That vivid green colour, it’s unique taste, the endless possibilities that one can use this super ingredient for.
Matcha has been gaining popularity rapidly, in fact it was touted as the hottest food and health trend of 2015 according to news.com.au, thanks to it’s amazing health benefits. I have been a Matcha fan since well before it was popular. I love matcha so much that when I was in Japan last year, I took a day trip out to Uji and Wazuka in the Kyoto prefecture, to visit some of the matcha tea fields and see how it was produced. Throughout my Japanese adventure anything match related that I saw, I simply had to try.
So what exactly is Matcha, you might ask?
Matcha is a stone-ground powdered green tea used in traditional Japanese tea ceremonies. According to the 8th century Zen priest Eisai, who introduced the tea to Japan, matcha is “the ultimate mental and medical remedy and has the ability to make one’s life more full and complete”.
Matcha’s many health benefits include:
- Cancer prevention
- Anti ageing
- Enhances memory and concentration
- Reduces cholesterol
- Builds immunity
- Detoxifier
- Calming effects
- Weight management
- Good for the skin
- High in antioxidants
I could write all day about how amazing matcha is, but instead I’ll allow the rest of the world wide web take care of that.
Matcha isn’t only my go to morning beverage, but I’m also always looking for unique and interesting ways to incorporate it into different dishes.
Here’s my latest recipe, a matcha and avocado mousse, for the perfect ‘pick me up’ treat when you’re looking for something sweet that will give you extra energy, but not make you feel guilty for eating it.
Ingredients
Serves 2 people
1 x Avocado
1 x Tablespoon coconut oil
1/2 cup of unsweetened almond milk
1 x Tablespoon agave syrup
1 x Tablespoon shredded coconut
2 x Tablespoon matcha powder
Directions
It’s very simple. Throw everything into a mixer/food processor and blend until smooth. You may want to play around with the amount of ingredients dependent on your preferred taste, e.g. add more agave for sweeter or extra matcha if you want a stronger matcha taste.
Once it is blended smooth you can eat it straight away or put in the fridge for an hour or so to let it chill and create a denser texture whilst allowing the flavours to infuse together.
Enjoy.
Tiffany Cromwell 
Yum
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