Even though I do not have a sweet tooth at all and rarely eat desserts, while in Japan, I got hooked on their matcha desserts, especially in Kyoto which is the capital of matcha sweets. Japanese desserts are barely sweet, the focus is on delicate flavors an not sugar. Nothing is too bold, screaming in your mouth and aggressive. I adore the slight bitterness of matcha…and the vibrant color makes all matcha desserts very sexy.

Most matcha desserts are served with black bean paste made with adzuki beans, those kinds of beans are used in Asia to use in sweet preparations. You can make the paste yourself by cooking the beans and adding sugar, or you can buy already made paste at Japanese stores (which is what I did). As for tea, there is two different kinds of matcha, the one for cooking, baking, using in shakes, etc..and the one for tea ceremony drinking. Make sure you buy the right kind of matcha. They are quite different in flavors and colors.

I have seen so many gorgeous pastries, sweets, desserts made with matcha such as baumkuchen, jellies, ice creams, cookies, and anything you can think of. This recipe has been the courtesy of Hibiki-an.

I follow instructions carefully but I might have used less gelatin than the recommended dose of 5g. I found that my jelly was a bit too soft and not as hard as the ones I tasted in Japan. I used one pack, it might have not been 5 grams. The flavor was delicious. I replaced the condensed milk with vanilla ice cream.

A little sample of matcha desserts in Japan…absolutely amazing. They almost managed to turn me into an addict. For someone who does not eat desserts, I did quite well in that department!!

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons(5g) gelatin
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon Matcha
• 2 tablespoons hot water
• 250ml hot water
• 2 tablespoons sugar (or sweetener of your choice)
• 3 tbs adzuki bean paste
• 3 scoops of vanilla ice cream or condensed milk

Preparation

Soak gelatin in cold water. Set aside.
Make the Matcha: first sift Matcha with a tea strainer, put into a bowl, add 2 tablespoons hot water and then gradually add 250ml more hot water.
Add sugar and gelatin to the Matcha and stir to dissolve.
Strain through a sieve and pour into 4 glasses.
Chill in the refrigerator.
Serve with sweet red adzuki bean paste (anko), vanilla ice cream or condensed milk.

I had bought some adzuki beans a while ago, yes I know there are so many kinds of beans, and this one is one among many others. It’s a bean mainly grown in the Himalayas and used in Asia in sweet preparations, they’re mostly known as red beans. Of course, I am not Asian, therefore in my culture beans are prepared in savory dishes and I wanted to try to prepare them in a more Western way, because after all a bean is a bean. I love black quinoa, it tends to be more flavorful and earthy than white quinoa and its nuttiness in this dish allied with the sweetness of fennel and red beans make it a palate pleasing combination.

Honestly, I was not sure I would post this because I thought it will be another quinoa/bean dish which is not the first on on my blog. After the first bite, I definitely thought it was blog-worthy, the colors were so contrasting all together and it resulted in a delicious and harmonious blend of flavors.

After yesterday delicious snapper with kumquat sauce I had shot, which for whatever reason my camera decided to not “save”, and after I ate everything, realized that not even one shot was there. I was wondering if this would happen again with this red bean dish…It seemed like my Canon was in a good mood today, and decided to keep this one. It happened a few times before and tends to be frustrating, especially after the terrible week I had.

Sometimes to speed up the cooking process of beans that have not been previously soaked, I add a little baking soda, it does reduce cooking time.

You can eat this salad warm or cold, either way it’s delicious.

Ingredients for 4

• 1 cup black quinoa
• 1 cup adzuki beans
• broth (1/2 onion, 1/2 carrot, 1 celery stick, 1 bay leaf, thyme)
  
• 1 shallot, diced
  
• 2 carrots, sliced in half lengthwise then crosswise
  
• 1 fennel bulb, diced
• 1 cup cremini mushrooms, diced
  
• 1 garlic clove
• 3 tbs cilantro, finely chopped
• salt and pepper
  

For the vinaigrette

• 2 tbs olive oil
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1/4 tsp cumin powder
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Cook beans in water with all carrot, onion, celery, bay leaf, thyme. Cook for about 45 minutes until the beans are soft. Drain and rinse.

Steam quinoa like you would do with rice.

In a pan, heat olive oil. Add shallot and let brown, add garlic and cook for another minute. Add carrots and fennel. Cover and let cook for about 10 minutes. When the vegetables are half cooked, add mushrooms, salt and pepper. Stir well and cook until the mushroom water evaporates.

Combine quinoa with beans, then add the vegetables. Let it cool.

For the vinaigrette, add all ingredients together mix well. Pour vinaigrette on the vegetable/quinoa mixture. Add cilantro, toss and serve.