green tea

Iced Matcha Tea, Anyone?

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Iced Matcha Tea with Wagashi

I like ‘Matcha‘ Green Tea. Actually since I was a child I really liked the taste. Although we had a set of Matcha making tools at home my mother did not make Matcha tea that often. Only when we had very good Japanese sweet ‘Wagashi‘ my mother brought out the set and made Matcha tea for us. Maybe that is why I thought having Matcha tea is something special. It was more like for ceremonial occasions and I still get excited about the whole process.

I think Matcha’s popularity these days is phenomenal. Western people knowing its Japanese name ‘Matcha’ was unthinkable to me until 5 years ago and it is unbelievable that there are several shops and cafés serving Matcha drink or food even here in London. Now we have been informed that there are great health benefits in Matcha and it is not just foodies but healthy food eaters are joining the Matcha drinking club.

Matcha on spoon

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Houjicha Latte Parfait with Raspberries

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I have been on a quest for searching a great way of using ‘Houjicha‘ Japanese Green Tea. When I saw a photo of Parfait dessert on a magazine I thought “This is it! It must be definitely tasty if I make this with Houjicha flavour”. I also wanted to add some colour and texture to it. As I posted earlier I have been harvesting Raspberries in my garden so I decided to use some into this dessert. With soft, melting but slightly crunchy texture, roasted Green Tea aroma and fresh sweet and sour soft fruit … I think it is perfect to combine Houjicha and Raspberries all together to make a Parfait.

Houjicha Latte Parfait with Raspberries

Houjicha Parfait close up 3

It is a great dessert for a dinner with friends. The best thing about this dish is that it is so simple to make. No fiddliness and no failure. I added some Raspberry and ready-made Meringue but you can use any other soft fruit or you don’t need to add anything at all. It is delicious as it is.

[Ingredients]

Raspberry & merange

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Ajisai / Hydrangea

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Ajisai gathered 2

It rains a lot here in London these days and it is ‘Tsuyu 梅雨’ the Rainy season in Japan now too. Japanese like associating things with each season and we have a special name ‘Kigo 季語’ for those words that describe seasons in songs and poems like ‘Haiku‘. For instance　they can be from weather (Snow), astronomy (Full Moon), event (Rice planting, ‘Hanami‘ Cherry Blossom viewing) or food (Clam, Wasbi). Of course plants and flowers are very seasonal and they are also Kigo.

So what kind of thing can be Kigo for this ‘Tsuyu‘ Rainy Season? There are several things that reminds me of Rainy days and one of the things I am very certain that most Japanese people would associate with must be ‘Ajisai / Hydrangea’ and a Snail. The plant grows and glorifies the flower during the Rainy season and the colour of the flower (OK, I know it is actually calyx and not petal) intensifies in rain and deepens. Strangely there is always a snail or two on a leaf. Ajisai and a Snail are inseparable in Japan.

Ajisai/ Hydrangea

During Tsuyu season it rains day in, day out, but you cannot just live in a life dark and dull. You need to brighten up your feeling as Hydrangea is getting more and more beautiful in rainy days.

Ajisai front - trimed

I tried creating several sweets in a theme of ‘Tsuyu’ for this month. ‘A leaf on a Puddle’ in my previous post was one of them and this ‘Ajisai/ Hydrangea’ was another.

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Kodomo-no-Hi / Koinobori

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Koinobori

‘Koinobori’ sweet

Time passes fast. Very fast indeed! It’s already May. This week people in Japan are having the longest National Holiday break in a year called the Golden Week. One of the Bank Holidays during the Golden Week is the 5th of May, ‘Kodomo-no-Hi‘. It is a day to celebrate the growth & health of children, but it is more like the Boy’s Day. We have the Girl’s Day on the 3rd of March as I posted before.

‘Kodomo-no-Hi’

There are several things people do on the Kodomo-no-Hi. The most famous thing is that we place fish shaped flags outside called ‘Koinobori‘ (‘Koi’ means carp and ‘Nobori’ is a kind of Flag). We have a song about it for children.

🎶 Yane yori takai Koinobori 🎶

It means “Koinobori swimming higher than the roof …”

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Koinobori swimming high in the blue sky

Yes, it is placed traditionally higher than a roof, and some of them are bigger than a house. However, because many people live in a small apartment these days the size of Koinobori became much smaller in the last 50 years. From a week or two earlier towards the 5th of May you can see Koinobori swimming in the blue sky. It is a magnificent sight with a bit of wind, as they look like swimming in the sky. (However, I just saw somebody’s comment on social media that there is no Koinobori seen around where he lives…)

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Other Sweets in the Final!

