Instructions: For centuries, chefs in Asia have been cooking with tea. In China, where the cultivation of tea plants began 4,000 years ago, tea-smoked duck and hard-boiled eggs braised in tea and soy sauce are popular dishes. In Japan, green tea is used to flavor a variety of foods, from soba noodles to ice cream.

Now, with new cookbooks touting teas virtues and restaurants focusing on cross-cultural cuisines, chefs in California are discovering that tea can be a versatile ingredient in everything from poultry to pastry.

The interest in tea has grown steadily over the last 10 to 15 years, says Diana Rosen, a tea consultant, editor of the quarterly Tea Talk newsletter and In part, that interest has been fueled by teas reputation for containing antioxidants that may lower the risk of heart disease and some types of cancer.

Its a natural segue that if you drink something good for you, what else can you do with it? Rosen says. Besides, she adds, Chefs are always looking for a new ingredient or technique to titillate and excite the palate.

At the Dining Room in San Mateo, where chef-owner Jon Sears likes to introduce diners to new flavors, tea is used to smoke fish or in the comforting tea soup known as ochazuke, served with kasu-glazed sea bass and pickled plum oil.

But tea can also play a key role in desserts such as those made by Camal El Sherifi, executive pastry chef at San Mateos Viognier, who makes Earl Grey ice cream, dates marinated in tea and other tea-flavored sweets.

Tea is a sophisticated flavor that titillates the nose as well as the tongue.

As with wine, there are countless varieties, and each type of tea can vary based on estate, geography and weather. The same tea can highlight different flavors depending on how it is paired with other foods.

Like any other ingredient, tea used for cooking should be fresh. Purchase whole leaves in small quantities. Store them away from heat, light and moisture and use within three months.

There are numerous techniques to use in cooking with tea. It can be ground to a powder as part of a spice rub for use on meat, fish or poultry. It can be used with sugar, rice and other spices to smoke vegetables or other foods. But the most versatile way to cook with tea is to brew it in liquid, strain out the leaves and use the remaining infusion as a marinade, braising broth or the base for a sauce. In cooking, the liquid used to brew tea isnt always water. It can be anything from cream to stock to juice.

There are two key rules for infusing tea for cooking:

Dont steep the tea too long (3-4 minutes maximum).

Keep the liquid temperature below 185 degrees (for water, that is a slow simmer). Using a higher temperature will result in harsh, tannic flavors. Once the tea leaves have been strained and discarded, it is fine to cook with the infused liquid at higher temperatures. (As an alternative, Rosen suggests using cold water to infuse the leaves for up to two hours, which results in the best, most flavorful extraction with absolutely no bitterness.)

Its not surprising that a chef such as Sears would discover cooking with tea.

At the Dining Room, he experiments with monthly themes that range from his opulent Gatsby Dinner featuring truffles, lobster and caviar to one that features South American and West Indies food. His objective is dishes that introduce the diner to a new flavor and spark a memory.

A native of the Bay Area, Sears was exposed to many cultures as a child, primarily in Hawaii, where he often visited relatives. When he was a child, jasmine tea was the first tea he enjoyed without sugar. Today, high-quality jasmine pearl is still his favorite tea for drinking and cooking.

Unlike Rosen, who maintains that all true tea comes from the Camellia sinensis plant, Sears views all plant infusions as tea and enjoys using coffee, tobacco, flowers and herbs in infusions.

Self-taught, Sears considers himself an intuitive cook and advises: Let the food speak to you and the food tells you what to do, instead of the other way around. For example, he uses black tea for smoking and curing, especially when working with fish. He says the flavors of poultry and game sometimes compete with tea. With fish, which is more delicate, porous and easier to infuse, the flavors marry.

Because he tries to use ingredients indigenous to a particular culture, Sears would never use Asian tea in a Southwestern dish. Instead, he serves jasmine tea tapioca pearls with lychee black tea-cured salmon rolls, tuna tartare and salmon caviar. For a North African meal, he would cook couscous in mint tea. And when serving a healthy hippie salad with goat cheese and maple balsamic vinaigrette, Sears pairs it with Good Earth tea gelee.

El Sherifi also was exposed to numerous cultures while growing up. He was born in North Africa and lived there until he was 10, when his father, a diplomat, moved the family to Paris. El Sherifi graduated from the Ecole Lenotre school of pastry and served as assistant pastry chef for Pierre Herme at Fauchon in Paris.

Like Sears, El Sherifis favorite tea to drink is jasmine pearl. In North Africa, men drink the first infusion of tea plain, women drink the weaker second infusion and children drink the mildest third infusion with sugar. El Sherifi still prefers his the childrens way. As he says, Im a pastry chef, and I like sugar.

He aims for the harmony of the three Ts: taste, texture and temperature. And while he believes that every chocolate has its own kind of tea that it coordinates with, El Sherifi admits that not all teas work in pastry. For example, he doesnt use smoky teas or mint teas.

For cooking, his favorite tea is Earl Grey. Its delicate flavor and taste of bergamot gives another dimension to pastry, he says, and, like jasmine, it can change face depending on other ingredients. He serves his Earl Grey creme brulee with grapefruit sections that pair naturally with the teas citrus flavoring, bergamot. El Sherifi also makes Earl Grey ice cream, Earl Grey chocolate truffles, and, in a nod to his North African heritage, dates marinated in Earl Grey served with citrus salad and almond gelee.

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