Green Tea Treats for Summer

Desserts and cold beverages using green tea have become popular in America. Green tea ice cream has been a staple at Japanese restaurants for a long time, but recently, even Starbucks has tried serving green tea frappucino. It’s a nice option to have here in America for someone like me from Kyoto, where green tea is the dominant flavor for many sweets.

Amatou is a type of café that serves Japanese sweets. There are many such cafes in Japan, especially in Kyoto. The menu typically features items with matcha, which is the fine-ground young green tea traditionally used in the tea ceremony. Although green tea ice cream is also common there, the typical dessert is often more traditional fare such as matcha shiruko — mochi balls in green tea and azuki bean syrup — or my favorite, uji kintoki, which is a bowl full of shaved ice topped with vibrantly colored green tea syrup and azuki beans (see the photo).

On a recent trip to Kyoto, my mother and I were shopping in a large department store in a busy shopping district. She suggested we go to an amatou located on the third floor. As we approached the third floor on the escalator, I noticed we were entering the women’s clothing section. I asked if she was sure about the location of the cafe. She replied, “I know it’s there because I go there all the time.” I followed her deep into the women’s clothing section, and there was the café with a line of mostly middle-aged women waiting outside it.

I felt very out of place waiting in this line. Once we were seated, we both ordered uji kintoki with a topping of vanilla ice cream. Although it was rather uncomfortable being the only man sitting in a small chair at a café in the women’s clothing section, the vivid green-colored shaved ice was refreshing and tasty. What a treat it was on a warm day in a busy department store.

I am now featuring uji kintoki as the dessert course for the summer at my restaurant in Seattle. The other night a gentleman from Japan said, “You know, I have wanted to eat this for a long time. But I really feel awkward going to an amatou café because it’s all middle-aged ladies in there. And the chairs are too small for me.” I said, “You should ask your mother to take you there.” The chair might be too small, but your mom — and your taste buds — will thank you.