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Tea oil and Long Jing

My brother has a Chinese friend who is serious enough about Long Jing that last summer when he was in China he made a special trip to Zhengjiang to purchase some that he considered to be of especially high quality.

This friend says that when Long Jing is pan fried it is done with "tea oil" (from a different Camellia species) and it is this oil that imparts the nutty flavor. That surprised me because I have always assumed that the processing involved nothing besides the C. sinensis leaves and heat. Does anyone know if this extraneous commodity is actually used in processing good quality Long Jing?

Salsero

Reply to
Salsero
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You may want to check with Imperial Tea Court - they sell it in a small can in their shop ($12.00) and use it to cook with in the Berkeley tea shop (esp. noodles). Shen

Reply to
Shen

I'm not sure if they use "tea oil" as well, but the common oil used is one extracted from a plant called Sapium Sebiferum, in chinese we call it "jiu you"; this is used to rub the pan when the wok is heating up to keep the surface smooth so that the leaves will not stick on to the surface and making it easier to toss the leaves.

I think when taken in sizeable quantity, this oil can upset the stomach...

Danny

Reply to
westwoode

My understanding is that prior to panning Longjing, a very small amount of tea oil is rubbed onto the bottom of the wok to prevent the leaves from sticking. As such, though tea oil is used, the leaves are not actually pan fried "in it". The amount of tea oil in a serving of the final product could perhaps counted as almost non-existent (similar to how PAM spray has "0 calories"), and as for whether it contributes to the taste, the answer as a definite "maybe".

Reply to
sjschen

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