Green Tea and Red Bean Ice Creams

[SobaAddict70]

Last night, I had major Chinese food cravings -- and managed to satisfy some of it. There's a sort of ok Chinese takeout place near me that stays open late, around 2 am, called "Chef T". Soup dumplings (kinda average), vegetable lo mein and green tea ice cream.

Their green tea ice cream was really outstanding. Sweet and intense, creamy, almost vanilla overtones. It got me to thinking -- this can't just be vanilla ice cream with green tea flavoring, could it? Maybe it's green tea infused ice cream. Why isn't this sort of thing around in the U.S.? And for that matter, well made red bean ice cream is pretty good too.

So, are there any brands out there that make this sort of thing? And if not, have any recipes for either of these two, or other offbeat ice cream flavors?

Soba

[Pan]

I don't know the answers to your questions, Stan, but I do like to go to the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory. I love how the "normal" flavors there are Red Bean, Ginger, Mango, Pineapple, Green Tea, etc., and the "exotic" flavors are Vanilla, Chocolate...

[torakris]

Haagen Dazs makes a great green tea ice cream, they have an azuki (red bean) as well but I have never tried it. They may market these just in Japan though......

Haagen Dazs Japan

http://www.haagen-dazs.co.jp/contents/product/index.html

click on flavors

[Moopheus]

It got me to thinking -- this can't just be vanilla ice cream with green tea flavoring, could it? Maybe it's green tea infused ice cream. Why isn't this sort of thing around in the U.S.?

You can do it either way--make a very strong, concentrated tea (i.e., with a very small amount of water), strain it and add it to your cream base, or infuse it directly into the cream, then strain and make the cream base. You want to avoid adding much extra water to the base.

I've tried "Mr. Green Tea" ice cream, and don't recommend it--okay flavor, terrible ice cream.

[hillvalley]

So, are there any brands out there that make this sort of thing?

Check out the ice cream section of your local asian market. Both of mine sell a few varieties of green tea ice cream and other flavors.

[ExtraMSG]

I made green tea, ginger, and coconut ice creams for a wedding lunch (Thai food) last summer. Actually, what I made was green tea ice cream with chocolate chunks, ginger ice cream with candied ginger, and toasted coconut ice cream.

The green tea ice cream was the easiest and tastiest. I didn't use a recipe. I just scalded the base with a healthy amount of green tea leaves in it and then let it rest until I was happy with the flavor, then I strained out the leaves and went about making the custard, cooling it, and making the ice cream. I must admit, however, that I used food coloring to give it a green color.

Simple flavorings like this are pretty straight-forward, I think. Much easier than when you need a syrup for flavoring which can throw off the sugar content and viscosity. The coconut ice cream was much more a pain than the ginger or green tea.

Take my word for it. Add chocolate. It'll remind you of the combo of mint and chocolate. Fabulous.

[Knicke]

Neato. I was interested in getting an ice cream maker for the express purpose of trying my own green tea ice cream. Can't wait! (The new Cuisinart component is freezing as we speak; think I'll have to start with plain chocolate, though. :)

[Carolyn Tillie]

Do you have a Trader Joe's in your neighborhood? They have an amazing dense, decadent Green Tea Gelato -- the same company produces a Ginger Gelato with crystallised ginger bits that knocks my socks off and a Blackberry Cabernet Sorbet that is akin to sex.

[Knicke]

We are still waiting for a Trader Joe's here in Colorado. The closest options are Arizona and Nevada; that's a long way to go for a little gelato! I get so pissed (and wistful...'pistful'?) sometimes hearing about all the interesting little tidbits folks find there. AND we've been waiting for a Fort Collins branch of Whole Foods for a year now! They keep saying it's coming, and there's a lot of hubbub around the construction site, but when...WHEN? So sick of driving to Boulder for specialty food ingredients!

What's the name of the company that produces this fabled Green Tea Gelato? I'm wondering if it's sold solely through TJ's or if you can find it somewhere else....

[alanamoana]

anybody have experience with grean tea powder?

you should check out recipe gullet because i think that's what michael laiskonis uses in his green tea ice cream which is very good!

i think good green tea powder is more expensive than (certain) tea leaves, though.

Edited January 27, 2004 by alanamoana (log)

[Verjuice]

It's called matcha, and it's perfect for this. I'm pretty sure it's just a super high quality and extra high potency pulverized tea leaves in powder form. Pricey, yes, but a little goes a long way, and you get the potency of flavor and the vibrant green color that is so appealing. It's what is used in traditional Japanese tea ceremonies, too.

[whimsity]

The green tea produced in the proper ceremony using matcha and a whisk is super yum and almost thick enough to be a soup. The dregs always have small bits of... something though.

