Green tea ice cream

This was another one of our favorite foods in Japan, even if one particular ice cream cone dripped and left green stains on my favorite skirt.

I prepared it almost the same way I made another kind of tea ice cream — the Thai tea ice cream recipe I posted a while back. The only differences were the kind of tea I used, and a few drops of food coloring (yes, I admit it).

You could use matcha — green tea powder — instead of the sencha — green tea leaves — that I used (personally imported from Japan), although you’ll have to change the quantities. Most recipes that involve green tea use matcha, probably because otherwise you need to brew and strain the tea (as I did). However, I don’t have any matcha lying around, and this way worked just fine. You could alter this recipe by pretty much using any tea you like.

For about a liter of ice cream:

1.5 cups whole milk
1/2 cups sugar
1 cup cream
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons green tea leaves
2 drops green food coloring
2 drops yellow food coloring

Heat the milk, and infuse it with the green tea leaves. Let sit 6 minutes, then strain and discard the leaves.

Mix some of the warm milk with the egg yolks, and put the rest into a thick-bottomed pot with the sugar. Cook on a low flame until the mixture thickens into a custard — don’t let it boil — and coats the back of a spoon.

Let cool, and mix with the cream and food coloring. Prepare in your ice cream maker according to the instructions.