Mucho Matcha, Mushipan and More

 

Today my piece on what do with matcha purchased at Minnano Japanese Grocery here in San Antonio debuted on the SA Current’s website. At the time of writing the article, I had yet to even consider matcha might go in lemonade. It makes sense – tea + lemons = very normal combo, hot or cold – but it just never occurred to me to make it. That was until I stumbled into Cha Cha Matcha this Monday in Manhattan’s Little Italy. Coming off a day of the BRAT diet, the fresh mint, fresh lemon and antioxidant rich matcha green tea felt like a tonic for my soul. Plus the interior was very Instagrammable.

All that being said, making mushipan (蒸しパン) steamed cakes are another fun way to use your matcha in a way that isn’t just drinking it old-school style.

Below is the recipe I provided here, just with pictures:

Green Tea Mushipan
Recipe makes about three 4-inch inch round size cakes, or about 10 muffin size mushipan

Special equipment needed:
Bamboo steamer
Vessel for batter (I used creme brulee ramekins, but any baking vessel that fits into the steamer should work. Minnano carries some cookware so ask the staff for the mushipan advice if you have concerns).

Ingredients
3 teaspoons matcha green tea powder
¾ cup steamed bun or bao flour (can be substituted with cake flour)
¼ teaspoon baking powder
3 eggs
½ cup sugar
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon water

Begin by sifting together the matcha, flour and baking powder.

Afterwards, separate the yolks and whites of the eggs. Be especially careful not to get any yolk in the whites, as it will prevent the whites from whipping properly.

Put the yolks in a large bowl along with the vanilla, water and sugar. Beat the ingredients until they take on a pastel yellow hue, then fold in the flour mixture.

IKEA Fan-Girl

Austin, Dallas, Centennial, Kansas City, Seattle, Brooklyn. A few of the cities where I’ve graced IKEA’s presence. At this point I’m a connoisseur of the blue and yellow painted Swedish home store.

Model of IKEA inside IKEA Centennial, Colorado

I’ve seen collections come and go. I still mourn the loss of the Husie Orange Karlstad slipcover and Far East nodding Trendig line. But I always go back.

The “crayfish” smörgåsbord has been one of our highlight trips to IKEA with all you can eat crawdads and live Swedish music.

When I lived in New York my roommate would make fun of me for trekking to the IKEA in Red Hook. From the tip of the Rockaway peninsula to IKEA it would take a little less than three hours of total travel time (if I were lucky). There’s many ways to get to IKEA New York style. For me it would start with a walk to the bus, followed by the bus to the subway, followed by a walk to the water taxi. Then there was the waiting in line to be ferried across the bay from Manhattan back to the big furniture store on the edge of Brooklyn. A couple of times I also took IKEA’s very own shuttle van from the store back to Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, where I would get back on the 2 or 5, ride to the end of the line at Brooklyn College, and then bus back to the peninsula.

Water taxi taking off from Pier 11

Takeaway: I’m dedicated.