Ingredients

• 2 cups Japanese rice
• 3 tablespoons jasmine tea
• 1 tablespoon peanut oil
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Rinse rice thoroughly. Grind tea in a spice grinder until it becomes a fine powder. In a medium pot, add rice and 2 cups cold water. Let soak 30 minutes. Stir rice well, and bring to a boil over high heat. Stir well again, and reduce heat to low. Cover, and let simmer 11 minutes. Remove from heat, and let rest, covered, about 5 minutes. Uncover, and let cool 10 minutes. Stir in tea powder, oil, salt, and pepper with a wooden spoon or spatula.
2. Wet hands and rice molds with water to prevent rice from sticking. Fill molds about 2/3 full with rice. Using a gentle rocking motion, evenly compact rice with the mold's press. Push the rice through the mold. Repeat with remaining rice. Serve hot or at room temperature.
3. Using a traditional Japanese rice press, form the infused rice into exotic shapes like bamboo sprouts, gourds, fans, pine blossoms, and plum blossoms.