From Lei Cha to Lei Cha Fan

Hakka Lei Cha (Kejia lei cha 客家擂茶), is a traditional Chinese tea-based beverage from the southern part of China in the Guangdong province. It is one of the representative cuisines of the Hakka people, a Han Chinese community with their ancestral homes from the Hakka-speaking Chinese provinces such as Guangdong and Fujian in China.[1]

It was said that the Hakkas were driven out from Northern China in the Qin Dynasty where they eventually settled in Southern China. As the term Hakka also refers to ‘guest family’ (Kejia 客家), the Hakka community generally practiced a migratory agrarian lifestyle.[2] As a result, lei cha allows them to maintain their health and energy through combining easily available herbs and tea – which are its major components.

Today, the Hakka diaspora is observed mainly in Taiwan, and Southeast Asian countries such as Singapore, where the original Hakka community from Southern China had brought their traditional cuisines to the different regions as they migrated. Here, I will address the Hakka lei cha in Singapore that was adapted by the Chinese Hakka community who had migrated from Southern China to Singapore since the early 19^th century. I also will discuss the origins of lei cha in China, and trace its historical developments.

1. The origins of lei cha

Lei cha has its name from the action of grounding the herbs, peanuts and tea leaves as the word ‘Lei’ (擂) means ‘grounding’ or ‘pounding’ in the Hakka dialogue. Therefore, lei cha implies the grounding of the ingredients to form the tea paste.

According to a Chinese myth about the origins of lei cha, it was said that lei cha was first made during the Three Kingdoms period. General Zhang Fei 张飞 (167-221), with his soldiers who wanted to attack Wuling, were abruptly infected with a plague, they then approached a herbal doctor in a nearby village who prescribed a concoction. The doctor grounded raw rice, raw ginger and raw tea leaves with boiling water to make the beverage, which is said to be the earliest form of lei cha. It miraculously cured the soldiers’ illnesses and Zhang Fei eventually won his battle at Wuling.[3]

This ties to another myth in the Eastern Han Dynasty where Ma Yuan 马援 (14 BC – 49 AD) , a military general with his army was hit with an illness which could not be healed. They happened to be in the Southern part of China where an old lady created a concoction with hot water containing tea leaves, raw rice and raw ginger by grinding them. The use of the three ingredients, which was the same in the Three Kingdoms myth, resulted in lei cha, which henceforth was also known as the ‘Three Raw Materials soup’ (Sanshengtang 三生汤).[4] Although lei cha was then made to cure the diseases of the war soldiers, lei cha is still a popular traditional dish prepared in the Hakka communities, that was handed down from generations to generations.

2. Lei Cha to the Southern Chinese Hakka community and its ingredients

To the Chinese Hakka community, lei cha is healthy and nutritious where it has various medicinal values and health benefits. Lei cha helps in ‘cooling the body’ and in detoxification as the tea in lei cha aids one from getting a heatstroke and the herbs or vegetables help to boost the body’s immune system with its rich fiber.[5]

In a lei cha prepared by a traditional Hakka community in Southern China, the key ingredients that would be grounded into a tea paste would mainly include: green tea leaves, white sesame, coriander and peanuts.[6] According to the Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencaogangmu 本草纲目) by Li Shizhen 李时珍 (1518-1593), coriander is considered to be a warm herb which aids in detoxifying the body.[7] Whilst, in The Divine Farmer’s Materia Medica Classic (Shennong Bencaojing 神农本草经), sesame is highlighted to be beneficial as it “moistens the five viscera.. and heals incised wounds and sores..” of the human body.[8]

Although green tea was not specifically mentioned, tea in general was mentioned in the Compendium of Materia Medica as one that helps to “lower the heat” in the body.[9] We have also known of the significance of tea to the Chinese society in The Classic of Tea (Cha Jing 茶经) by Lu Yu 陆羽 (733-804) where its speaks of the cultivation, the making and consumption of tea in China.[10]

Other than its various health benefits, lei cha signifies family and relationships as it is a tradition for a Chinese Hakka family to prepare lei cha for their guests during special occasions such as the Lunar New Year. In times of weddings and family gatherings, a traditional Hakka family would also have lei cha as part of their Hakka dishes on the table.[11]

3. Lei Cha to Lei Cha Fan: the story of the Hakka Chinese community who migrated to Singapore

While it is named as lei cha in Southern China, it is actually more commonly known in Singapore as ‘Thunder Tea Rice’ (lei cha fan 擂茶饭). Why is this so? This is because as the Hakka diaspora migrated into the Southeast Asian countries such as Singapore from the early 19^th century, they gradually adapted lei cha into a dish called ‘lei cha fan’ where rice, is very much present.

