The confection named rapeseed flowers

Hey, it’s time of cherry blossoms! In my region, it’s the peak of blooming now. The best period is short and only lasts for a week or so. Maybe, that’s why Japanese is so fascinated with cherry blossoms. Yesterday, I went to on a cherry viewing picnic with my family at a neighboring park. We took my grandfather and had lunch there. 　It was a fine day and no cloud was in the sky. Children were playing with parents. A senior couple was relaxing at a bench. A group of young people was parting with alcohol. Many people were enjoying under the cherries. It feels nice to eat outside sometimes.

We went to Azumaken, my favorite confectionary shop in my town. This is one of the sweets we got. The confection is named rapeseed flowers which are after a spring flower of the same name. I think it appears like yellow blossoms in a green field. It has sweet bean past inside.

Photo of rapeseed flowers >>> Wikipedia

Incense container

You can smell a scent in a tea room. We place incense in the hearth. Our tea master showed us some of her incense containers. There are variety types. The ones in the back row are made of ceramic and used in winter. The ones on the first row are wooden and used in summer.

Joyo, the king of Japanese cake

I remember that I could not help eating joyo, a kind of Japanese confection at my grandfather’s funeral. Many neighbors and relatives brought joyo and there were more than you can eat. I was 14 or 15. Maybe that was the time that I realized I love Japanese confections. Since then joyo has been my favorite.





Joyo is one of the traditional cakes in Japan. It’s popular and you can find it anywhere. It’s a simple confection. Sweet bean paste is covered with dough. The dough is like thin sponge which is made of rice and yam (a kind of root crop) if I remember right. When you put it in your mouth, the pleasant sweetness of bean paste will occupy your palate. The earthy flavor of yam adds an accent on the sweetness and you can even smell the aroma. Your hand naturally knows what you want next. That’s right, … a cup of green tea ^^


At last night’s tea lesson, the sweet was the joyo! I had a happy moment with joyo and matcha.

Black bean tea at a contemporary restaurant

How do you celebrate a birthday for your family member? Do you have a party at home or eat out at a fancy restaurant? I went to a restaurant for my wife’s birthday.





The meal we had was Japanese cuisine, which included some traditional dishes, such as sashimi and sushi. Some of them came on a western plate. The interior of the restaurant is modern. We loved the fusion of Japanese & Western, and Tradition & Modern.






Black bean tea was served at the end of the course. This kind of tea is not made of the tea plant, so it is not technically a tea. Anyway, it has nice roasted aroma. The taste was very smooth and doesn’t have much bitterness. Maybe, hojicha is the similar tea to describe this bean-tea flavor. The tea was pleasure for refreshing my mouth after the meal.

Get to know Japanese tea by starting with the four types

If you want to know what Japanese tea is like, try the four types that I recommend here. There are 13 types of Japanese tea. Some of you might wonder which one is good or what you should have first. Here is the answer for you ☆*:.。. o(≧▽≦)o .。.:*☆


1. Sencha (The most common green tea) or Fukamushi-sencha (Deep-steamed sencha)
These are the basic of Japanese tea. You can’t talk about Japanese tea without knowing sencha. They are the most popular and common green tea in Japan. These teas have great harmony of bitterness and umami, which is the best charm of Japanese tea. You can enjoy sencha any time, and sencha can be your main tea among these four.

sencha

fukamushi-sencha



2. Matcha (Powdered tea)
This is the tea used in tea ceremonies or sado (The Way of Tea). It is enjoyed less frequently than sencha, but sado has a big aspect in Japanese tea culture. A lot of other Japanese culture have been influenced by sado, as well. Now matcha flavored foods and beverages are popular, such as matcha latte and matcha cake. Matcha is very thick and rich in flavor. I strongly recommend the fine-quality one. Low quality one has strong bitterness, and the fine ones don’t. You can enjoy it at your home party or for any special occasions.




