Während der Tee zieht, lese ich das Kochbuch.

Here, während means while and introduces a time clause.

So Während der Tee zieht means while the tea is steeping.

In this sentence, während is a subordinating conjunction, not a preposition.

Because Während der Tee zieht is a subordinate clause.

In German, when a clause starts with a subordinating conjunction like während, weil, dass, or wenn, the conjugated verb goes to the end of that clause.

• der Tee zieht
• not der Tee zieht after während? Actually in a subordinate clause, it must be während der Tee zieht

So the pattern is:

während + subject + ... + verb

Because the whole subordinate clause Während der Tee zieht comes first, and it counts as position 1 in the sentence.

In a German main clause, the finite verb must come in position 2. So after the opening clause, the verb comes immediately:

• Während der Tee zieht, lese ich das Kochbuch.

If you put the main clause first, then it becomes:

• Ich lese das Kochbuch, während der Tee zieht.

Both are correct.

Because der Tee is the subject of zieht.

Ask yourself: What is steeping?
Answer: the tea.

Subjects are in the nominative case, so:

• der Tee = nominative

It is not an object here, so you do not use den Tee or dem Tee.

Yes, ziehen often means to pull or to move, but with tea it has a special idiomatic meaning.

Tee zieht means:

• tea is steeping
• tea is brewing

So this is a very normal German expression. It does not mean the tea is literally pulling something.

Because German uses a comma to separate a subordinate clause from the main clause.

So in:

• Während der Tee zieht, lese ich das Kochbuch.

the comma is required.

This is much more regular in German than in English: German commas with subordinate clauses are generally mandatory.

Yes.

As a conjunction, it is followed by a clause:

• während der Tee zieht

As a preposition, it can be followed by a noun phrase:

• während des Essens = during the meal
• während der Pause = during the break

So in your sentence, während is specifically the clause-introducing version.

Because Buch is a neuter noun, and Kochbuch is also neuter because its base noun is Buch.

So:

• das Buch
• das Kochbuch

In the sentence, das Kochbuch is the direct object of lese, so it is accusative. But for neuter nouns, the article is still das in both nominative and accusative singular.

Yes, absolutely.

That version is also correct and means the same thing.

The difference is mainly focus:

• Während der Tee zieht, lese ich das Kochbuch.
  This emphasizes the time setting first.

• Ich lese das Kochbuch, während der Tee zieht.
  This starts with what I am doing.

German often uses the present tense to talk about actions happening now or at the same time.

So:

• zieht = is steeping / steeps
• lese = am reading / read

Even though English often prefers is steeping and am reading, German normally just uses the simple present here.

Yes, it is natural.

Der Tee zieht is a standard way to talk about tea steeping, and the whole sentence sounds normal and idiomatic.

A native speaker would understand it immediately.