Green Tea Powder

[Hiroyuki]

February 6th is Matcha Day! Who declared it? Nishio city in Aichi prefecture. Nishio city accounts for 35% of the total national production of tencha (碾茶), from which matcha is produced.

from here

http://www.aichi-c.ed.jp/contents/syakai/s...isan/sei207.htm

(Japanese only)

An introduction of Nishio city

http://www.city.nishio.aichi.jp/en/index.html

Nishio city happens to be where Flavor coffee is located.

http://www.flavorcoffee.co.jp/index.html

(Japanese only)

Flavor coffee roasts coffee beans with its unique system called the direct heat and superheated stream roasting system, and I am a huge fan of its coffee beans.

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=47774

Now I must explorer the worlds of both coffee and matcha. How exciting!

[Kiem Hwa]

I recieved an O-cha Mill for Christmas....

http://forums.egullet.org/uploads/11044544..._1104534329.jpg

And was reminded of last year when I was trying to use Matcha to make Green Tea Castella. For anyone who hasn't had this wonderful cake, it is refridgerated (sometimes?), soft, moist, and green tea flavored.

I had found a really great brand at the Japanese shops in L.A., and I haven't seen that same brand yet in Hawaii.

In any case, since the good brand was so expensive, my goal for a while was to make this myself....I tried adding Matcha to many cake recipes, but it never came out good. Has anyone made this?.....Recipes?....

I think now with my endless supply of Matcha, I can begin trying again.

Edited January 1, 2005 by Kiem Hwa (log)

[torakris]

Here are a bunch of recipes using matcha (in Japanese) including matcha castella and pound cake:

http://www.alulu.com/koyamaen/tp12_11.html

more matcha castella recipes:

http://anies.net/menu/omake_04.html

http://allabout.co.jp/gourmet/cookingabc/c...040615A/?FM=rss

(this one is made in a rice cooker)

One of my resolutions for the new year is to do more baking and desserts, maybe I will join you on a quest for the perfect matcha castella!

[torakris]

not exactly castella but here are some recipes in English that include a matcha chiffon cake and a matcha tiramisu....

http://www.o-cha.net/english/kitchen/index.html

[jschyun]

matcha (green tea) castella cake is one of my most favorite cakes. I guess for someone who is not used to it, the light green color of the cake looks weird, but when I see it, I just get hungry. My local bakery sells fresh slices that I think are excellent.

[Kiem Hwa]

Here are a bunch of recipes using matcha (in Japanese) including matcha castella and pound cake:

http://www.alulu.com/koyamaen/tp12_11.html

←

抹茶カステラ

Thanks for the link Kristin! This castella looks just like the one I used to get at the grocery store! Yummy!!!

Only....my Kanji really sucks, so I got as far as カステラには、色々な作り方がありますが..."There are various ways to make castella"?....erm...I need to study Kanji again.

[torakris]

I will give the recipe a try and then write it up in English if it works.

[Kiem Hwa]

I will give the recipe a try and then write it up in English  if it works.

←

Yay!!!

[torakris]

guess what I made.....

the finished product

I haven't eaten it yet because the recipe says to wrap it and let it rest overnight.......

I will report back tomorrow.

[Kiem Hwa]

Yay Kristin!!!

So...how does it taste? Did you refridgerate it? Does the upper crust peel off easily? Im so excited!!!

[torakris]

Yay Kristin!!!  

So...how does it taste?  Did you refridgerate it?  Does the upper crust peel off easily?  Im so excited!!!

←

I didn't refrigerate it because it didn't say to, but my house is probably colder than my refrigerator so I don't think it matters..

I didn't try to take off the upper crust but I did cut off the sides and ate them with the kids, it was good but tasted mostly of the browned side and I didn't get the full matcha taste. I will be cutting into it in a couple hours.....

[Kiem Hwa]

Kristin-

So what was the final ruling on your o-cha castella?

[torakris]

believe it or not I actually forgot about it until late afternoon....

ta da!

This was REALLY good!

Definitely let it sit overnight, it made a big difference. I cut off and ate the edges hours after making it and it was dry and cardboard-y tasting with almost no flavor. 24 hours later it was soft moist and very matcha tasting.

I didn't use the full amount of matcha called for in the recipe, it called for 30 grams which was the entire container that I bought, so I only used 20 and I was perfectly happy with that.

I will translate the recipe later today....

[torakris]

Matcha Castella

(translated and somewhat adapted from the recipe above)

5 large eggs

240g /8 oz granulated sugar

200g/ 7 oz strong (bread) flour -- I used one with 12% protein

20-30g / about 1 oz matcha powder

100ml/ 1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons milk, at room temp

4 Tablespoons honey

6 Tablespoons flavorless oil (I used canola)

1. Prepare an 8 inch square baking pan by greasing the bottom, laying down a square of parchment (wax paper) and greasing that. Preheat teh oven to 350 F.

