Matcha affogato

Encounter with affogato

I was fascinated by encountering a dessert called “affogato”. It was probably one or two decades ago: I can’t remember exactly when. I knew ice cream and I knew espresso but pouring the espresso on ice cream was a shock. It was terribly good. Europeans know such cool way of enjoying ice cream. I tried it at home. I even enjoyed it with matcha instead of coffee. Nowadays, I’m into mixing Oreo cookies into ice cream. I think that it’s better than getting a ready-made cookies and cream. Anyway, I forgot about affogato lately. 

Reunion with new version

This spring, a new Japanese-tea house opened in my city. I found “koicha affogato” on their menu. This is it! I ordered the koicha affogato. The ice cream came with shiratama dumplings and anko (sweet been paste), and koicha came in a different cup. Koicha is a thickly prepared matcha, against thinly prepared usucha. 　(Related link about Koicha and Usucha: http://everyonestea.blogspot.jp/2014/04/thick-tea-and-thin-tea.html) What I enjoyed in the past was one with thin tea, usucha. I have never thought of using koicha. This one is new to me. I poured koicha from the top of the ice cream. I like this new version better. I can enjoy rich flavor of green tea much better. Now I think that my affogato with usucha was a little watery and koicha goes much better with it.

I tried koicha affogato at home

I liked it so much and wanted to try it at home. I found the perfect thing at a supermarket. It’s dumplings on a stick with anko!

 It’s not shiratama dumplings but it’s similar. So I think that it’ll be all right. I didn’t have to buy a whole can of anko or make shiratamas from scratch.

I disassembled the dumplings and anko, and served them with ice cream in a bowl. I made koicha with the usual recipe (matcha:3.6g, water:36ml at 80C). 

It looks quite nice, doesn’t it?

The amount of koicha was too much for100ml (a half cup) of ice cream that I used.

It’s heaven

For the second time, I tried it with a half amount of koicha. It was perfect! The outer layer of ice cream was melted by the hot matcha. I scooped the melted creamy matcha sauce and lump of ice cream together with my spoon and put them in my mouth. It is wonderful to savor the cold part and the aromatic matcha sauce merging. I also put dumplings and anko into my mouth after dressing them with the sauce. It’s nice to have various change in temperature, texture and flavor. It is a very amusing dessert. Even if you don’t have dumplings and anko, it is going to be much more fun putting koicha on ice cream than just having ice cream only.

*If you try it, don’t use expensive matcha for koicha. Use inexpensive one. Bitter flavor goes better with ice cream.

My mixture
Vanilla ice cream: 100ml (a half cup)
Koicha: matcha 1.8g, hot water 18ml

 

Confusion between your sense of taste and sight

I was so astonished when I saw a California roll for the first time!  Rice and seaweed are inside out and it has avocado inside.  It was a way extraordinary idea from mine or Japanese common sense.  But, it’s actually quite good!   Nowadays, sushi is popular all around the world.  There seems to be gorgeous creative rolls and wraps enjoyed in other countries.  What type of sushi can you have at sushi restaurants in your country? Can you have those many innovated sushi or Japanese traditional ones?

 

 

I appreciate those new types but I also love our classic sushi.  I think that sushi is made simply to enjoy the taste of the ingredients.  There are various types of fish and shellfish used.  Can you name those different kinds?  I personally love hirame(bastard halibut), akagai(ark shell) and uni(sea urchin).   Akagai and uni taste differently depending on price or restaurant.  Cheap uni can be bitter or has chemical flavor while good uni is sweet.  What sushi do you like? 



Ikura

Today, I did not intend to talk about sushi.  I saw these sushi on TV the other day and I took pictures of them.  Don’t you notice something weird?  They are not real sushi.  They are all made of wagashi, Japanese confectionery.  Can you believe that?  They look so real but it is actually very sweet if you eat them!  Of course, they are special and you can’t buy them everywhere.  I don’t want to see them in a tea ceremony.  My brain will be confused with the difference between its taste and appearance, hahaha.  Wagashi often depicts a flower, scenery of the nature or a seasonal object.  The beauty of formative design is in the realm of art.  The technique and ideas to create an admiring wagashi is superb!  They can even make sushi out of it!!

Uni

What  is he making?



Red bean paste into a container




Coating the surface with rice flour




Pour more of the bean past on top of it




Repeating those steps and Forming layers with the red past and rice flour




Slicing it like sasimi




Ta-dah!  Tuna sushi!!



Measuring green tea

Are you sure that you always use the correct amount of tea leaves?  Doesn’t your tea sometimes get too strong or too weak?  Today, I will give you some tips in solving this dilemma.

 

Tip No. 1

Use the same tea spoon always.  It develops your visual estimate of the amount of tea leaves on the spoon.  This is a regular size teaspoon.  The American quarter coin just acts as an additional basis.

