Tea Reduction Sauce

[trent]

OK... I've been getting more into gourmet cooking lately, and love making reduction sauces. (Off topic, but one of my favorites is balsamic reduction... just simmer balsamic vinegar until it turns to sauce) The basis of reduction sauces is taking a liquid, and boiling it so alot of water evaporates and leaves the resulting liquid thicker, and more concentrated in flavor.

So.. I was thinking that you could follow the same principle with tea by brewing a large amount of tea, then boiling it until a lot of the water evaporates off and the tea is thicker. I don't know if I would go so far as to make a sauce, but I might try to "thicken" my tea a little.

If anyone has ever tried this, or thinks they might like to, talk about it here. I MIGHT attempt this in the next few days.

[Geekgirl]

I was thinking the same thing, perhaps making a very light reduction sauce in the same manner as marsala, but subbing in tea for the marsala wine. I was thinking of trying it over he-fen noodles.

Also, I thought of doing a vinaigrette type marinade or dressing using tea. Hmmm... might have to try a little experimentation this weekend. I have that sample tin of Ceylon.

[olivierco]

I never tried it. It might need some thickening element (agar agar perhaps?).

My everyday tea sauce: milk+tea+creme fraiche. It can be reduced then.

[trent]

olivier,

sounds like a great sauce. Out of curiosity, what are some of your favorite things to use it with?

[olivierco]

I use it with rice, pasta, quinoa, vegetables, white meat, fish... and of course with Coquille Saint Jacques Pecten maximus

I also use a "roux blanc" (butter and flour) and cook it as Sauce Bechamel and add the creme fraiche at the end.

[Mary R]

Yeah, tea needs something else in it to reduce and still be able to be tasty. It gets all stew-y and, well, repulsive otherwise. Infusing tea leaves in milk/cream and reducing that can be good, as was mentioned before. I also tried this awhile back ago...with great results. If you keep the jam reduction warm, it makes a very good sauce. I stuck it in a squeeze bottle and got my inner Food Network star on. As it cools, it does sort of gel, but that was a good thing for me.

Edit: I really don't think the tea will 'thicken' like you think it might if it's just straight tea. I've not reduced to that point...I just did interval taste tests of my reduction attempt until I realized I was not a fan of the results.

[kymidwife]

OK, this is not exactly on topic, but reminded me of how I used tea in cooking a few days ago.

I started getting a few fresh veggies from my small garden, and I've had herbs coming out my ears for a few weeks now. I sauteed some zucchini and yellow squash with arugula, thyme, basil, and chives. The pan was very hot and I reached a point where the pan needed some liquid, and I had a cup of oolong tea close by, so I dashed it in. The majority evaporated very quickly, and the rest mingled with the brownings in the sautee pan and made a lovely thin sauce. It was the first time I used tea instead of water or broth, and I felt I could definitely detect the difference in flavor... very savory and wonderful.

Sarah

[Mary R]

That's a good point, Sarah. I'm not fond of highly tea-based reduction sauces, but straight tea is a pretty good for accessing all that wonderful fond.