As with any time of day, tea can be a perfect addition to a healthy dinner. Tea and spice rubs can enhance a wide variety of lean meats and fish, offering substantial flavor without a need to add fat. A family favorite of ours for a number of years has been a tea and spice rubbed pork tenderloin served with a peach mango salsa.
Peaches are a joy this time of year, but if not available, they can easily be replaced with additional mango, or your choice of other fruits. In the winter, you can even consider substituting tea plumped dried fruits. This dish has shown up at various times: thinly sliced for tea sandwiches and canapés, served over tea vinaigrette dressed greens for a salad, or featured as a proud main course for dinner.
Another healthful main dish that I’ve enjoyed, both at home and served in various restaurants, is “Tea and Spice seared Tuna”. As with the pork, it’s very flexible and can be served in various ways. I always seem to come back to enjoying it as a main or an appetizer, sliced and tiled across the plate with an Asian style tea dipping sauce on the side. Jasmine rice, marinated asparagus and sliced tomatoes complete the meal.
To continue your theme, add another layer of flavor: use tea and stock to replace some or all of the water when making rice, couscous or other grains that will accompany your tea rubbed main dish. Tea and spice rubs are easy to make and quite flexible. They can vary in style from light, crisp and clean, featuring a good green tea and Asian spices; sweet and earthy, with black teas and Moroccan style spice blends; to rich and smoky, by using Lapsong Souchong.
Whether you use these blends as an overnight dry rub to finish your meal – grilling, roasting or even braising the next day, as a crust, shortly before pan searing, as a spice blend to season before or during cooking, or as a pinch or dusting to finish off your dishes – you are sure to find your own favorite blend that you’ll reach to time and again.
Your favorite version of a Tea Spice Rub, placed into decorative small containers, make unique and personal gifts to share with special friends.
Spiced Orange and Tea Roasted Pork Tenderloin served with Mango Peach Habanero Salsa
Photo by Julian Landa
Roasted Pork
Ingredients:
- 2 pork tenderloins, roughly 1 pound each, cleaned of excess fat and skin
- 4 tablespoons ‘Tea Spice Rub’ (recipe below)
- Approximately 2 cups orange juice, preferably freshly squeezed
Directions:
- Preheat still oven to 375˚ Fahrenheit, convection oven to 325.
- Rub the pork tenderloins with the ‘Tea Spice Rub’ and let sit, well covered, in the refrigerator overnight.
- Remove from the refrigerator and place in a roasting pan, as small a pan as your tenderloins will fit in without crowding. (Use a glass or stainless steel roasting pan, not aluminum or other reactive metal.)
- Pour orange juice in the pan 1/3 of the way up the sides of the tenderloins.
- Roast in preheated oven until desired doneness, preferably pink. Baste periodically.
- May be served hot or at room temperature.
Mango Peach Habanero Salsa
Ingredients:
- 1 medium mango, still fairly firm
- 1 large or 2 medium peaches, still fairly firm
- Brown sugar
- 1 medium red bell pepper
- 1 small (or less) habanero pepper (If unavailable, replace with a teaspoon of red pepper flakes.)
- 1 small red onion
- 2 limes
- 1/2 orange
- 1 tablespoon freshly chopped herbs (A blend of cilantro, basil and Italian parsley works well, but feel free to vary.)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon of ‘Tea Spice Rub’
Directions:
- Peel and 1/4 inch dice mango and peaches. You want them firm enough so you can cleanly dice them.
- Wash, seed and dice the peppers. Be sure to wear rubber gloves when you work with the habanero pepper and DO NOT RUB YOUR EYES. Chop the habanero as small as possible.
- Peel and dice the red pepper into about 1/8 inch pieces.
- Toss all ingredients together.
- Squeeze in the juice of 2 limes and 1/2 orange.
- Sprinkle in the Tea Spice Rub and fresh herbs, adding additional salt and pepper to taste.
- Stir well.
- Adjust to taste.
- Chill until ready to serve.
Tea Spice Rub
This is a wonderfully versatile combination that is handy to keep available in your cabinet. It’s very nice rubbed on chicken, pork, beef or game before grilling or roasting. It can also be used as a spice blend added to braising liquids, chutneys, you name it! Feel free to tailor it to your own personal style.
Ingredients:
- 5 tablespoon finely ground Chinese black tea (Congou or Pu-Erh work well)
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon curry powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes or crushed Szechwan peppercorns
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon ground star anise or anise seed
- 1/2 teaspoon ground clove
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed fennel seed
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground mace
Directions:
- Combine all ingredients, mixing thoroughly.
- Store at room temperature in a tightly sealed jar or tin.
