Zhongxiang Roasted Rice Tea 钟祥米茶

Zhongxiang Roasted Rice Tea (钟祥米茶) is a drink made from brown rice that is first stir-fried and then boiled in water, a home staple in Zhongxiang (钟祥), Jingmen (荆门), Hubei. Hubei Daily calls it one of the signature foods of Zhongxiang, which the paper describes as a 'land of longevity'. China News Service reports that it is on Zhongxiang's municipal intangible cultural heritage list.

How it is made

The rice is brown (unpolished) rice. It is stir-fried over a low flame until cooked through, and the roasted grains are then boiled in water to make the drink. In Zhongxiang nearly every household roasts its own rice for tea and drinks it. In April 2024 China News Service filmed Ju Lanying (鞠兰英), aged 103, roasting rice tea at home in Yangji village (杨集村), Fengle town (丰乐镇); she said she had been doing it since her teens, for more than eighty years.

Flavour and texture

The brewed tea is pale yellow with a strong aroma. It tastes slightly sweet and a little astringent, but not bitter. It is valued for staving off hunger and thirst, and as a drink for cooling down in summer.

Where it comes from

Chinese Wikipedia notes that the Jianghan Plain (江汉平原) has no tradition of flour tea (面茶), and that tea made from roasted rice belongs to the area around Zhongxiang. Hubei Daily writes that the drink long struggled to travel beyond the plain because it was hard to transport and came in only one form. The name 'Zhongxiang Micha' was registered as a geographical-indication trademark (no. 26327613) in 2018 and appears on the Hubei Intellectual Property Office's list of national geographical indications. Zhongxiang food companies now also grind roasted rice into flour for rice-tea bread, made with rice from Changshou town (长寿镇), and sell instant rice-tea meals.