Tea oil and Long Jing

[Salsero]

My brother has a Chinese friend who is serious enough about Long Jing
that last summer when he was in China he made a special trip to
Zhengjiang to purchase some that he considered to be of especially
high quality.

This friend says that when Long Jing is pan fried it is done with "tea
oil" (from a different Camellia species) and it is this oil that
imparts the nutty flavor. That surprised me because I have always
assumed that the processing involved nothing besides the C. sinensis
leaves and heat. Does anyone know if this extraneous commodity is
actually used in processing good quality Long Jing?

Salsero

[Shen]

You may want to check with Imperial Tea Court - they sell it in a
small can in their shop ($12.00) and use it to cook with in the
Berkeley tea shop (esp. noodles).
Shen

[west...@yahoo.com]

I'm not sure if they use "tea oil" as well, but the common oil used is
one extracted from a plant called Sapium Sebiferum, in chinese we call
it "jiu you"; this is used to rub the pan when the wok is heating up
to keep the surface smooth so that the leaves will not stick on to the
surface and making it easier to toss the leaves.

I think when taken in sizeable quantity, this oil can upset the
stomach...

Danny

[sjschen]

My understanding is that prior to panning Longjing, a very small
amount of tea oil is rubbed onto the bottom of the wok to prevent the
leaves from sticking. As such, though tea oil is used, the leaves are
not actually pan fried "in it". The amount of tea oil in a serving of
the final product could perhaps counted as almost non-existent
(similar to how PAM spray has "0 calories"), and as for whether it
contributes to the taste, the answer as a definite "maybe".