A La Cuisine!: IMBB 17: TasteTea Roundup Part VII

6_1 We begin this morning’s round-up in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, UK where we visit Keiko of Nordljus. An accomplished photographer and one of my favourite food bloggers, Keiko never ceases to amaze me with her creative and complex creations. Today she’s made several wonderful desserts, the first being a gorgeous Matcha and Azuki Bean Mousse Cake that combines a base of matcha flavoured sponge with azuki and matcha mousses. Next, Keiko combines flaky puff pastry with slightly bitter matcha custard to make a classic mille feuille inspired by Parisian pâtissier Sadaharu Aoki. Our dessert feast ends with a decadent Crème Thé-Chocolat, a baked earl grey custard topped with an earl grey chocolate sauce and whipped cream.

6_5_1 In Washington, DC, Cathy of My Little Kitchen is giving iced tea a twist by turning it into a cool and refreshing Minted Tea Sorbet. Achieving the perfect balance of water, tea, sugar, lemon, and mint can be a tricky task since the intensities of flavours change after freezing. Luckily Cathy has already done all the work and is sharing her recipe for us to enjoy.

6_7 Our next entry comes from Kyoto Dweller of Living in Kyoto who’s sharing his recipe for The Perfect Tea. So what’s with the photo you ask? Well, you’ll just have to check his blog to see for yourself.

6_9 Making our way to Glendale, Arizona, we visit Bruce of Undulant Fever. While he doesn’t like tea made from tea leaves, he does enjoy herbal teas, and has thus chosen to use Celestial Seasoning's Bengal Spice to make an elegant bowl of Bengal Spice Ice Cream and Sorbet. The aromatic Bengal Spice includes cinnamon, roasted chicory root, and roasted carob as ingredients, so I can imagine how delicious the sorbet and ice cream must taste.

Travelling east to Springfield, Missouri, Matt of Kerner on Food blends his weekly Ice Cream of the Week segment with IMBB to bring us a lovely Peach Tea Ice Cream. He infuses a peach-flavoured black tea into the ice cream base before mixing in small peach pieces. “Ice cream, sweet tea, and fresh peaches all in one dessert -- what could be better.”

6_16 Next we’re off to San Francisco to visit Pim of Chez Pim. Certainly regarded as one of the world’s most influential and well-travelled food bloggers, I was really hoping that Pim would take part since I’d previously read about her passion for tea. Thankfully, she came through brilliantly with a beautiful dish of Tomato Salad, Green Tea Leafs, Matcha Vinaigrette. Trusting her culinary instincts, she combines Mariage Frères Cha Kio tea leaves with vibrant cherry tomatoes, and uses Matcha in a vinaigrette. A few days later, Pim delivers a thorough and well-researched article that shows us why we should stop buying tea bags and switch to using loose leaf tea. She also provides a few basic rules for brewing tea that will be certainly be helpful, particularly for tea novices like me.

105_05381_3 Crossing the country, we find ourselves in New York City where Lady Amalthea of Noshes, Thoughts & Reves has searched far and wide for an appealing tea recipe, eventually buying a cookbook called Eat Tea. From the book’s selection of recipes she chooses to make Green Tea Dumplings, a recipe that incorporates green tea in both the dough and filling. Once fried, the dumplings are delightful with their crunchy exterior and their soft and delicious filling.

Tea_popsie1 Next it’s off to the Philippines where we visit Karen of The Pilgrim’s Pots and Pans. She tells us about her experiences with tea growing up, then serves us chilly Tea-Citrus Popsicles, perfect for the hot summer weather. Her popsicles use Tsaang guba (wild tea), dalanghita orange, brown sugar, and cloves. The combination sound delicious, and I’d very much like to try making tea popsicles myself someday.

Epicurean_debauchery Now it’s back to California’s Bay Area where we stop by to see Alice of My Epicurean Debauchery. After much thought she decides to make Ochazuke, a traditional Japanese dish where green tea is poured over a bowl of rice. With attention to detail, Alice builds her Ochazuke with rice, seaweed preserve, wasabi, ume plum paste, and crackers before adding sencha tea. The combination of myriad flavours and textures combined with the soothing tea makes for a very enjoyable meal.

Teacreme31 In the depths of San Francisco’s Chinatown, we visit The Confabulist for a splendid feast. Our meal begins with a Cold Corn and Honeydew Soup with Lobster, a chilled corn soup that includes white tea among its ingredients. Next it’s a impressive Duck Bastilla that’s based on the Moroccan pie traditionally made with pigeon. In addition to the duck, the filling includes an aromatic combination of almonds, spices, lychee black tea, and sugar. The final and most successful dish of the night is an Assam Crème Brulée which uses a good quality Assam Sessa Estate, Second Flush. The Assam adds a coffee-like flavour with musky, earthy tones that are ‘beguiling.’ It’s a dish that needs to be experienced firsthand, and The Confabulist has graciously shared the recipe with us.

Imbb171_1 We end today’s journey in beautiful Hawaii where Reid of ‘Ono Kine Grindz has prepared a beautiful dish of Mo Li Li Zhi Steamed Opakapaka. Mo li li zhi is a jasmine and lychee tea that’s light, refreshing and fruity. And Opakapaka is pink snapper, a fish with a firm flesh and a light delicate flavour that’s well suited to steaming, poaching, or baking. To enhance the fruity flavour of the tea, Reid sauces the dish with a lychee purée, and garnishes the fish with ginger, green onions, and cilantro.