Eating Food # 9 - Green Tea Ice Cream
Now spring is coming, my thoughts turn to ice cream. Haagen Das ice cream. I actually believe anytime of the year is good for ice cream. It's not just here to cool you down. There's more to ice cream than that.
Did you know that Haagen Das exists in Japan? Did you know they have their own range especially designed for the Japanese market? Flavours include azuki (red bean) and green tea.
I first tasted green tea ice cream in Nobu in London. My expectation of ice-cream is for it to be sweet. Green tea ice cream isn't sweet. It is slightly bitter (you know, green tea bitter) and creamy. Bitterness and creaminess doesn't produce discord and actually mixes well on your tongue. It's neither too bitter nor too creamy. Green tea ice cream also looks weird. It's green. Not light green or pale green, but green green. Grass green or cabbage green. Real green.
In Japan, every convenience store all over the land sells green tea ice cream. Not only Haagen Das but a whole range of other companies too. You can get green tea ice cream sandwiches (a thin wafer case stuffed with green tea ice cream), green tea parfaits and even green tea Mr Whippy style ice creams. Kyoto has famous green tea ice cream shops were people line up outside to taste the green tea goodness. Even in winter, you wear a woolly hat and eat ice cream.
Now the weather is warmer my thoughts turn to ice cream. I don't think I'll be able to get green tea ice cream around here. I'll just have to get vanilla and imagine.
3 comments:
You can buy Haagen Das Vanilla ice cream and imagine more vividly.
Red bean ice cream is so much better in Malaysia than the adzuki bean ice cream I have tried before. It tastes more...beany...and not just sugary. Apparently the red bean as used by Chinese and the adzuki bean is not the same (difference in shape, so I am told, that affects how it softens when boiled). A red bean soup I made one time confirmed this. Then again, it could simply have been inadequate soaking of beans, and my cooking.
I like green tea ice cream too. It has to be savoured. Mourn not. If you are around here London has plenty of places where you may buy green tea ice cream.
Really! Whereaboutst?
I think the beans are different in each Asian country, or maybe the ice cream is manufactored differently.
The adzuki ice cream in Hong Kong was different to the azuki ice cream in Japan. (Even the spelling is different, it would seem!) I agree with your assessement that sometimes it's just too sugary and I much prefer a more natural tasting one too.
Ok, plenty might be an exaggeration considering I only know a few places, but then bearing in mind I know little about where to indulge in japanese cuisine, it might as well be many! I am sure the Japan Centre in Piccadily Circus will sell it. Also, Oriental City in Colindale might (but hurry hurry as they're going to close it down >:'(). As for eateries, Sakura (regent street area) and Misatos (wardour street area) had green tea ice cream on their menu when I looked last.
Red bean and sweetcorn lolly pop ice creams (they looked like those milk ice cream lollies you get in England) from the pasar malams in malaysia when I was a wee lass were heavenly. I think they made them with condensed milk. In any case, they were creamy, and were definitely not too sweet especially not in that gritty way, and were full of beany goodness... I haven't seen those for a long time, though you do see stalls selling so called 'English Breakfast'...
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