Golden Rule for English Tea

I am also tea instructor. There is English style tea manner called Goden Rule. It teaches how to make good tea. For making good tea, we must be careful about these 5 rules.
1. Choose good quality tea leaves
Good quality tea is recomended. But it will be good tea if you follow rule 2 to 5.
2. Make tea pot and cups warm
Temperature of water is very important so it is good to not make water cool.
3. Measure accurate amount tea leaves
Basic amout is 3g for 1 cup(160cc).

4. Use completely boiling fresh water that just drew at the tap
Water should have moderate air inside. It is important for jumping tea leaves in boiling water.
5. Brew the tea in correct time
The average time for brewing is about 3 minuts. But it is differ with tea leaf's type.

If you keep these rules you can have excellent tea taste.

But you can also have O.K. tea with tea bag type tea or cheap tea leaves.

Most important elements are 1. amount of tea leaves and boiling water, 2.temperature of boiling water and 3.brewing time.

Thus you can have good tea if you make cup warm, use freshly boiling water and follow the time that the package tell you for brewing with cover when you drink tea with tea bag.

Please try to have GOOD tea!!

Hinamatsuri

March 3rd is a girl's day or Doll's Festival called "Hina-matsuri" in Japan.
This day is also called "Momo no Sekku" and we decorate dolls called "Hina-ningyo" and Momo(peach blossom).
The Full set of Hina-ningyo is 15 but most important dolls is a couple called "Odairi-sama" and "Ohina-sama".
"Odairi-sama" is a man and "Ohina-sama" is a woman.And it shows love of couple.
Parents who have girl decorate these dolls with wish for their child's happy wedding in future.
This event has rule that you can decorate after "Setsubun" and have to put away the dolls in that day, March 3rd.
Because there is a superstition that if you put away after March 3rd, your daughter have to wait too long and miss the opportunity to get married.

We eat special sushi called "Chirashi-zushi" and snack called "Hina-arare" and drink "Amazake" on this day.
"Amazake" is white color sweet sake.
But I live in Maui now and I can't have Hina-arare and Amazake.
So, I made sinple Chirashi-zushi to celebrate Girl's day even only enjoy the feeling.

And also I made Chakin-zushi and Inari-zushi.



Chakin-zushi is wrapped sushi rice in a layer of egg.

Inari-zushi is wrapped sushi rice in a sweet taste abura-age(fried bean curd).

Making these sushi is little bit hard work because it take long time to wrap rice in egg and abura-age. But my husband felt happy with this sushi's look and it made me very happy to cook for him.