Tea
Tea is thought to have been brewed as early as 2700 BC. First discovered in the mountains of China's western provinces, Sichuan and Yunnan, it entered Chinese cuisine as one of the country's herbal medicines. Tea was exported throughout Asia since the fifth century, and was first brought to Europe by Dutch traders in 1610.
Brewing tea to bring out its fullest flavor is simple. Start with fresh cold water (more than you plan to drink), and bring just to a boil, but no more, or you'll boil away the oxygen, making the water flat. Use porcelain teapots and cups; they will not distort the beverage's natural flavor. Ideally, the cups and the pot should have white interiors, to better see the color of the tea. Fill the teapot with the hot water, let it heat for a moment, then empty it. This will prevent the cold pot from chilling the water before brewing.
The Chinese and much of the rest of the world use loose tea. There are any number of ways to filter out the few leaves that pour into the cup, including strainers to set on top of the cup while pouring (very British), or you can simply do as the Chinese dew and don't drink the cup all the way to the bottom where any leaves accumulate. (That's how people get cups with tea leaves in the bottom for Gypsies to read.) How much tea to use? On the tea package you'll probably see the suggestion to use one teaspoon per finished cup. However, making the tea in the way I just detailed, you'll get the full flavor from just one or two spoonfuls per pot, allowing the tea to steep in the hot water for three to four minutes.
The Chinese do not serve sugar or milk with tea. (Mainland Chinese have difficulty digesting milk.) The delicate flavors of the various Chinese teas (and, for that matter, the more traditionally British teas) are best appreciated "black," with nothing to interfere with their scent and flavor. There are more robust varieties suited to the addition of milk, lemon and sugar, but to complement food the beverage is best served plain.
One word about the jazzy brands of trick-flavored and "herbal" teas: DON'T!
At mealtime in China, beverages are not are commonly served with a meal. People drink tea throughout the day, but at mealtime soup is the only liquid usually served. But I am writing for Americans, and entirely aside from the fact that you're going to do what you want regardless of anything I say, your guests will certainly expect a beverage, and probably prefer what they are used to with Chinese food: tea.
There are three basic categories of tea: Green, Oolong and Black, and each has variations based on their method of curing and preparation. The differences lie in roasting and fermentation. Fermented leaves, originally deep green, become increasingly reddish-brown with longer fermentation. Roasting alters the fragrance from floral or fruity to malty.
Green teas like the famous "Dragon Well Tea" and "Green Snail Spring Tea" are made from smaller leaves and are processed very little, simply dried green and not fermented. Oolong or "Black Dragon" tea is often called "semi-fermented" and comes in variations from lightly-fermented to almost fully-fermented. Black tea is fully fermented, and black teas of various origins and characteristics are often blended to create subtle variations of flavor.
Do I have a favorite? Yes, I do. Either rich, full-bodied American tea like the orange-pekoe blends (Lipton and the like) or Earl Grey.
An interesting footnote: There are two different words for "tea" in languages that borrowed the word from Chinese. Countries that once imported the leaves from the north of China, such as Turkey, Russia, and Japan, adopted some variation of the sound "cha," such as "chay," "chai," and "chya." Countries importing along China's southern maritime lines, such as Spain, Germany, and England, adopted the word "tea," in accordance with the southern Chinese pronunciation.
Brewing Tea
Get fresh cold water, plenty of it, and bring it to a boil. Do not use re-heated water, as it tastes flat. Use some of the boiling water to heat up your room-temperature ceramic teapot. Wait just a minute, then discard that water. Add some tea (start with one teaspoon of loose tea per 6-ounce cup or per two smaller Chinese-restaurant-style cups) and fill the pot with boiling water. Allow the tea to brew for about 5 minutes, then enjoy!
It takes boiling-hot water to get the full flavor from tea. Anything less is a pale shadow of what tea can be … "sun tea" made with cold water is to properly-brewed tea as a fast-food hamburger is to a Texas chuckwagon fireside fresh-ground buffalo burger.
The Chinese take their tea without sugar, lemon or cream. If you prefer to use tea bags, one bag will replace about two teaspoons of loose tea. What to do with the floating loose tea leaves? Well, they don't float, they sink, leaving just a few to pour into your cup. Most tea-lovers just don't drain their cup, leaving any remaining leaves in the bottom. This gives rise to the old legend of Gypsy fortunetellers interpreting the pattern of tea leaves ibn the bottom of your cup. The British use a "tea infuser," a little wire mesh cage to put the loose tea in while brewing (sort of a re-usable tea bag), or strain the leaves out with a tiny strainer that sits atop your cup while pouring.