[Japanese Recipes] Matcha Kanten and Strawberry Parfait

I am positively in the mood for ice cold sweet dessert, and today’s recipe is just that. There is nothing fancy with this parfait, which is basically my way of throwing everything together with plain old vanilla ice cream and come up with fancy name to go with it. The most complicated process to make this parfait is making your own matcha kanten, which even kids can do it. I mean, everyone knows how to make agar/jelly/kanten, right? It’s like the first thing we learn to cook when we were kids, or maybe just me. 

You can use any agar/kanten brand of your choice to make the kanten. The only trick is to add matcha paste to the cooked agar/kanten while it is still in liquid form and stir until homogenous before pouring into a mold to harden. That said, if you can’t get a hold of matcha, you can always used green tea agar instead of plain agar and use that, though flavor wise, there is no way it can ever compete with the real deal. 

Matcha Kanten and Strawberry Parfait

Author: Daily Cooking Quest
Cuisine: Japanese

Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 15 mins
Total time: 30 mins

Serves: 4 to 6

Ingredients

Matcha kanten
2 teaspoon matcha
1 tablespoon water
450 ml water (or follow the packet instruction)
50 gram sugar
5 gram kanten powder, I use plain Kristal Agar from Swallow Globe brand (agar-agar and jelly powder)
Parfait
fresh strawberries
vanilla ice cream

Instructions

1. In a small bowl, stir together the 2 teaspoon of matcha with 1 tablespoon of water to make a smooth paste. Set aside.

2. Boil together water, sugar, and kanten powder until rolling boil, stir frequently until all the sugar is completely dissolved.

3. Turn off the heat, then add the matcha paste into the pot and stir until well mixed. Pour the mixture into a baking pan to set. I use an 8 inch x 8 inch square baking pan as my mold.
Once it sets, transfer to the fridge to chill for 2 hours. Cut into small cubes.

To serve

1. Wash and drain the strawberries, then slice each into 4 to 5 slices.

2. Scoop some vanilla ice cream to a serving bowl, top with slices of fresh strawberries and matcha kanten cubes. Serve immediately.

This recipe and image sources are referred in website: Dailycookingquest.com. Thanks so much!