2. Mix the eggs and sugar with a hand mixer (or standing mixer) on high speed for about 10 minutes (probably a little less with a standing). You will know it is done when the batter has lightened considerably and batter dripping from the beaters disappears almost immediately upon contact with the batter.

3.Mix the flour and matcha together. With the mixer running on medium speed at it to the batter a little at a time.

4. Add the milk and mix until combined.

5. Add the honey and mix until combined.

6. Add the oil and mix until combined.

7. Pour it into the prepared baking pan and bake at 350 F for 10 minutes then lower the heat to 325 and bake for 45 minutes.

8. Remove it from the pan as soon as it is done and let the cake cool on a rack. One it has completely cooled, wrap it in saran wrap and let it sit overnight.

Enjoy!

[Kiem Hwa]

Thank you very much Kristin. I really appreciate you taking the time to translate a recipe for kanji-illiterate people like me.

I am going to try this recipe out as soon as the osechi is cleaned out from the fridge (the fridge is so packed right now!!!). Well, not that it has to go into the fridge, but we have to focus on eating those foods first:) Hopefully by this weekend.......

[torakris]

I also forgot to mention that I gave part of it to a Japanese pastry chef friend of mine yesterday since my son spent about 8 hours at her house that day. She came over this morning to tell me how good it was, if she thinks it is good......

[Kiem Hwa]

I made my Matcha Castella.... I don't have a scale yet, but I put 2 Tbsp of my self-milled matcha, and then added 1 Tbsp of bought matcha later (I didn't think I had enough). It came out a little undercooked (forgot to make sure it was done, I was too excited...), but tastes great!!!

Also, just a note, but I could tell the matcha I milled with my matcha mill was bigger grains then the purchased matcha.

However, I think having this recipe is going to be a problem for me..... It is one of the few desserts I have self-control problems with.....

[Hiroyuki]

torakris and Kiem Hwa,

I'm curious to know what kind of drink you have with green tea castella? Tea, coffee, or green tea?

The reason I ask is that I am a huge fan of green tea, but I just don't go for green tea products such as green tea ice cream.

[torakris]

torakris and Kiem Hwa,

I'm curious to know what kind of drink you have with green tea castella?  Tea, coffee, or green tea?

The reason I ask is that I am a huge fan of green tea, but I just don't go for green tea products such as green tea ice cream.

←

I prefer green tea products to green tea......

I just drank water with it, as I drink water with almost everything. I don't like combining teas/coffees and green tea castella with green tea would be overkill for me.

[Kiem Hwa]

torakris and Kiem Hwa,

I'm curious to know what kind of drink you have with green tea castella?  Tea, coffee, or green tea?

The reason I ask is that I am a huge fan of green tea, but I just don't go for green tea products such as green tea ice cream.

←

That depends.... when i used to buy this in LA, i was always drinking Mugi-cha (barley tea), and I drank that with everything. Now that I have to share a fridge with several other people there is no room for my tea jug in the fridge, so I drink either water, hot green tea, or coffee (if its breakfast). But actually.... i just eat it by itself all day long.

[origamicrane]

I made my Matcha Castella.... I don't have a scale yet, but I put 2 Tbsp of my self-milled matcha,

←

Hi Kiem

This castella looks yummy might have to give it a try soon

but just picked up on a comment you made about milling your own matcha.

How do you mill your own green tea? and what type of tea leaf is it that you start with?

thanks for your help

[Kiem Hwa]

Hi Kiem

This castella looks yummy might have to give it a try soon

but just picked up on a comment you made about milling your own matcha.

How do you mill your own green tea? and what type of tea leaf is it that you start with?

thanks for your help

←

Hi Origami Crane -

See my post in the Gadgets in the Japanese Kitchen Thread:

The tea I have been using is a high-grade (no stems) sencha "gold" from Uji. I think it's important that theres no stems.

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=58044&st=0

[origamicrane]

cool

hmmm think i might have to locate one

[torakris]

My newest green tea product findings......

on the left green tea tofu, I didn't really care for this..

matcha au lait, just mix the powder with hot water for a hot version or a bit of hot water followed by cold water and ice cubes for a cold version. I prefer the cold, but then again I prefer all my drinks cold. This is really good but needs to be mixed very well to get rid of the powdery taste.

[sanrensho]

Matcha powder in tiramisu works fine. It is definitely more subtle, but I didn't find it clashed with the espresso in the savoiardi biscuits. I made two versions and my wife preferred the matcha version. The only negative was that the matcha powder had a tendency to stick to silverware.

As for using matcha in ice cream, just let some vanilla ice cream soften slightly before mixing in the powder, then freeze it again. That is the way my parents always made it in the days before matcha ice cream became commercially available in North America, and what I do when I have the occasional hankering for green tea ice cream.

Last year, we were treated to a semi-informal tea ceremony by a Japanese student who had studied chado for quite a few years. Surprisingly, the tea wasn't very bitter at all.