Ever wondered how to make your own tea at home? Making sencha from scratch at home is a rewarding but delicate process. In Japan, sencha is made by steaming fresh tea leaves, then carefully rolling and drying them. Here’s a simplified method you can try at home if you have access to fresh tea leaves (like from a tea plant or garden).
Yuzu is a citrus fruit native to East Asia, particularly Japan, Korea, and China. It has a unique flavor that is a cross between lemon and lime, with a tart and aromatic taste. The fruit is often used in Japanese cuisine, both for its zest and juice. Yuzu is popular in dishes like sauces, dressings, and marinades, and it’s also used in sweets, teas, and cocktails. The zest is highly valued for its fragrant, zesty aroma. Recently, yuzu has gained international popularity and can be found in many food products worldwide. I bought a lot of small yuzu fruits and decided to make a simple yuzu syrup to preserve them and enjoy the flavor for a long time.
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Matcha is a type of powdered green tea, and it is especially used in Japanese tea ceremonies. Matcha is made by steaming tea leaves, drying them, and then carefully grinding them into a fine powder using a stone mill. Unlike regular green tea, matcha involves drinking the tea leaves themselves.
Matcha is loved not only for its use in tea ceremonies but also as an everyday beverage. In recent years, it has become widely used in sweets, drinks, and cooking. In this article, we will introduce the basic way to make matcha.
Amazake (甘酒) comes in two types: one made from sake lees, as the name sake implies, and the other made from rice malt. The amazake introduced here is the latter type, based on rice malt. This type of amazake also has a medicinal role and is recommended when you feel tired or want to prevent colds. Amazake also contains dietary fiber and oligosaccharides, which help regulate the intestinal environment.
This is the time of year when plums are available in large quantities, so why not prepare plum syrup for the coming summer heat?
The general practice is to take the heck out of each plum that is still green, but if you want to take it a little easier and quicker, we recommend making it from frozen yellowed plums. The finished ume syrup can be mixed with water or soda water to make ume juice, with soy milk or black tea, or with honey or vinegar to make ume dressing.
Amazake is a traditional Japanese drink made from rice koji (a type of mold) and rice porridge. It’s also a popular vegan option in Japanese cuisine. This recipe is an improved and upgraded version of my earlier Amazake recipe, and this time, I’ll be sharing three different flavors.
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Have you ever tasted soymilk? I usually buy soymilk at the market but I decided to make from scratch at home. I realized that homemade soymilk has more natural flavor from soybeans. If you need some sweetness, please add various sweeteners (i.e. Honey, Agave syrup, Brown sugar, Coconut sugar etc) and enjoy comparing those flavors. It’s FUN!
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