If I were to pick a few words that would sum up our trip to Japan, sushi, ramen, udon, gyoza, shinkansen, tube and matcha would be some of them! Do you know matcha? Have you drank it? Have you eaten it? We discovered matcha in the summer of 2015 in Paris, when we were testing the town’s pastry shops. Lately, it’s been an every day product for us – one of our desserts in DESEO is called Matcha. One of its main ingredients is white chocolate mousse with Japanese matcha tea. We hadn’t eaten and drank matcha in every possible way before going to Japan, though!

In Japan, matcha is EVERYWHERE!!! If you feel like eating some dessert, there’s a big chance it will be a dessert with matcha in it! 🙂

 

matcha, japońska zielona herbata matcha, matcha latte, Japonia, co jeść w Japonii, japońskie desery

matcha, japońska zielona herbata matcha, matcha latte, Japonia, co jeść w Japonii, japońskie desery

matcha, japońska zielona herbata matcha, matcha latte, Japonia, co jeść w Japonii, japońskie desery

 

WHAT IS MATCHA?

 

Matcha is finely ground powder of green tea. You might be a little surprised when you see it for the first time. It’s a green (almost grass coloured) powder that dissolves in water for you to get a drink just as green as the powder. In Japan, matcha is often served with meals. In sushi restaurants, small taps with hot water, a box with green powder and ceramic cups are at the tables. You pour hot water into one of the cups with a little bit of matcha and you enjoy your drink. It’s perfect with sushi!

Matcha is health itself! They say it’s the healthiest one of all green teas. It’s a treasury of antioxidants that prevent tumours and circulatory system diseases. I find it perfect because it has as much caffeine as a cup of coffee! I could use more energy sometimes, but I hate coffee. And let’s not forget how it tastes! It’s different, specific… You will either love or hate it 🙂 Its taste is special and completely different from how the green tea we’re used to tastes. Some say it tastes like… fish 🙂 But if you try a well prepared, slightly sweetend Matcha Latte, I’m sure you’ll like it.
In Japan, matcha was with us every day in many forms – we drank matcha tea with sushi and ramen, we bought Matcha Latte at 7 eleven or Family Mart every morning. Matcha lattes can be found in every fridge with beverages in every store, or you can get it in cafes. Matcha with ice cream is very refreshing on hot days.
I ate matcha ice cream almost every day too. Portioned ice cream made of organic matcha from Uji, sometimes sprinkled with matcha powder. If I couldn’t find such ice cream, 7 eleven and Family Mart were very helpful – this is where we bought packed Matcha ice cream. At least a few kinds of it could be found in every fridge. My favorite? Hagen Dazs in crunchy cones! Delicious!

 

matcha, japońska zielona herbata matcha, matcha latte, Japonia, co jeść w Japonii, japońskie desery, lody z zielonej herbaty, lody matcha

matcha, japońska zielona herbata matcha, matcha latte, Japonia, co jeść w Japonii, japońskie desery, lody z zielonej herbaty, lody matcha

matcha, japońska zielona herbata matcha, matcha latte, Japonia, co jeść w Japonii, japońskie desery, lody z zielonej herbaty, lody matcha

matcha, japońska zielona herbata matcha, matcha latte, Japonia, co jeść w Japonii, japońskie desery, lody z zielonej herbaty, lody matcha

 

Surprisingly, kids fell in love with matcha too. They enjoyed Pocky sticks with matcha coating the most – I used to eat those in Thailand, but the ones in Japan were even better. Łukasz fell in love with Kit Kats with matcha – we brought some to Poland. There were cookies with matcha, chocolate with matcha, cake that remind us of our Polish sękacz, also with matcha. There were iced pralines, mochi stuffed with matcha, donuts with matcha found in Nara, and even puffs with matcha! To be honest, it’s weird that our skin is not green yet! 😉

 

matcha, japońska zielona herbata matcha, matcha latte, Japonia, co jeść w Japonii, japońskie desery, lody z zielonej herbaty, lody matcha

matcha, japońska zielona herbata matcha, matcha latte, Japonia, co jeść w Japonii, japońskie desery, lody z zielonej herbaty, lody matcha

matcha, japońska zielona herbata matcha, matcha latte, Japonia, co jeść w Japonii, japońskie desery, lody z zielonej herbaty, lody matcha

matcha, japońska zielona herbata matcha, matcha latte, Japonia, co jeść w Japonii, japońskie desery, lody z zielonej herbaty, lody matcha, matcha latte, Tokio

 

In Tokyo, we could not not visit Sadaharu Aoki patisserie. It was one of Parisian patisseries we visited in the summer of 2015 before we launched DESEO. I think that was the first time we found out what matcha desserts tasted like – we’ve been fascinated and intrigued by it ever since. I didn’t think we would visit Sadaharu Aoki petisserie in Tokyo so fast – matcha rules this place too and I think we tried 3 different matcha cookies, including one that looked like a cucumber eclair 🙂

 

matcha, japońska zielona herbata matcha, matcha latte, Japonia, co jeść w Japonii, japońskie desery, Sadaharu Aoki

matcha, japońska zielona herbata matcha, matcha latte, Japonia, co jeść w Japonii, japońskie desery, lody z zielonej herbaty, lody matcha, Sadaharu Aoki

 

After two intensive weeks with matcha, we realized it will be hard for us to break up with it! 🙂 And that one Matcha cookie (by the way, you need try it – I think matcha mousse with coconut-passion fruit jelly is great!) is never enough! 🙂

While I’m writing this, Moya Matcha (we buy great organic matcha from Uji there) is running a Matcha Latte workshop. You will also be able to (at least I hope so!!!) eat Japanese green tea ice cream in DESEO since May 10th. Of course, it won’t be the only ice cream flavor we’ll offer you. So here you go – I just told you a little secret…. 🙂 It will be delicious – I promise! 🙂
And here’s our Matcha treasure by Asia Matyjek from Odczaruj Gary 🙂

 

matcha, desery z matchą, japońska zielona herbata matcha, DESEO