Recipe for Green Tea Pudding by Emi Shimizu

In her book Ma cuisine bio japonaise (‘My Organic Japanese Kitchen’), Emi Shimizu shares 60 recipes made using fresh, seasonal ingredients that can be easily found in organic shops. For autumn, the chef proposes a dessert made from matcha, the bitterness of which is balanced out by the creaminess of almond milk.  

Matcha is a tea powder, made from ground green tea leaves. It is primarily grown in Japan on the island of Kyushu but also in the Uji region and that of Nishio. It is used in many different recipes, from clafoutis to crêpes and tartlets. 

Emi Shimizu offers a little tip before outlining her recipe: ‘egg custard pudding has a melt-in-the-mouth texture due to the amount of agar-agar it contains. The agar-agar is dissolved in water, separately from the almond milk. However, agar-agar solution sets at temperatures below 40 degrees. To obtain a uniform mixture, the almond milk needs to be heated to a temperature higher than this.’

Serves 4

Ingredients

​​1 tsp agar-agar
200 ml water with low mineral content
3 tbsp sugar
400 ml almond milk
2 eggs
1 tsp matcha green tea powder

Method

In a saucepan, heat the almond milk with the sugar.

Thin down the matcha green tea powder by sifting it. Set aside. 

In another saucepan, mix the agar-agar and water and place over a medium heat. Simmer for two minutes while mixing. 

Pour in the sugar and almond milk and mix. 

Beat the eggs in a mixing bowl and pour in the mixture. 

Mix all together. 

Put into individual cups and place in the refrigerator for three hours. 

Just before serving (within 24 hours maximum), dust with matcha green tea powder. 

Ma cuisine bio japonaise (‘My Organic Japanese Kitchen’) (2020), a recipe book by Emi Shimizu, is published by Editions Akinomé (only in French).

Emi Shimizu is a Japanese chef who was born in Yokohama. After being initiated into cooking by her mother, she decided to study architecture. She worked as an interior designer for a few years, but discovered a passion for French pâtisserie that led her to move to France in 2000. Since then, she has been writing a blog in which she regularly shares her recipes, created exclusively from organic ingredients.