Kelp tea

Powdered kelp dissolved in hot water rather than brewed, and drunk as a savoury cup.

Vegan.

Ingredients

• 20 g kombu
• 0.5 teaspoon salt
• 800 ml water
• 1 teaspoon dried shiso, crumbled

Method

1. DISSOLVED, NOT BREWED, and that is the whole difference from the two other cups in this collection. The sencha page steeps a leaf and strains it away; the buckwheat page simmers a grain and strains that away. Here the kelp is ground to a powder, the powder goes into the cup, and nothing is strained or discarded at all.
2. SO IT IS CLOUDY AND IT THICKENS SLIGHTLY as it stands, and neither is a fault. A clear cup means the powder was too coarse and has sunk.
3. DRY THE KOMBU HARD FIRST, in a low oven, 120C for 15 to 20 minutes, until it snaps rather than bends. Kombu as it comes is leathery and will not grind.
4. WIPE IT, DO NOT WASH IT. The white bloom on the surface is flavour; rinsed off, the cup tastes of very little.
5. Break it up and grind to a powder in a spice mill or a mortar. Sieve out anything that stays in flakes and grind it again -- a flake in the cup never softens.
6. A teaspoon of powder per cup, with a pinch of salt. It is a SAVOURY drink and unsalted it tastes merely of the sea.
7. WATER JUST OFF THE BOIL, about 90C. Fully boiling water makes it slimy; that same instruction is on the dashi page, for the same kelp and the same reason.
8. Stir hard as the water goes in and keep stirring, or it clumps and sits on the surface.
9. Let it settle 30 seconds, then stir again just before drinking.
10. Shiso crumbled over, and drink it while the powder is still suspended rather than letting it stand.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

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