2014/06/01

Enjoy pairing tea and specific dishes

The abundant array of Japanese tea varieties enables the pairing of tea with compatible cooked dishes. The number of matching dishes is further expanded by working on the brewing method. An unexpected compatibility has been discovered between Western cooking and cold-brewed green tea, as a replacement for alcoholic beverages during meals, and as an increasingly popular healthy soft drink.
 

Japanese cuisine and Japanese green tea

When a Japanese dish harmonizes fish and vegetables, cooks tend to minimize heat and seasonings to bring out the most flavor from within the ingredients themselves. For this reason, depending on the dish, the food can be robustly flavored and has with long-lasting taste. Green tea has strong cleansing effects, so it can be taken after meals to quickly refresh the palate from even the strong aftertastes of sushi and fish dishes. Each course of multiple-course meals can also be enjoyed with a refreshed palate.
 

With sushi, now the object of a worldwide boom, Konacha is enjoyed as an added “powdered tea.” Among Japan’s teas, this is a rather special tea product. It has been used for centuries as a strong and effective foil to fishy smells. Also, as with Matcha taken in a tea ceremony following a traditional Japanese meal, tasting a high quality tea with strong umami after a meal is one way to enjoy it. Various kinds of teas can be chosen to suit the dish and the situation, and this pleasure is one of Japanese tea’s most important qualities.
 

Examples of matching with Japanese dishes

Western cuisine and Japanese green tea

Japanese tea is now gaining attention as an alternative to the alcoholic beverages and mineral water that typically accompany Western meals. Among these teas, cold-brewed high-quality Sencha with aromatic qualities can offer a previously unknown taste experience with a predominant umami and subdued bitterness and astringency. Sencha’s refreshing and reinvigorating qualities are coupled with its distinctive aroma. Recently, chefs and other experts have recognized the harmony of green tea pairings with dishes such as fish and vegetables that are normally accompanied by white wine. The tables of restaurants savvy to Japanese teas are set today with cold-brewed, high-quality Sencha and Gyokuro green tea products–the teas with especially noticeable umami.

　　　　 Cold-brewed Sencha,“Okuhikari”
 

Examples of matching with Western dishes

2014/06/01

Water quality’s remarkable impact on green tea

Water hardness is one measure of water quality. This measure expresses the mineral content within the water. Basically, water can be divided into two: when many minerals are present, the water is called hard, and when few are present, the water is called soft. Softer water, with few minerals and a hardness of 120mg/L or less, is best suited to green tea infusion. But water with no mineral content at all, such as distilled water or water purified with a special filter, does not impart intense or pleasurable sensations. Therefore, the best water has at least some mineral content.

Water hardness and green tea infusion

Suitable		Not suitable
Soft water		Hard water
Soft water	Medium soft water	Hard water	Very hard water
0~60mg/L	60~120mg/L	120~180mg/L	180mg/L以上
※ Water hardness (WHO standard) Hardness is categorized by calcium ions and magnesium ions, and these two types of ions are converted to calcium carbonate to arrive at the mineral content in one liter.

The relationship of water quality to delicious green tea

The two main choices are bottled mineral water or tap water. Here are some points to note for each of these choices. Here we introduce the basic secrets of brewing delicious green tea.

Key points when choosing water, and how to use it

1) Points to remember when using mineral water

※ Check the label for the hardness level. Choose a suitable type of water with a hardness of at least 120mg/L or less.

Recommendations: 120mg/L or less, non GAS

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Soft Water Examples

Luso (PT):8.2mg/L, Deep (NZ):13mg/L, Spa (BE):17mg/L, Deeside (UK):22mg/L, Belnina (IT):23.1mg/L, Whistler (CA):24mg/L, Mont Roucous (FR):25mg/L, Ice Field (CA):27.5mg/L, Speyside Glenlivet (UK): 37mg/L, Crystal Gaysel (US):38mg/L, Cabreiroa (ES):50mg/L, Volvic (FR):60mg/L, Hawaiian spring water (US):91mg/L, Tinanto (UK):102mg/L, Fiji (FJ):105mg/L

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2) Points to remember when using potable tap water

Residual odors from tap water
Green tea’s flavor can be spoiled by odors emitted by anti-microbial agents and chalk present in tap water, as well as by microscopic plankton in water drawn from rivers. These must be appropriately eliminated by boiling or with water purifiers.

※ Improve the water quality by using a water filter for potable tap water
※ An activated carbon water filter can help reduce calcium and residual odors from antimicrobial agents.
Example: BRITA
※ Within a short period (3 to 5 minutes), its filtering can eliminate odors from sodium and similar sources.

3) Understand the advantages and disadvantages of boiling

※ When water is boiled, water clusters diminish in size, promoting tea infusion.
※ Oxygen and carbon dioxide exit water that was boiled and then allowed to cool, so the water should be topped up or changed to fresher water when it is to be used for tea products such as Sencha that have cool freshness.

4) The taste can be effectively increased by matching the state of the hot water with the tea product.

Sencha:　Boost the tea’s refreshing qualities by using hot water that contains oxygen and carbon dioxide
Matcha:　Bring out the aroma and flavor by using water just before it boils
Bancha:　Bitterness and astringency can be reduced by using boiled water from which oxygen and carbon dioxide have escaped

2014/06/01

Brewing method 1:　The relationship of temperature and taste component infusion

Roughly divided, green tea’s flavor consists of four taste elements: umami, sweet, astringent, and bitter. The hot water’s temperature can markedly change the amounts of the taste elements extracted from the tea. The astringent element, catechins, and the bitter element, caffeine, are extracted in greater amounts by water at higher temperature. In contrast, their extraction at lower temperatures is more difficult, and one portion of the catechins is barely extracted at all.

