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As working adults, it’s common to find yourself cracking your head to decide what to cook for your next meal. Sometimes, you don’t even realise that you’ve been making the same dishes every week until your family points it out.

But it doesn’t take a lot to change up your cooking, especially for the festive season! All you need is a little bit of creativity with the ingredients that you already have lying around your kitchen.

There’s one ingredient that can be easily found in every household—tea! Tea is a versatile ingredient that can be added into your daily cooking. Here’s how:

#1 Turn tea into a mix of spices

Image via Harvard T.H. Chan

When you open up a tea bag, it looks just like a packet of spices with mixed herbs and powders. Treat it like a spice blend and sprinkle a couple of teaspoons into your sauce, dip or yoghurt to spice up your meals! You can also try this special blend in stir-fry or grilled dishes.

#2 Use tea as a stock for soup

Image via 12 Tomatoes

Switch up your regular spices for making soup with tea and you’ll be surprised by the fresh new flavours and aroma. Brew your own stock by steeping some green tea that works very well with vegetables, fish and chicken. If you prefer a smoky flavour, go with black tea.

#3 Prepare a marinade out of tea

Image via Plum Deluxe

Instead of sticking with the familiar salt, pepper, garlic and other spices as a marinade or rub, infuse the meat with tea instead. Tea leaves also go hand-in-hand with butter and sugar, so try making a marinade for grilling or roasting. Your guests will surely be impressed!

#4 Cook grains with tea

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Similar to preparing a soup stock, brewed tea is a good replacement for cooking grains and beans, like a pot of rice! Use any type of tea, from black tea, green tea, Earl Grey to chai, the flavour combinations for your next plate of rice are endless.

#5 Infuse tea into desserts

Image via Spoon University

When you bring in all the sweets, there are hundreds of recipes for desserts in which you can incorporate tea. It goes well with dairy products like milk and cream, so tea-flavoured cookies, cakes, puddings, custards, ice cream, and more—you name it and make it!

As a staple in every household, tea can make your family meals more memorable this season—whether you’re catching up over a cup of tea during Deepavali or cooking with it! And where tea is concerned, one of the most iconic brands every Malaysian knows and loves is BOH Tea.

Image via BOH

Image via BOH

BOH has a legacy of over 90 years crafting tea for Malaysians. Brewed with passion to exceptional quality, every BOH product is infused with great taste, rich colour and delightful aroma.

Bring some ummph into your life with BOH. As they say, “Ada BOH, ada ummph!”

BOH Tea products are available at most supermarket and hypermarkets. And if you prefer shopping online, you can also find it here.