 
Tip No. 2
Try to scoop 2 grams of tea leaves.  It is the basic amount for one serving for the most of Japanese green tea.  This is how 2g of gyokuro looks like.  It is slightly more than the level teaspoon.  This will work the same with sencha and kabusecha. 

The scale isn't really needed every time. Just as long as you manage to scoop the approximate amount of tea leaves with your teaspoon, the size of the teapot nor the number of servings won't really matter anymore.  The most important key here to serve a great cup of tea is to practice measuring 2 grams of tea into your regular teaspoon.

Given the fact that some types of tea require more or less than the usual amount (2 grams), acquisition of the basic knowledge will help you figure out.  Here is how 1g (Left) and 3g (Right) of tea look like.  The middle one is 2g.  One gram will be slightly less than the level teaspoon.  And three grams will be a heap of scoop. 

Tip No. 3

One more thing that I want you to know is that it can differ by the size of tea leaves.  What I have shown above is for the common sized tea leaves, such as sencha, gyokuro and kabusecha.  When it comes to the tea with smaller pieces like deep-steamed sencha and konacha, it will look less.  On the other hand, the lager tea leaves have more volume, which are bancha and hojicha.  Here is one example.  These three types of tea leaves are all measured 2g.  (From Left to Right: deep-steamed sencha, gyokuro,  bancha)  You need to consider the size of leaves when measuring.

After you reading this article, hopefully there will be no too strong nor too weak tea on your table anymore.

 

EnaSuya

On my summer vacation, I found an attractive store on my way of a trip to Gero and Takayama.  The sign says EnaSuya.  EnaSuya is a popular shop for chestnuts confectionery.    I immediately thought that I should visit this place on my way back home.

Nice looking entrance

Traditional Curtain Outside the Shop.

A common tradition for most Japanese Stores.

  

Café space is comparatively small from the size of the building.

All tables are faced outside.

This is the outside view of the cafe.

  

I had Matcha.  Others had shaved ice with peach-juice syrup and one with brown sugar syrop.

 It took quite some time to be served, but I enjoyed the tea and their sweets.  The shaved ice was excellent.  It is a nice place to stop by and visit.

EnaSuya  (Japanese) >>> http://www.facebook.com/enasuya

http://www.suya.co.jp/user_data/kannonji.php

My shallow view

Can you guess the name of this confection?  At first look, I simply thought it would be just “green maple”, but it actually wasn’t.

My tea master usually buys the sweets for class from my favorite confectionery shop, Azumaken.  The fresh color of summer maple and watery sensation of jelly are perfect for this intensifying season.  I love this sweet.  Can you think of any unique name for this confectionery now? 

The name is komorebi, which means sunshine filtering through foliage.  I didn’t understand why it is named as sunlight.  But when I took a closer look, I kind of realized why it earned its name.  The confection has few straight tubal motifs in it.  I guess that they are describing the sunbeams streaming through the leaves.  How wonderful and elegant!  I was so impressed.  The Japanese confectioner tries to express not only the objects but even abstract concept like scenery.   I’m ashamed of my shallow view that I thought it’s just green maples, but at the same time I feel delighted to have learned this new discovery.

I think this is a good example of the great pleasures of Japanese tea ceremony.  If I see this confection in a tea ceremony, I would feel like the host is saying “Have tea under the cool shade of trees”.   I can exactly imagine the harmony and peaceful scenery.  We don’t talk too much in a ceremony, instead we enjoy the hospitality by feeling and understanding the idea it brings.  This unique way of communication makes the ceremony so much interesting and a memorable experience. 

Treat from Kyoto

Pastel colors of the sweets look attractive, inviting and excellent for summer.  I got a small box of confectionaries from a friend of mine.  It is a souvenir from Kyoto.  They are so cute, aren’t they?  Not to mention, so irresistible

The rainy season is finally over and the sunshiny days have started here.  It’s going to be another very hot day today.  To enjoy the fresh breeze of morning, I used white porcelain wares and enjoyably prepared tea for myself.

The confectionary gleams by the light from the window.  When I touched it with the sweet pick, I could feel the soft but firm jelly, and it started splitting out when I added more pressure.  I could perfectly imagine how it breaks down, melts and spreads in my mouth.  The flavor was ratherly surprising!  The jelly had a clear sweetness only with no other flavor.  It was extremely mellow and filling my mouth.   It is just a cluster of pure sweetness.  Every now and then, a piece of chestnut added a delightful twist with the nutty honey note, and red bean’s earthy aroma pleased my palate.  The sweets from Kyoto brought a luxurious and cool moment for my usual summer day.

Sea shell for sweets!?

In the tea lesson this week, sea shells were brought in front of me.   Sea shell for sweets!?  The guests smiled as they were looking at them.  I’m often surprised with the beauty of confectionery, but this time I was surprised with its unpredictability, the playful idea.

