Lei Cha: A dish to celebrate ‘birthday of mankind’
SIBU: Not everyone knows ‘Lei Cha’ and its association with the Chinese New Year celebration.
According to local restaurateur Peter Ting, 66, this Hakka traditional culinary offering comprises a bowl of rice with seven types of vegetables, and also a bowl of soup made from 10 types of herbs.
Usually eaten on the seventh day of the Chinese New Year, its consumption is meant to mark ‘the birthday of humans’.
“It is also a dish that is often eaten after a festive feast to restart and cleanse the body,” Ting, the managing partner of Payung Café here, told thesundaypost.
The retired hairstylist said Payung café would serve this dish every Friday, priced at around RM8 per set.
He recalled having rolled out Lei Cha ‘five or six years ago’.
“Previously, we did try to serve it twice a week, but somehow, not many people responded.
“In Sibu, not many people know how to consume this food, and the soup has a bitter taste.
“When we serve it on Fridays, the response is much better and surprisingly, the majority of our customers, who either order Lei Cha for takeout or for dine-in, are Foochows,” he said.
When asked the reason behind the better response on Fridays, he remarked: “That, I am not sure. Maybe some people do not take meat on Fridays, perhaps due to their religious practice.
“So, when we serve it on Fridays, we notice a better response. Lei Cha is actually a vegetarian dish.”
Ting, who is passionate about hairstyling, cooking and gardening, said he learned how to cook Lei Cha from a Teochew friend in Kuching.
“However, I did not follow everything (that he taught). I also use my own method.”
Asked if it was difficult to cook Lei Cha, he admitted that the preparations could be ‘quite tedious’.
“Preparations are all done at the café, which takes about oneand-a-half hours,” he said.
Asked about the availability of the herbs for the soup, he said they could be obtained locally.
“However, for those that are more difficult to get hold of, we ask people to plant them, and we will get from them every week,” he said.
He said for the Friday Lei Cha’s dining, his team would prepare between 30 and 40 sets.
However, he said last Friday (Feb 16), which marked the seventh day of the Chinese New Year, Payung Café recorded sales of more than 100 sets.