New Tastes In Green Tea: A Novel Flavor for Familiar Drinks, Dishes, & Desserts By Mutsuko Tokunaga

Recently my daughter had the twelfth birthday. She inherited love for tea and passion for cooking, therefore, she often experiments in the kitchen. I was trying to choose a gift for her and at the local bookstore, I came across a unique cookbook with recipes for using green tea both as a beverage & a cooking ingredient by the Japanese food stylist & vice president of the World Green Tea Association Tokunaga Mutsuko.

The book includes practical information about green tea and mouthwatering photographs. It begins with the interesting information about different types of green teas and explains the differences in the effects, the amounts of caffeine etc. We can learn how to prepare the perfect cup of tea and how to use tea ceremony utensils. Besides the traditional ways of preparing tea, we can read about modern trends in using green tea. The present trend of mixing different styles of cuisine has influenced also tea drinking. We find there e.g. a green tea latte or various alcoholic beverages. In the second part, the book goes into cooking with tea where we can get inspired by many unique recipes.

Personally, the book is especially interesting for me. Green tea has a very cold nature in terms of Traditional Chinese Medicine and is therefore not suitable for people with weakened digestion and those suffering from the internal cold. The author of the book, however, finds the way to enjoy tea in a non-traditional way in combinations that balance its cold nature. For example, with alcohol or chicken, which is very warm in nature.

Here is a matcha latte recipe according to Tokunaga Mutsuko:

1 1/3 tsp matcha + 3 tsp hot water

cup of milk

1 tbsp of honey

Mix the matcha and hot water in a cup and stir briskly until the paste becomes smooth (A good rule of thumb is to use twice the amount of water to the amount of matcha.)

Heat the milk and honey over a low flame, taking care not to let the milk come to a boil. Combine with the matcha paste and stir until well blended.

Enjoy and give this delicious book a try:)

Bibliographic information:

Title: New Tastes in Green Tea: A Novel Flavor for Familiar Drinks, Dishes, and Desserts
Author: Mutsuko Tokunaga
Translated by: Stuart Atkin
Foreword by Jane Pettigrew
Edition illustrated, reprint
Publisher Kodansha America, Incorporated, 2016
ISBN 1568365713, 9781568365718
Length 128 pages

See links to purchase below:

Buy from Book Depository with free international shipping

New Tastes in Green Tea: A Novel Flavor for Familiar Drinks, Dishes, and Desserts (Buy from Amazon.com)

New Tastes in Green Tea: A Novel Flavor for Familiar Drinks, Dishes, and Desserts (Buy from Amazon.co.uk)

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