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Japanese · VI The Beverage Tradition

Matcha Ceremony Tea and Cooking Uses

‹ The Beverage Tradition

I

Origin

Powdered tea reached Japan from Song China, brought by the Zen monk Eisai, who is recorded as returning from China in 1191 with tea seed and the practice of whisking powdered leaf. It was kept alive in Zen temples before passing to the warrior and merchant classes, and in the sixteenth century Sen no Rikyū gave the tea gathering (chadō) its settled form, the discipline of the small room and the plain bowl. Uji, south of Kyōto, remains the byword for the finest matcha, and Nishio in Aichi is the other great centre of production; the Urasenke school is among the traditions that carry the ceremony today.

II

Description

Matcha (抹茶) — shade-grown, stone-ground, powdered green tea — occupies a unique position as both a ceremonial beverage at the centre of Japanese culture and one of the most versatile flavouring ingredients in Japanese and international pastry and cooking. Ceremonial-grade matcha (used in chado tea ceremony) is made from the highest-quality tencha leaves (shade-grown 3–4 weeks before harvest) stone-ground to a powder that, when whisked with hot water, produces a vivid green froth of extraordinary depth — vegetal, oceanic, slightly bitter, with a profound umami character from the L-theanine amino acid concentrated by shading. Culinary-grade matcha (lower grade, slightly more bitter) is used in: matcha ice cream (green tea ice cream), matcha wagashi (dorayaki, mochi, yokan), matcha soba noodles (cha soba), matcha salt for tempura dipping, and in savoury applications as a seasoning.

III

The Thread

—Both are made by whisking finely milled tea leaf into hot water in a bowl, and Japanese matcha descends directly from the Song practice that Eisai observed. China later turned to steeping whole leaf, while Japan kept the powder and made it the centre of a ceremony. Chinese
—Both are concentrated drinks prepared in small measure, in which the whole of the flavour depends on exact quantity, water temperature and a fine grind. Espresso is extracted under pressure and the grounds discarded, whereas matcha is suspended and drunk whole, so the leaf itself is consumed. Italian
—Both turn tea into a vehicle for cooking as well as drinking, the leaf flavouring milk, sweets and desserts as readily as it fills a cup. Masala chai is a boiled, sweetened and spiced infusion of black tea, while matcha is unfermented green leaf, ground and kept free of spice. Indian
IV

Flavour Context

Matcha is taken with sweetness, and the ceremony pairs the bitter bowl with wagashi such as manjū or yōkan, eaten before the tea so that the sugar softens the astringency and the bowl tastes round and clean. In the kitchen the same principle governs its use, in ice cream, dorayaki and mochi, where fat and sugar balance the bitterness, and in cha soba and matcha salt for tempura, where its vegetal edge sits against fried or plain flavours. Its deep green, grassy savour is carried by the fine powder held in suspension, which gives the drink a creamy body without milk.

Pillars V — VII
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