3. Hojicha (Roasted green tea) or Genmaicha (Brown rice tea)
These are the tea for people. They are reasonable and enjoyed casually. It is usually prepared with plenty of water. The taste is not that strong so they can be enjoyed with meals and snacks. If you have one in your tea selections, it will be the most useful tea.

hojicha

genmaicha



4. Kabusecha (Covered tea) or Gyokuro (Premium green tea)
These teas have rich umami, which is the distinctive flavor found in Japanese tea. They are good when you want to enjoy something different. You will appreciate them at premium tea time or when you want to relish fine tea at your personal time. I recommend preparing these teas in small servings, so that the taste of these teas will be concentrated.

kabusecha
.
gyokuro



What do you think? Don’t you feel like starting Japanese tea? I’m sure that your tea life will be much abundant by having these four types in your selection.

Types of Japanese tea

How many types of Japanese tea can you name? Today, I want to talk about the types of Japanese tea. Here are the 13 major types.

Sencha - The most common green tea -
Fukamushi-sencha - Deep-steamed sencha -
Bancha - Coarse tea -
Kabusecha - Covered tea -
Roasted tamaryokucha - Roasted curled tea -
Steamed tamaryokucha (Guricha) - Steamed curled tea -
Matcha - Powdered tea, which used in the tea ceremony -
Gyokuro - Premium green tea -
Hojicha - Roasted green tea -
Genmaicha - Brown rice tea -
Konacha - Flake tea -
Mecha - Bud tea -
Kukicha - Twig tea -



These Japanese teas are all made from the same tea plant, but they are produced slightly different. How many of them have you ever tried? I guess you have tried sencha, the most common green tea. That’s my favorite.


Can you think of what is in common among of the following three teas?
Kabusecha - Covered tea -
Matcha - Powdered tea, which used in the tea ceremony -
Gyokuro - Premium green tea -

Yes, the tea plans for these teas are covered with a screen to shut out the direct sunlight about 10-20 days before the tea leaves are picked. Those teas have richer umami and more expensive than other teas.

Kabusecha and gyokuro are made with the same process of sencha, but the difference is the degree of the covering of the plantation. Tea plant for sencha is not covered and gyokuro is covered about 20 days before picking. Kabusecha is somewhere in between.


How about the following two teas? What do you think in common for them?
Hojicha - Roasted green tea -
Genmaicha - Brown rice tea -

They are secondly processed tea. Hojicha is made by roasting sencha, bancha or kukicha. Genmaicha is sencha or bancha blended with roasted brown rice. They are popular and a casual tea. They are often served at restaurants in Japan, as well. They have nice roasted aroma smell.

If you are a beginner of Japanese tea, you may wonder which one is good or where you should start from. Tomorrow, I’ll recommend the four types for you. See ya!

Shinano ceramic center in Seto, Aichi 2

Continuation from the last entry

Well… I did awful, ha ha ha… I didn’t have the skill to make the thin walls. So my tea bowl was very thick and heavy. Most of you may know that potteries shrink when they are baked. So, it also became much smaller than I expected (－_－＃) It didn’t have much space to move the tea whisk in it. It looks really bad for a tea bowl, doesn’t it? However, I had some kind of attachment to it and used it for a while. I don’t know where it went now, though … (^^;;

From that experience, I really admire the craftsmanship that potters have. When I watch the pottery making of professionals, the clay moves like a creature and transforms into the shape that potters want. That is amazing.



You can purchase those pottery wares made by local artists at Shinano ceramic center. I found some very expensive tea bowls. I cannot buy one, but it’s nice to just look at them.

This is 420,000yen!!!


These are 230,000 and 210,000yen!


There are some other places where you can try pottery making in Seto. If you have a chance to come to our city, please try it. It’s going to be fun. Oh, by the way, I gotta go back to the michinoeki for the noodle! Wanna come with me?