The extraction targets, umami components consisting of amino acids, are readily extracted not only at high temperatures but at low temperatures as well. Similarly, the longer the extraction time, the more is extracted.

Speaking generally, when brewing green tea, lower temperatures tend to bring out more umami, while higher temperatures make for stronger astringency and bitterness. In addition, the temperature of the hot water can change not just taste components but aroma as well. Hotter water tends to bring out a stronger aroma.。

The relationship of temperature and taste component infusion

Taste components	Low temp.(60〜80℃)	High temp.(90〜100℃)
Umami, Sweet (Amino acids)	Easy to extract	Easy to extract
Astringent (Catechins)	Difficult to extract	Easy to extract
Bitter (Caffeine)	Slow to extract	Fast to extract
Aroma components	Few	Many

The higher the quality of the tea leaves, the larger amounts of amino acids and catechins they tend to contain. For this reason, extraction at higher temperatures will cause the amino acids and catechins to cancel each other out, and will harm the high-quality tea’s especially concentrated umami. Therefore, it should be brewed at lower temperatures.

Brewing method 2:　Brewing to taste

One of tea’s special characteristics that is absent from other drinks is the ability of a single tea product to transform to different flavors depending on differences in the brewing method. Even with Sencha, the most widely consumed of Japanese teas, the better the quality, the more effective is the infusion. This means that enough taste components can be extracted at a minimum two or three times from the same tea leaves. And according to each step as the tea leaves gradually open during the first infusion, then the second infusion, one can enjoy varied tastes from a single batch of infused tea leaves by changing the water temperature and the brewing time.

The following figure gives an example of tasting three different types of flavors when brewing high-quality Sencha.

The first brew brings out the umami with a low temperature
The second brew is at a slightly higher temperature and has a light umami and bitterness.
Third brew is at a high temperature, for aroma and to taste refreshing astringency and bitterness.

With one batch of tea leaves, three types of tastes can be savored. This is the biggest difference from fermented black tea.

Brewing method 3:　Brewing suitable to each tea product

Taste components within the tea leaves vary depending upon the tea type and quality. For this reason, the brewing details must be adjusted to suit the various tea products. When doing so, the key is to balance three elements: temperature, infusion time, and amount of water.

Generally, if the tea leaves are of high quality, they tend to do best with little water, low temperature, and a long infusion time. When tea pottery such as small tea pots and tea bowls are used with high-quality tea, their small size is well matched to the small amount of water needed to infuse these teas.

※The taste of green tea is different depending on the product and grade.
After finding your favorite tea, find its best taste by learning the brewing method.

2014/06/01

Exquisite taste originating with traditional production methods

Japan’s unfermented green teas are not allowed to ferment naturally at all. This is the key factor that determines their characteristic tastes. Chinese production accounts for around 90% of the green tea now distributed worldwide. Most of that tea, called “kettle-roasted green tea” is made by roasting tea leaves in a pot to stop the natural fermentation. Its main properties are its smooth taste and savory aroma.

 
Although green tea is produced by kettle roasting in some regions of Japan, the mainstream production method is the traditional one, also world renowned, in which natural fermentation is halted by steaming. Tea made this way is called “steamed green tea.” Japanese green tea’s best properties are determined mostly by this production method. It is used in all teas from Sencha to Tancha, where the fresh leaf’s bright green and the natural blue leaf’s aroma are strong. From the difference of these production methods, it has now become difficult to taste Japan’s traditionally produced green tea anywhere outside of Japan.
 

 
And today, just one single botanical tea variety produced in Japan, Yabukita, accounts for 75% of total production due to its high quality. As for production methods, the deep steaming production method that features longer steaming is now nearly ubiquitous, and the taste of green tea is tending to become completely uniform. It is not easy to taste Japan’s traditional tea flavor, even in Japan itself.

“Umami”, the fifth taste component of green tea

Today, the world’s eyes are fastened on Japanese cuisine. Actually, the special taste of Japanese food is also a main characteristic of traditional Japan produced green tea. The Japanese word “umai” expresses satisfaction with a truly delicious meal. Taste’s main categories are sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. But the world of Japanese cuisine, from ordinary ramen noodles to sophisticated traditional dishes, contains a fifth taste component as well — umami — and this is regarded as an essential element of food.

The sense of taste is where tastes pass through taste receptors, which are cellular structures sensitive to taste, to arrive at the brain, where they are recognized. In 2000, the taste receptor cells sensitive to umami, known as the TR1 family, were first discovered in the United States. Umami’s components were first clearly identified 1908, in Japan, by Professor Kikunae Ikeda of Tokyo University. Professor Ikeda separated compounds extracted from kombu seaweed, finding glutamates (glutamic acid salts). This research proved that most traditional Japanese dishes have elements and cooking methods that use diverse umami components, starting with kombu.

The world of Western cuisine, that had not paid much attention to umami until then, began to notice the discovery of umami taste receptors. Effort was focused on the possibilities of dishes with seasonings adapted to this taste, incorporating it into cooking. Actually, this is the first encounter with the umami sense of taste, heretofore unknown, thanks to the worldwide boom in Japanese food.

Research has clarified that high-quality green tea is characterized by the presence of large amounts of umami components, amino acids such as theanine, and an overall balance that also includes astringent and bitter tastes and a distinctive aroma. During green tea’s history of over one thousand years, it underwent much trial-and-error in production methods, finally emerging as a world-class drink that even without adding any sugar or milk balances bitter and astringent tastes with umami and sweetness.