Matcha, Chocolate & I

Wow! It’s been a while.

Yes, I have been a lazy sod of late, stuffing myself with Laksa and Steak & Fries (yes, that is my new craving).

I have also of late been experimenting with Matcha (or Powdered Green Tea) a little, and the wonder of so many sweet confections you can create with it.

As the water is so hard in London, it is very difficult to make good Matcha tea, you just can’t create that great froth you get in Japan. So instead I thought I would experiment with some sweet making. In Japan, they have so many beautiful sweets available to buy made with Matcha, the strong flavour of the powdered tea works so well with sweet sugar.

First up was Matcha and White Chocolate Cookies. Using my trusted cookie recipe, I added some Matcha and a lump of White Chocolate. Not bad. Quite tasty. Think next time I would have little White Chocolate chunks rather that a lump in the middle. My intention for that was more for appearances. It looked good, but it would work so much better if you get little nibbles of chocolate as you bite into the cookie. The Matcha worked great in the cookie, fragrant and the flavour of the tea coming through the sweetness.

Matcha & White Chocolate Cookies

I like the matching of Matcha and Chocolate. While the sweeter White Chocolate was fun in the cookies, next I thought I would go for a less overtly sweet flavour. I decided that rather than making my mum her usual favourite Madeira Cake, I this time would try a Matcha and Chocolate one. So I substituted some flour for Matcha and Coco Powder. The batter looks wonderful in a rather strangely disgusting way.

Choco Matcha Marble Cake Batter

I think it’s that combination of green and brown sludge. Once cooked it  looked even better and I wanted to try it because it smelt so tasty. But I had to wait to give it to my mother and for her to offer me a slice. Of course I got to taste it, much more subtle than the cookie in terms of flavours. The Coco Powder brought out a different tone in the Matcha, more deeper and less obvious. My mother still prefers the plain Madeira Cake, but I am definitely going to make this for me again.

Choco Matcha Marble Cake

Choco Matcha Marble Cake Slice

Next I thought I can combine both ideas of the previous two, the sweetness of White Chocolate and the bitterness of Dark Coco.

So I made some Matcha Truffles. They were so yummy!!!! A White Chocolate Matcha Truffle filling wrapped in a Dark Chocolate shell. Best of both world. Sorry for the blurry image, was in a rush to put the rest of it in my mouth.

Matcha Truffle

Bar Shu and Me

Bar Shu are famous for dishes from the Sichuan provence of China. They had a fire and recently reopened.

I really enjoyed the meal when I visited and will talk about my favourite dishes that I had in the next post.

A couple of dishes we ordered were ones that I enjoy to cook too, the Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs, not like the ones you get in a Chinese takeway full of colouring and overpowering vinegar, but a more subtle and rich dish.

The ones from Bar Shu I thought were a little on the sweet side and were more dry and hard to get off the bone. I do prefer mine, because I get the meaty ribs and braise them till they nearly fall off the bone. Yes, this was my mum’s secret recipe which I stole from her. My mum tends to make hers slightly sweeter than me as I prefer a bit more of a vinegar kick (just a bit!) at the end.

Ok, so Bar Shu’s look a bit better, but only cos they put that bit of parsley on top.

Bar Shu Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs

bernie b Sweet and Sour Ribs

Next up is the classic Mapo Tofu, which Bar Shu have literally named as Pock Marked Old Woman’s Beancurd. I really enjoyed the Bar Shu version, much more authentic than mine. The hot Sichuan Peppers penetrating your mouth after you shovel some into your mouth with chopsticks. You first feel the silky tofu which give a nice warm feeling and then the chilli kicks in and excites you. Mmmmmm… just imagining it now.

My version is more mild as I have to consider when cooking for friends that don’t enjoy spicy foods (they are just wooses!). It becomes much more of a sloppy comfort food type dish, soft tofu cubes, minced meat and some added peas with only a tiny chilli kick at the end. My friend who doesn’t like hot food said she preferred mine, but I like the Bar Shu version and will be working on a version similar.

Bar Shu Pock Marked Old Woman's Beancurd

bernie b Mapo Tofu