Shinano ceramic center in Seto, Aichi 1

This weekend, a new facility opened in my town, Shinano Seto. I don’t know if you have the same kind of facility in your country. It is called michinoeki, literally means a road station. Michinoeki is a public resting place for drivers, which consists of a parking lot, bathrooms, an information center and local shops. There are about 370 of them along the road all over Japan. The one that has opened is just 15min away on foot from my place. The opening day was a chilly and windy day, but we walked there. I wanted to have Seto-yakisoba, a local noodle. But actually, it was so crowded and people were lined up to get into the restaurant. We didn’t want to wait outside, so we gave up the noodles 。・゜・(ノД`)・゜・。 It’s not a long way so we can come back anytime.

Why I started write about Michinoeki is that I wanted to introduce Shinano ceramic center, which is located in the same property. The ceramic center is not new, and has been there for a long time. They sell local ceramic wares and also have ceramic workshops. You can learn and experience pottery making. I myself have actually tried it a few times. Once, I made a tea bowl using a wheel. How do you think I did?

Talk to you tomorrow!

This is Shinano ceramic center.

Mochi-kichi, a Japanese rice cracker shop

Do you know what Japanese rice-cracker is like? Have you tried it? You can find rice-crackers anywhere in Japan, somewhere like supermarkets, convenience stores or department stores. They are made of rice, which are readily available in grilled or fried crackers. It is difficult to explain the taste, but I guess crunchy salted pretzel is the most similar snack I can think of. The Japanese cracker has more ricey taste. There are various flavors, such as salty, soy-sauce and sugar-sprinkled flavors. Some of them are wrapped with dried laver seaweed. Huum, it sounds yummy. It may not for you, haha(^^; But you know what. The rice-crackers really go with Japanese green tea. I’ll recommend sencha or hojicha for the crackers. I hope you can try the cracker with green tea if you have a chance.

This weekend, I got to go to a Japanese rice-cracker shop, called Mochi-kichi. They are rice-cracker specialized chain shops. They have a big selection of crackers. The price is reasonable and taste good. I love them and you may check their website (Japanese) at http://www.mochikichi.co.jp/

This is what I got this time. I believe this is fried one and has sweated soy-sauce flavor.

The crackers remind me some quality times with my family. When I was a kid, the cracker was often on the center of the table at our tea time.

Adjust the amount of ingredients

Yesterday, I introduced a guide to show you how much ingredients I’m using for matcha making. But the measurement always varies. In sado (The Way of Tea), you need to slightly adjust the amounts depending on the guest. If the guest is a beginner for matcha, he/she may prefer a smaller amount of light tea. If the guest is thirsty, then a plenty amount of tea might be appreciated and also it would be better if it’s not too hot. If the guest is an experienced one, he/she may prefer richer tea. I think you need to consider and read the guest’s mind to serve a blissful bowl of tea.

If you want to make a light tea or a little amount of tea, try to scoop matcha powder less than usual. Scoop more powder when you want to make a rich tea or a plenty amount of tea. Try to adjust the water amount around 40-70ml (1.4-2.5oz). I hope you will meet the authentic flavor of matcha. Have fun!

Correct amount of matcha powder and water

As I mentioned on the last entry, we are not taught the exact amount of ingredient in grams or milliliters for making matcha. However, I’ll introduce what I think the correct amount is through my experience.

This is how much one scoop should be.



Put two scoops of matcha into the tea bowl. This is how much TWO scoops of matcha looks like in the tea bowl.



In the tea ceremony, we measure the correct amount of water by using the bamboo ladle and also through experiences. Although, I have never measured exactly how much milliliters I use when making matcha.

Today I actually measured it. My standard amount is about 50ml (1.8oz). I usually use the amount of water around 40-70ml (1.4-2.5oz), but it never gets as much as 120ml (4.2oz) which is something I have seen on YouTube videos from other people.


This is how much the water looks like when measuring in regular-size sencha cup. To make it clear, I used orange juice instead of water in the picture.



This is what the 50ml (1.8oz) of water looks like in a tea bowl.



This is the amount of tea made with 50ml (1.8oz) water.



Please try this recipe with a good-quality matcha. The flavor of matcha is totally different by grades. You will find strong bitterness in low quality matcha. Good matcha has milder bitterness and profound umami. Why don't you give my recipe a try? ^^