Green Tea Maccha ｛抹茶｝Azuki Ice-Blended Latte Smoothie Recipe #OMYSBA2013 #PanasonicCookingSG

Maccha {green tea, 抹茶} is absolutely my favourite tea. It is a powerful antioxidant that helps to eliminate the free radicals in your body and hence reduce your risk of cancer, heart disease and progression of diseases such as Alzheimer's. It also boosts your metabolism rate {which can help in weight loss}, improves brain operation, digestion and function of the urinary system. So much win!!

Not only is it beneficial to health, it's also superbly fragrant and flavourful. A good brew of maccha, to me, is smooth, frothy and bitter like how it's prepared during sado {Japanese tea ceremony, 茶道}. But in any case, I love maccha-flavoured anything! Ice-cream, cakes, cookies, noodles, pudding and yes... smoothies! 

I brought back this packet of Uji maccha green tea　{宇治抹茶グリーンティ} powder that's slightly sweetened from our recent Japan travels. I prefer unsweetened maccha but thought it was so convenient to just add water and/or milk to make a maccha drink... no brewing required! Used it to make a Maccha Azuki Ice-Blended Latte Smoothie and it tastes as great as those store-bought ones at a fraction of the price haha.

Prep time: 
20 minutes

Ingredients:
4-5 tbsp sweetened maccha {green tea} powder
1.5 cup milk
1 cup ice-cubes
1 tbsp azuki beans paste

Method:

1. Place all ingredients in the blender.
2. Blend until desired consistency.
3. Garnish with whipped cream and dust with maccha powder. Add a dollop of azuki beans paste.
4. Serve chilled.

 Tips:

• Maccha powder is easily available at Meidi-ya, Sakuraya Fish Market, and the Japanese food section of major supermarkets in Singapore. 
• Ready-made azuki beans paste is available at Daiso, Meidi-ya and Isetan supermarket.
• If you have unsweetened maccha powder, just add sugar to taste. 
• Chocolate and maccha goes very well together too, so dust a layer of chocolate powder over the smoothie if are a chocoholic!
• Maccha tastes best when fresh so do keep your matcha powder in an airtight container in a cool place {up to 6 months} or in the fridge {up to 1 year}. Avoid over-exposure to oxygen, light, humidity or high temperature.   

P.S. I'm looking for a cookbook that has a good variety of recipes using maccha. If you have any to recommend, let me know! :)

* Disclosure: Panasonic MX-AC210S blender was provided by Panasonic Singapore as part of a series for Singapore Blog Awards Best Cooking Blog category. No monetary compensation was received, and all opinions are my own.

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