A beginner’s guide to Matcha tea
If you’re an aspiring chef taking pastry courses online, odds are you’re always looking for new ways to spice up your desserts and other dishes. Recently, Matcha tea has gained increasing popularity in the culinary world for it’s rich flavor, various health benefits and beautiful color. The tea powder, which is chock-full of antioxidants, is being used in everything from holiday cookies to breakfast scrambles. Yet while the tea is just beginning to take a hold in the U.S., Matcha is actually a traditional tea that’s been being milled since the 10th century, according to Eater. The tea’s salutary qualities have given it quite a reputation as of late, and over the coming years it will likely continue to gain steam in the U.S.
What is Matcha tea
Unlike most teas that are steeped, Matcha is instead green tea leaves ground into a fine powder that are then mixed with water. This method makes a potentially thicker tea with a vibrant green hue, and the drink provides more nutritional benefits from the leaves since they are ingested. Eater notes that Matcha is made casually in the states, but that in Japan it is part of a traditional tea ceremony. The unique method of preparation requires specific utensils, such as a glass bowl and small whisk to stir together the Matcha. According to Yahoo, Matcha tea is usually consumed quickly directly from the glass bowl so that the powder doesn’t have time to settle at the bottom.
While Matcha is becoming more widely used among esoteric culinary circles in the U.S., it still hasn’t quite taken hold at restaurants and coffeehouses, Yahoo notes. For this reason, most Matcha fans make the tea at home or enjoy it at teahouses. The price of the tea powder can vary greatly, but more affordable Matcha is sold for cooking and baking.
How to incorporate Matcha tea in the kitchen
There’s seemingly no wrong way to use Matcha tea powder in your culinary ventures. Shape recommends adding Matcha to a refreshing mojito or Arnold Palmer, giving these beverages an extra boost of flavor and texture. Matcha can also easily be added to the batter of cookies, cakes and other baked goods. For a healthy breakfast, sprinkle a little Matcha tea powder into your morning bowl of oatmeal. All in all, the vibrant color and distinct taste is sure to take any dish up a notch.