I *adore* green tea ice cream, though for some reason everytime I buy it from an asian grocery store it never matches up to the ones I get from restaurants (not fancy we-make-it-ourselves restaurants, just middle range ones).

Am also very tempted to make it with (my friend's) ice-cream machine, but for some reason my brain insists that if made with matcha it would have a grainy texture. Any thoughts, or has anyone tried it?

[phaelon56]

Their green tea ice cream was really outstanding. Sweet and intense, creamy, almost vanilla overtones. It got me to thinking -- this can't just be vanilla ice cream with green tea flavoring, could it?

This is a distinct possibility, especially if it's a relatively small operation that makes their own ice cream on premises. My first regular "on the books" job was at age 15 - one had to be that old to get "working papers" in NY state (my first "on the books" job was actually working as Mr. Peanut at grocery store grand openings but it was an intermittent gig). I worked in a Carvel store and was surprised to discover that all Carvel ice creams are made from two basic base mixes. The mixes are a thick liquid in a large waxy cardboard cart (like a 2.5 gallon milk caontainer) and came only in vanilla or chocolate. Every one of the carvel flavors that was not chocolate based had the vanilla base mix. Furthermore... another shocking revelation.... it was exactly the same stuff that was used to make the soft serve chocolate and vanilla.

For example.... to make mint chocolate chip, the operator starts drawing soft serve vanilla into the big metal scooping container and adds green food coloring and mint flavor concentrate, blending and whipping it in as the container fills. The container full of soft serve is now placed in a walk in freezer to solidify before putting it out for retail sale.

My boss never let me make the hard ice cream or the cakes but I became the "King of the Flying Saucers". I cranked 'em out by the hundreds on a weekly basis and perfected the art (what little there was to it).

[elswinger]

I just got an ice cream maker (Cuisinart) and made my first ice cream last week (Butterfinger Vanilla). I would like to try something exotic and am wondering, since there is Green Tea Ice Cream, do people think Thai Ice Tea Ice Cream might be good, or even do-able (substituting Thai Black Tea for the Green Tea, adding a little more sugar, and using heavy cream instead of whipping cream)?

[Bond Girl]

I guess, but you will have to steep the milk/cream mixture in Thai tea and wait until it cools then strain it out. However, I think Thai ice tea (or at least the one's I had) are made with condense milk, so I'm not sure how that figures into the whole ice cream mixture since I'ver never used it in that way.

[Rachel Perlow]

Mmm, that sounds really good. I'd probably make a strong extract of the tea using water, then blend it with the dairy and sugar.

[bloviatrix]

The fun thing about having your own ice cream make is you get to play around with flavors that tempt you. Try it. The worse that happens is that it doesn't taste the way you had hoped.

It's just milk, cream and eggs. Not neuro-surgery.

[blackcat]

There used to be a place in San Francisco called Pure T. It was a tea shop/ice cream parlor. There were only tea ice creams and sorbets. The Thai tea ice cream was very good. I loved the Earl Grey milk shakes.

From what I can remember, here are some of the flavors ......

Morrocan mint

earl grey

thai tea

Chai

Black Currant

A while back I made Thai tea ice cream and I steeped the tea in the milk cream mixture. It came out pretty good.

[jgarner53]

When I was growing up, my grandmother's vanilla ice cream recipe, which we always churned by hand in an old White Mountain with the rock salt & ice, used sweetened condensed milk (as well as cream and half & half). It would freeze to a delightful soft-serve consistency, then harden damn good so that you'd have to let it thaw on the counter for a while before serving.

That said, I don't think that the traditional mixture of sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk in Thai iced tea would present much of a problem. Save me a scoop!

[petite tête de chou]

Maybe a touch of lemongrass? Seems like it would be nice as a palate cleanser instead of a dessert.

[duckduck]

I've done it with Republic of Tea's vanilla almond "sweeten the mind" tea and it was absolutely killer. The thought came to me because as it sits on my desk each morning, it gets more flavorful as it cools. (I take it with creamer and sugar.) So, it seemed like a natural progression...if it tastes so good cool...wouldn't it be awesome frozen? And it is. Just steep in the cream and toss it in the ice cream maker.

[Andrew Fenton]

However, I think Thai ice tea (or at least the one's I had) are made with condense milk, so I'm not sure how that figures into the whole ice cream mixture since I'ver never used it in that way.

There are lots of ice cream recipes that incorporate condensed milk. I'd think adapting one of those would be pretty straightforward.

[Reap]

Just had to say that Thai Tea ice-cream sounds awesome! Let us know how it turns out!

Edited August 18, 2004 by Reap (log)

[phaelon56]

And how might one make ice cream that tastes like a Vietnamese iced coffee with sweetened condensed milk? That prospect (if it's feasible) is enough to make me buy an ice cream maker.

[Abra]

Awesome idea - I've got to try this!