Global Tea Time

As my 12 week coding class plods on, I continue to look for some easy tea recipes to try. Since Asia is where tea originated, they seem to do a lot more with it than people in my part of the world. I was trying to figure out if people in Japan made iced matcha, and I came across this video. Since I had all of the ingredients, I decided to give it a try.  Per the video, they used a gram of agar powder, 300 mL of water, and 0.6 grams of matcha powder (I used a teaspoon because there was no way that I would be able to weigh that amount of matcha).  I have a couple of options. The only powdered agar I can find already has sugar in it. I don't remember if it was in a video, or something I read, but adding sugar to a matcha drink seems to be frowned on, so my other option is to use the agar stick. I tried using this for something before, and it didn't work out the best, so we'll see how I do this time.  As it turns out, my digital food sc...

I've seen many references to matcha ice cream in Japan. There was an article in the last few months about a premium matcha ice cream that was selling for about $17 a scoop. I don't have the budget to get to Japan, and I'm certainly not paying $17 for some ice cream, so it's improv time. I can almost hear my sister groaning. Not only did I buy boring old vanilla ice cream, but I'm going to mix tea into it! While my sister does like ice cream, she likes the more complex flavors (okay, I do too, but I didn't really think chocolate chip cookie dough would pair well with tea). Back when we were kids, we would have plan vanilla ice cream, and we would resort to mixing chocolate quick into it to add some flavor. I'm resorting to that same technique again, but the powder is a little different in color and flavor this time... I added about half a teaspoon of matcha powder to my ice cream. It didn't look very impressive sprinkled on top, so I decide...

Tea culture in Japan is about 1000 years old, so there is a lot of tradition to draw from. These days, it seems most people associate Japan with matcha tea (since it is having its "super food" moment). Today we're exploring Genmaicha. I've seen many pictures of this tea blend, although I wasn't sure I should believe it the first time I saw it. While there are many local outlets that sell it, I don't want to buy a big package of it. It also looks pretty easy to make on your own. Genmaicha is also known as "the people's tea" since it was originally the beverage of peasants. It was developed as a way to stretch the expensive tea leaves to make them last longer. So today, we start with a hot pan and... Popcor n. Yes, you read that right. I also have some white rice waiting on the side. So anyway, pop your popcorn in a hot pan. I used a dry pan because I didn't want oil in my tea. Then wipe the residue out of the pan. I found wearing...

Today we are having another shorter post. I'm trying green tea flavored tapioca. What can I say, I have fun looking through ethnic grocery stores. I'm not quite sure which language this is written in. These are the type of tapioca pearls used in bubble tea, but the package recommends stirring them with honey or sugar and eating as is. They also do make a note about using them in beverages. It basically boils down to being a warning about choking. I'm trying mine plain so I can get a better idea of how they taste. I'm also chewing them instead of trying to drink them. They smell sweet when I open the package, but I don't think they smell like tea. The package recommends boiling them for 2-3 minutes after they float to the top of the water. Then covering them, turning the heat off, and letting them simmer for another 2-3 minutes. Next, you drain off the boiling water, and dump them in cold water for 20 seconds. Well, mine ended up hanging o...