Fish Trip Cafe

Matcha is a finely milled green tea leaf powder. It’s been drinking in the traditional Japanese tea ceremony for about 500 years.

Matcha’s elegant bitterness goes perfectly well with milk and cream and ‘Matcha Latte’ is very popular in Japan, it’s even on the menu at Starbucks (in the USA and some other countries too).

Served hot or cold it’s delicious either way.

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— Matcha Green Tea Latte (serves 2) —

1 tablespoon matcha green tea powder

80ml hot water

400ml milk

2 tablespoons sugar (or adjust to your taste)

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Sift the matcha green tea powder in a small bowl, add the hot water (not boiling) and whisk until powder is all dissolved.

Heat the milk in a saucepan over a medium heat (do not boil), add the sugar whisk with a wire whisk until the milk has a velvety milk form.

Fill glasses up to 2/3 with milk form.

Pour hot matcha green tea very slowly into the form.

Dust the green tea powder on the top.

This simple deep fried tofu is called “Atsu-age”.

Freshly-made atsu-age has a lovely texture ― crispy on the outside and soft, fluffy on the inside. Yum.

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— Deep Fried Tofu (Atsu-age) —

Tofu

Daikon (mooli) radish, grated

Ginger, grated

Spring onion, finely chopped

Soy sauce

Vegetable oil for deep frying

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Wrap the tofu in a clean tea towel or some layer of kitchen papers, and place a heavy thing (such as a pan) on top of it to force out excess water, then leave it for 30 minutes.

Cut the tofu into 1 inch cubes and pat dry with kitchen paper.

Heat the oil to 350F/180C and deep fry the tofu until light golden. Place them on kitchen paper to remove excess oil.

Top with grated daikon radish and ginger. Garnish with chopped spring onion and sprinkle with a dash of soy sauce.

“Teriyaki” is probably the most popular and well-known Japanese sauce.

This delicious sweet and savoury sauce goes especially well with chicken, salmon and tofu.

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— Chicken Teriyaki (serves 2) —

3 tablespoons Japanese soy sauce

3 tablespoons mirin (Japanese sweetened rice wine)

3 tablespoons sake (rice wine)

2 tablespoons sugar

2 large chicken thighs (or 4 small chicken thighs), skin-on, boneless

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

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Combine the soy sauce, mirin, sake and sugar in a bowl.

Heat the oil in a frying-pan, lay the chicken, skin side down, and fry over a medium heat until skin is browned. Turn the chicken and cover the frying-pan and steam cook the chicken over a low heat until cooked through.

Pour the sauce in the frying-pan, turning the chicken several times to coat well with the sauce, cook until the sauce became thick.

Cut the chicken crosswise into 3/4 inch slices. Serve hot.

This is a traditional Japanese dish and it’s called “Kōhaku Namasu”. “Kōhaku” means “red and white”,  this combination of colour is a symbol for auspicious or happy occasions in Japan, and Kōhaku Namasu is one of the festive food for the New Year.

White daikon radish and red (actually it’s orange…) carrot are lightly pickled in sweetened vinegar. It’s a light and refreshing side dish.

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— Rickled Radish and Carrot Salad (serves 4) —

400g daikon (mooli) radish

80g carrot

1 teaspoon salt

5 tablespoon rice vinegar

4 tablespoon caster sugar

A small piece of yuzu citrus or lemon peel, very finely julienned

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Peel the radish and carrot and cut into about 2 inch long thin strips.

Place in a bowl, sprinkle with the salt, mix and leave for about 15 minutes. Squeeze well to remove excess water.

Combine the rice vinegar and sugar in a small bowl.

Pour the vinegar mixture over the radish and carrot and mix well. Cover and place in the fridge for few hours.

Just before serving, garnish each portion with julienned yuzu or loon peel.