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Yogurt & Matcha Swirl with Mango
Matcha & Pistachio-Crusted Halibut
Green tea is what other health foods might call an overachiever. It's considered a cancer-fighting, age-defying, heart-disease-battling cure-all, a star among the lentils and açaì berries. But matcha, a powdered version, makes even the other green teas look lazy. It's the healthiest of them all—by a landslide.
Used in Japanese tea ceremonies for centuries, matcha (pronounced MAH-cha) outdoes its better-known siblings thanks to the way it's processed. Whole, shade-grown leaves are finely milled, so when you drink or eat it (more on that below), you're ingesting the entire leaf and all of its vitamins and antioxidants, not just whichever nutrients happen to seep out of a typical bag of green tea. According to one study, that good stuff includes an astounding 137 times more of the antioxidant known as epigallo-catechin gallate, thought to be the main source of green tea's superpowers.
Those health benefits aren't enough to explain its current popularity on restaurant and bakery menus around the world. (When was the last time you saw a wheatgrass macaron at Pierre Hermé, Paris's pastry mecca?) Intrigued by its earthy, bitter flavor, versatile form, and gorgeous green color, chefs are taking matcha well beyond its traditional role, using it to lend complexity to everything from seared scallops to pound cake.
"It adds personality and dimension to dishes," says chef Daniel Patterson of San Francisco's four-star Coi, who transforms halibut with a matcha-pistachio crust. And home cooks use it to add a flavorful health hit to foods. "Think of it as a spice," says Patterson, who recommends trying it in dishes that are sweet or acidic. Find recipes and more bright ideas for incorporating this high-achieving ingredient into your diet below.
Matcha prices range from $5 per ounce to a whopping $100 per ounce.
For drinking, look for premium grade. For cooking, buy the less-expensive
culinary grade. Available at amazon.com and inpursuitoftea.com.
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