This is due to the fact that the Hakka diaspora in Singapore were mainly cultivators of plantations and vegetables. With their migration from Southern China such as Guangdong into Singapore, the Hakka community settled down as labour workers in the foreign lands where they toiled in the fields. As such, in order to keep their stomachs full and be full of vigour, the Hakka community in Singapore adapted it into a dish with the staple food, rice.[12]

As the early Hakka immigrants in Singapore also mainly belonged to the working or lower classes, they would usually add the tropical vegetables from their plantations such as sweet leaves and winged beans in their rice or even tofu to couple with the tea.[13] Basil leaves might be incorporated into their tea paste as well. These greens and herbs are in fact, tropical greens that are only available in Southeast Asian countries such as Singapore where they are popular food crops. This reflects how the diaspora made use of their local greens in preparing the dish. With stir-fried peanuts on top of the rice, it became an important daily meal for the Hakka community in Singapore.

The material for the pestle is also different from the ones used in the Hakka families in Southern China, which is usually made out of hawthorn trees. For the traditional Hakka families in Singapore, they would use guava tree branches as their pestle to grind the tea paste. This is unique as guava trees are only prevalent in Southeast Asia. Thus, this signifies that not only did the early Hakka diaspora in Singapore adapted the recipe of lei cha, but also, used a different material for the pestle in preparing the dish.[14]

4. What is in the current Singapore ‘Lei cha fan’?

   

For the tea paste, you would have tea (such as green tea or Chinese tea), basil leaves, peanuts and white sesame seeds, where they would be stir fried and then grounded with a traditional pestle and mortar. At times, the paste is blended with a blender for convenience. Hot water is then added to the tea paste when served. For the rice, there would be mainly several types of vegetables such as white cabbage, leeks, long beans, sweet leaves or winged beans and firm tofu, which will be placed on top of the rice.[15] Toppings such as peanuts and preserved radish are then added on top of the dish. In terms of rice, you could have the choice of white rice or brown rice depending on one’s preference.[16]

While traditional Hakka families in Southern China and Singapore use the pestle and mortar, many now use an electric blender in the preparation of the tea paste. This implies a different form of preparing the dish as the action of grinding the ingredients was meant to bring the aroma out of the tea leaves and the other ingredients.

5. Conclusion

With their migration from Southern China, the Hakka community eventually settled down in Singapore who incorporated their own local produces and rice into the traditional Southern Chinese Hakka dish. The preparation of the dish with the use of the pestle of a different material also indicates the importance of material culture as one explores the culinary culture in these migrant communities. Nevertheless, the Hakka diaspora in Singapore certainly continues to maintain their Chinese Hakka historical roots where certain Hakka families continued to pass down their generations-old recipes of the lei cha to their children in Singapore, where ‘lei cha fan’ is thus, both localised and Chinese.

 

Footnotes

[1] Jessieca Leo, Global Hakka: Hakka Identity in the Remaking (Koninklijke Brill: Leiden, 2015), 4-5.

[2] Leo, Global Hakka: Hakka Identity in the Remaking, 45-50.

[3] Shaolin Muzi 少林木子, Youxiangguyun: Chadiangu 悠香古韵：茶典故 [Ancient rhymes: The origins of tea] (Inner Mongolia: Neimenggu wenhua chubanshe, 2010), 7.

[4] Hunan Wenxue Yishujie Federation 湖南省文学艺术界联合会, Hunan minjian gushi jicheng (er) 湖南民间故事集成（二）[Hunan’s integrated stories (two)] (Hunan: Hunan wenyi chubanshe, 2009), 6.

[5] Qiu Jiping 裘纪平, Chajingtushuo 茶经图说 [The Illustrated Book of Chinese Tea] (Zhejiang: Zhejiang sheying chubanshe, 2003), 20.