I opened the shell.  There was not any actual meat inside, and it was filled with golden jelly.  I scooped it by using the other empty shell and put it into my mouth.  It was indeed sweet.  Its flavor stimulated a Japanese pure caramel candy.  The dark brown part in the center gave a change in the flavor as I tasted it.  It is miso, fermented bean paste.  The slightly salty and distinctive flavor of miso harmonized the roasted sugar flavor from the beginning.  

It was very interesting and unique confectionery that I had ever tried.  It is made in Kyoto.  Serving this type of sweets might not be common in the tea ceremony, but I love the idea to give your guests a bit of surprise.  Have you ever tried any confectionary that amused you with a surprise?

Exclusive tea ceremony

Miwa (alias), one of our classmates from tea school held a private tea ceremony at her place.  Four guests; our master, another classmate, my wife and I were invited.  Big open tea ceremonies are not bad, but I realized that this kind of exclusive ceremony is more enjoyable.  

I found great hospitalities at Miwa’s ceremony, not only on her performance of the day, but also on the preparation.  Miwa thought about the menu of cuisine for weeks, and prepped it from the day before.  She cleaned her house and garden.  She picked fresh flowers from the field in her neighborhood in the morning.  Those unspoken efforts delight the guests.  The same kind of preparations is needed even for open ceremonies, but I was touched when I think of what she has done not for anybody but for us. 

Moreover, I was surprised to find out that she made the confectionary by herself!  I wonder how long it took her to prepare all these things.  The sweets were beautiful and looked like a seasonal flower, hydrangea placed on an actual leaf.

Miwa used a teabowl and tea container which she got from our master previously.  I think this was one of her consideration selecting guest’s related items.  It stimulated us to talk about the utensils and flowers. 

I feel that at the big open tea gathering, I focus on the ceremony itself.  I mean that I tend to care about manners and how the ceremony proceeds.  On the other hand in the private ceremony, the focal point is on the people and it has a friendly atmosphere.  I was able to simply enjoy the time with familiar fellows.

The homemade sweets

The meal served in the ceremony

Memorial trip

I have had the same brand of car for twenty years.  This year, I’m thinking letting it go.  Before that, I wanted to go to a memorable trip with it.  We headed to Shizuoka prefecture where you can view Mt. Fuji!! 

  

One of the places where we stopped by is Gyokuoro-no-sato that has a small garden and a tea house.  Let me introduce some photos.

It is located in a country side surrounded with greens.

You can walk around the garden for free.

  

There is a tea house. 

 Only the people who pay for tea can get in.Of course, we had tea there.After having tea in a large room, you can look around the house.  This tea house also has a small tea room.  I got to see it. 

Preparation room

Small tea room (about 4 tatami mats)

hanging scroll and flower at tokonoma alcove

Elaborately designed ceiling

 

Nijiriguchi, crawl-in entrance

 

Position where the host prepares tea

  

I found a pretty unique thing there.Look at the sign.  Can you read Japanese?

It is gyokuro ice cream!!

I have seen matcha ice cream or green tea ice cream, but never gyokuoro’s.

 Its flavor … um … I didn’t find significant difference from regular green tea ice cream. But, it tastes really good, and it has actual tea on the top as sprinkles^^  

On the next entry, I’ll introduce the gyokoro we had in the tea house.

Sweets for early spring

We have a funny custom on White day (Mar. 13) in Japan.  On Valentine’s Day, ladies declare their love through giving chocolates.  There is also giri-choco, obligation chocolate for friends or co-workers.  White day is the day that men give women presents in return.  I believe these customs started from commercial promotions of chocolate and sweet makers. 

Cookies or chocolates are often given on White day, but I didn’t want to flow the scheme, haha (^^;;   So today, I went to a Japanese confectionery shop.  Traditional sweets could also be good for this, I guess.  In the showcase, lovely confections are displayed.  In this season, the colors used on them seem brighter than winter’s.  I picked a few items with pastel color for the present. 

I bought another one for myself.   It is dark colored one with a hidden beauty.  You will soon notice that there are white sprinkles and a small flower on the top.  They represent frost and plum bloom of this season.  But, take a close look.  It has an indistinct pattern under brown jelly.  I love the demure design.  I don’t know what this design means, buy it might be trying to express the upcoming bright spring, I think.

Once you put a piece into your mouth, roast sweetness reminiscent of caramel occupies your sense.  Two different texture, chunky jelly and soft paste amuse you.   The sweetness goes away momentary and only its scent remains, which pleases your nose.

It’s cold and I found needle ice this morning.  But, the weather is fair and I feel that it’s going to be a fine day.  Now, mild breeze are blowing.  The name of this confection is Kochi東風, literally East wind.  It means the breeze from east in the early spring.  This is a perfect confectionery for today.  This sweet seems to bring a real spring with Kochi ^^