕̗̗̖̎͒ͦ͐̊̆̀ͅî̷̧̹̪̼̤̈ͧͦ̈͛ͭ̎ͯͦ̑͟͝t̸̳̙̖̫̜̙̠̲̫͎̜̰͖͇̺̯̟̒̃ͤ̊̋̑̃̎ͧͭ̽̏͊̒ͬ͜y̨͌ͮͧͨ̒̄͌ͦ̃ͩͦ̋̌ͯͪ͊̈̀̚͜͏̢̙͙̗̗̞ f̣̠̓͂̈́̎ͫ͛r̲̫ͯͥ̔̇o̭̝̪͉̙̪̎ͣ̿̈ͮ̓͟m̷̨̹̖̘͓ͯͅ ̫̤̱̪̭̋͌ͯ́͠h̾ͤ̐ͭ̿̅ͣ̈́҉̵̸̹e̺̱̞̻͒̿͑̿̑ͮ̎͝r͈̗̣̙̠͒ͨeͭ̇ͦ͏̬͇̟.͖͓̝̭̮͍̎ͧ͋̈́̔ͮ͘͘͞
Erm. Does anybody want the recipe?
After looking it up on Wikipedia...
...yes. Yes I would like your recipe, if you would be so kind.
Well, for proper Kalmyk tea, you need pressed green tea, but that's hard to find, so you can just use regular green tea. The ingridients are:
Green tea (approx. a tablespoon, less if it terrifies you)
Water, 1.5 glass
Milk, also 1.5 glass
Butter, half a teaspoon
Salt, just a pinch. Seriously, a liddle-widdle pinch. Oversalting it turns out just about as well as you'd expect.
Those are the essentials, but one must also have spices. I used black pepper (two, three grains), laurel leaf (half a leaf) and nutmeg (a pinch).
First, you heat the water to a simmer and put the tea in. Start heating the milk while you're at it, too. The tea is simmered for ~15 minutes, then the spices, salt, and milk are added, and it's simmered for an additional ~10 minutes. During the whole cooking process it's stirred by a special method - you take some tea out with a ladle and then pour it back from a height. Okay, so after it's done simmering, you put the butter in, put a lid on your vessel, and leave it for an additional ~15-20 minutes. Stir a bit, pour, drink.
It should taste...smooth, for lack of a better word. It's difficult to describe. If it tastes like shit, then you've done something wrong (probs oversalted it).
There are crazier recipes that include millet and whatever, basically turning it into a soup, but that's outside my area of competence. Why would anyone do something like this to tea, you might ask. The explanation is that Mongolian nomadic herders used (and still do, in some places) eat just once a day, in the morning, before going to, you know, herd. For the rest of the day they drank copious amounts of this concoction to sustain them, hence the butter, fat, millet, meat stock, whatever.
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Topic: Tea Discussion Thread: Chapter 1 (Read 14882 times)