[6] Wang Runhua 王潤華, “Fan wan zhong de lei sheng” 饭碗中的雷声 [Thunder in the Rice bowl], in Fan wan zhong de lei sheng: Kejia yinshi wenxue yu wenhua guoji xueshu yantaohui lunwenji 饭碗中的雷声: 客家饮食文学与文化国际学术研讨会 论文集 [Thunder in the Rice bowl: Essays on Hakka Food and Culture], ed. Jiao Tong 焦桐 (Taipei: Eryu wenhua chubanshe, 2010), 20-21.

[7] Li Shizhen 李时珍, Ben Cao Gang Mu 本草纲目 [Compendium of Materia Medica] (Oakland: University of California Press, 2016), 877.

[8] Yang Shouzhong, The Divine Farmer’s Materia Medica: A Translation of the Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing (Boulder, Colorado: Blue Poppy Press, 1998), 146-7.

[9] Li Shizhen 李时珍, Ben Cao Gang Mu, 796.

[10] Wang Jianrong 王建荣, Lu Yu Chajing: Jingtianben 陆羽茶经: 经典本 [Lu Yu’s The Classic of Tea: The Classics] (Jiangsu: Jiangsu kexue jisu chubanshe, 2009), 1-5.

[11] Yang Hongwei 杨宏伟, Kejia fengcai: Kejia wenhua tese yu xingtai 客家风采: 客家文化特色与形态 [Hakka style: Hakka culture and its dimensions] (Beijing: Xiandai chubanshe, 2014), 50.

[12] Wang Runhua 王潤華, “Fan wan zhong de lei sheng,” 10.

[13] Wang Runhua 王潤華, “Fan wan zhong de lei sheng,” 20-21.

[14] Wang Runhua 王潤華, “Fan wan zhong de lei sheng,” 22.

[15] Wang Runhua 王潤華, “Fan wan zhong de lei sheng,” 16.

[16] Rebecca Lynne Tan, “Cheap & Good: Hakka thunder tea rice with brilliant broth in Boon Lay,” The Straits Times, November 4, 2018, https://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/food/thunder-tea-rice-with-brilliant-broth.

 

Bibliography

Hunan Wenxue Yishujie Federation 湖南省文学艺术界联合会. Hunan minjian gushi jicheng (er) 湖南民间故事集成（二）[Hunan’s integrated stories (two)]. Hunan: Hunan wenyi chubanshe, 2009.

Leo, Jessieca. Global Hakka: Hakka Identity in the Remaking. Koninklijke Brill: Leiden, 2015.

Li Shizhen 李时珍. Ben Cao Gang Mu 本草纲目 [Compendium of Materia Medica]. Oakland: University of California Press, 2016.

Mu Zi, Shao Lin 少林木子. Youxiangguyun: Chadiangu 悠香古韵: 茶典故 [Ancient rhymes: The origins of tea]. Inner Mongolia: Neimenggu wenhua chubanshe, 2010.

Qiu, Jiping 裘纪平. Chajingtushuo 茶经图说 [The Illustrated Book of Chinese Tea]. Zhejiang: Zhejiang sheying chubanshe, 2003.

Tan, Rebecca Lynne. “Cheap & Good: Hakka thunder tea rice with brilliant broth in Boon Lay.” The Straits Times, November 4, 2018. https://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/food/thunder-tea-rice-with-brilliant-broth.

Wang, Jianrong 王建荣. Lu Yu Chajing: Jingtianben 陆羽茶经: 经典本 [Lu Yu’s The Classic of Tea: The Classics]. Jiangsu: Jiangsu kexue jisu chubanshe, 2009.

Wang Runhua 王潤華. “Fan wan zhong de lei sheng” 饭碗中的雷声 [Thunder in the Rice bowl]. In Fan wan zhong de lei sheng: Kejia yinshi wenxue yu wenhua guoji xueshu yantaohui lunwenji 饭碗中的雷声: 客家饮食文学与文化国际学术研讨会 论文集 [Thunder in the Rice bowl: Essays on Hakka Food and Culture], edited by Jiao Tong 焦桐, 10-25. Taipei: Eryu wenhua chubanshe, 2010.

Yang, Hongwei 杨宏伟. Kejia fengcai: Kejia wenhua tese yu xingtai 客家风采:客家文化特色与形态 [Hakka style: Hakka culture and its state]. Beijing: Xiandai chubanshe, 2014.

Yang, Shouzhong. The Divine Farmer’s Materia Medica: A Translation of the Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing. Boulder, Colorado: Blue Poppy Press, 1998.