Green tea konyaku jelly
- Tracy Yap S.L
- May 23, 2015
- 3 min read
I LOOOOOVEEEEE matcha green tea. Absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE it. Anything with green tea is AMAZINGGGGGGG! :D
What can I say…I’m a green tea fanatic, hehe… and with solid reasons too! I’m sure you’ve read a lot on the good benefits of green tea. It’s a good source of antioxidants, it aids in weight loss and maintenance, it lowers blood pressure and high cholesterol, it relaxes your muscles, it fights belly flabs, and most importantly…it tastes GOOD! :)
So I had a packet of plain konyaku powder sitting about in my pantry so I thought, why not make some matcha green tea jelly with it? I felt in the mood to experiment too!
I based this on my own memory of recipes I’ve read and not on any particular recipe so in the end there are some improvements which could have been done. But then again, I get some points for trying to be innovative, no? :D
Aesthetically, I would have preferred a richer green colour. I added a lot of ground matcha powder in the mixture though, so I was quite puzzled that the green came out so pale. I did some research and most people claim that you have to use a green colouring to “enhance” the green colour. Hmm…I’m not that keen on using artificial colouring…perhaps next time I will try dissolving the green tea in some hot water first to bring out the colour. Or, I can try adding in some natural colouring from pounded pandan leaves—although this may impart a pandan-y taste to the jelly. Green tea and pandan doesn’t sound too bad though! Haha.
I used Manuka honey to sweeten my jelly this time round. I got myself some high grade Manuka honey with MG 300+ a few weeks back so I was tempted to use it in a dessert recipe to see how it would taste. MG stands for methylglyoxal which is an antibacterial component found in high concentration in manuka honey. I found that substituting honey for sugar in this recipe has given the jelly a more earthy taste, definitely recognizable as honey on the palate. I’m fine with this, and if you are too, then honey should be a better sweetener as it is pure and has other benefits. If you must use sugar, please try to get raw brown sugar. The regular white sugar is processed and stripped of any nutritional value so it’s best to avoid that at any cost.
Makes 4 cups
Time: 30 minutes, at least 2 hours to chill
Ingredients:-
750ml litre milk
250ml water
1 packet plain unsweetened konyaku powder
4 tablespoons Manuka honey
Good quality matcha green tea powder
I found that dissolving the konyaku powder in boiling water helped prevent clumps of powder forming, which could happen when you add the powder straight to the milk even though the milk is hot enough. So boil the water first and stir in the powder. Then add in the milk and continue to stir as it heats up. Stirring continuously is important here so that the milk doesn’t get burnt!
Dissolve the green tea powder in some hot water and add it to the mixture.
Add in the honey and stir till mixture begins to slowly thicken. It will feel tougher for you to stir through. Remember to taste and adjust to your liking!
Work quickly to pour mixture into glass jars once mixture is taken off the heat. Place glass jars in fridge and refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours or until jelly is set and ready for consumption.
Top with fruits of your choice and enjoy!
Deliciously,
Tracy
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