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I made various versions of sweets with a ‘Spring’ theme for Wasoukan Cafe. Some of them were good and some were a little experimental and challenging. There were two particular ones that went to the final selection but did not go through to the Cafe menu. I feel they deserve to be introduced here.

Yoshino (Cherry Tree Mountain), Ukishima

Cherry Tree Mountain 2

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Sakura Junction’s Sweets in April at Wasoukan

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As I mentioned in my previous post I have started supplying Japanese sweets to a Kimono shop Wasoukan in London. Each month I am going to develop and make 2-3 different types of Japanese sweets for them according to the seasonal theme.

For April the theme was ‘Spring’. With this theme there was only one particular thing in my mind for the sweet and that was ‘Sakura (Cherry Blossom)’ of course. However, there were many ways to use Sakura design in sweets so that I created many different versions and decided on one design finally.

Sweets in Wasoukan

My sweets at Wasoukan Cafe

Sakura (Nerikiri)

Sakura sideB

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Sakura Junction’s Sweet Served in a Special Space

/ Mutsumi / 6 Comments

This is an announcement, particularly to the people who live in London.

From this April you can enjoy Sakura Junction’s sweet served with tasty Japanese tea in a beautifully Japanese surrounding. This special venue is a Japanese Kimono shop Wasoukan which is located in the Notting Hill area just off Portobello Road. It is a continuation of the Portobello Market that is very popular to many tourists especially on Saturday.

Wasoukan front

The entrance of Wasoukan

Kimono Display

Beautiful Kimono display

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Matcha Hot Cross Buns

/ Mutsumi / 4 Comments

Matcha Hot Cross Buns with tea 2

I know the Easter has gone, but never mind.

I like making bread. My love in bread making started from making Hot Cross Buns several years ago. Since then I always make some Hot Cross Buns during Easter time. Although I said that I did not have enough time to make any special sweet for the Easter in my previous post I managed to make Hot Cross Buns. Without Hot Cross Buns Spring never comes to my kitchen.

In normal Hot Cross Buns I like to add several spices and orange zest. I love the smell when you toast it. However, this time I did it differently. I made “Matcha Hot Cross Buns”.

Matcha Hot Cross Buns

Matcha Hot Cross Buns on plate2

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🎂 One Year Anniversary!

/ Mutsumi / 15 Comments

Happy B SJ

Today is a Special Day for Sakura Junction. It was this day, one year ago, I started this Blog. It is the one year anniversary! Hooray!

Although I wanted to write a Blog for such a long time, I could not start until last year. I wondered if there would be anybody that wanted to read my post or even if I could write something readable and carry on writing …

Now one year has passed and I appreciate that many people have stopped by my blog. I am so happy that you are very supportive to me, especially the people who take the time to leave nice comments.

Before starting the Blog there were many subjects I wanted to write about. I have written some of them but there are lots more I haven’t done yet. Maybe I am not a fast writer but hopefully I can cover all the things I want to write gradually.

Birthday Ukishima Cake with Strawberry An

So, for my Blog’s one year anniversary I made a Birthday Cake. Oh, actually it is not a normal cake. It is a Japanese sweet ‘Ukishima‘ cake and decorated with ‘Strawberry-An‘. When I was thinking what I could make for this special occasion an idea popped into my head and I had to make it. The spongy base is plain ‘Ukishima‘ and cream part is ‘Shiro-An (white bean paste)’ mixed with Strawberry topped with dried Raspberry. And of course the candle is edible made of ‘Nerikiri’ Japanese sweet. The whole thing is free from Gluten and Dairy.

Birthday Ukishima cut

It might look big, but it is quite small. You can compare the size with the fresh strawberry.

I am happy that I can celebrate the first year. I hope I can do that for the following years to come.

Birthday Ukishima

Thank you very much for reading my Blog, my lovely readers!   😀

Melting Moments with Houjicha Cream

/ Mutsumi / 11 Comments

Melting Moments with Houjich Cream

Do you know ‘Houjicha’? It is Roasted Green Tea which is Japanese Tea with a marvellous aromatic scent. I enjoy having it when I want to relax and cleanse my body. Although it is Green Tea, it looks quite brown because it’s roasted.

I normally use loose leaves for making tea but recently I’ve got this lovely powdered Houjicha. The tea leaves were very finely ground and has kept the wonderful aroma and taste. This powdered type is quite a new thing for me and even in Japan (I think). I found it is great that you can add it into whatever you want to make without brewing tea.

Houjicha

Powdered Houjicha & Houjicha loose tea

I have been trying to use this powder in several ways and in order to enjoy its aroma at the maximum in the finished products I think it is the best using it without heating. The scent is so good that I don’t want to lose any during the cooking process. I think ingredients also should be limited. You know what they say; “Simple is Best!”

Melting Moments with Houjicha Cream

Melting Moments with Houjicha Cream double

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