Matcha is an interesting ingredient. It’s popular due to its super-powerful antioxidants. But most of the recipes using matcha are not so healthy–mostly sweets and ice cream. The gorgeous bright green color adds the fresh look to the good old sweet recipes. But, wait–we love Matcha for its health power, don’t we? “Because of the matcha ingredient, less guilty!” Is it, really?
I admit I’ve made so many of Matcha sweets as an introduction to “Matcha flavor.” But now, people are looking for ways to use Matcha in a truly healthy way.
Are there ways to use the matcha in your pantry beyond “green smoothies”? Can we use it in the savory, healthy meals?
The answer is, “Yes, we can!” We all know antioxidants in Matcha or green tea powder are powerful. And not only that, Matcha and green tea powder boost flavor as well! A type of Umami in Green Tea is Glutamate, and when this type of Umami is combined with the type of Umami in meat, Inosinate, it tastes 8 times more in Umami.*
Here are a couple of recipes you can use Matcha in your pantry to create a delicious, savory meal. Bon appetite!
Matcha Grilled Chicken
Makes 3 chicken breast halves (3-6 servings, depending on the serving size)
Total prep time 20 minutes
Total marinade time 2-8 hours
Total cooking time 20 minutes
Matcha Marinade Ingredients:
1/4 cup Mirin (Japanese rice wine)
1 Tbsp. Matcha or Decaffeinated Sencha Powder, dissolved with 1 Tbsp. warm water
2 Tbsp. Ginger, grated
3 Cloves Garlic, minced
3 Tbsp. Honey
2 tsp. Dried & crushed Red Chilli Pepper
3 Tbsp. Cilantro (Stems are perfectly fine), chopped
1/4 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Lime zest, grated
2 tsp. Fish sauce
3 pieces of Chicken breast halves
Matcha Grilled Chicken Instructions:
1. Mix all the ingredients together in a quart size ziplock bag.
2. Add 3 chicken breast halves to the ziplock bag and seal tight. Marinade in the fridge for 2-8 hours.
3. Remove chicken from marinade and grill in the medium-high heat for 8-10 minutes on each side. Discard the marinade.
With a leftover of grilled chicken, make this delicious Pad Thai Noodle. Or, grill chicken just to make this delicious meal!
Matcha Pad Thai Noodle
Makes 4 servings
Total cooking time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:
Matcha Pad Thai Noodle
1-2 pieces Thai Style Matcha Grilled Chicken, torn into bite sizes
8 oz Flat rice noodle
3 Eggs
1/4 cup Dry roasted peanuts
2 Tbsp. Peanut oil, divided
1 medium-size Carrot, shredded
2 cups Cabbage, shredded
1/4 cup Cilantro, chopped
1 Tbsp. Lime juice
1 Lime, cut into 6 wedges
Matcha Pad Thai Sauce
1 batch of Matcha Marinade shown above (freshly made for this recipe; do not use the marinade previously used for marinating chicken)
2 tsp. additional fish sauce
Matcha Pad Thai Noodle Instructions:
1. Make 1 batch Matcha Pad Thai Sauce by mixing all the ingredients and an additional 2 tsp. fish sauce. Set it aside until you need it.
Special Note about Caffeine in Matcha:
Grilling heat will reduce caffeine in the Matcha Marinade if you are wondering about caffeine for Grilled Chicken. However, you can substitute Matcha with Decaf. Sencha powder if you’d like to avoid Caffeine. especially in the Matcha Pad Thai Sauce.
2. Cook rice noodles according to the package instructions.
3. Crack eggs and whisk lightly with a fork. Heat 1 Tbsp. peanut oil in a large pan. Pour the whisked eggs into the heated pan. When the edges start to get cooked, gather the edges into the center to cook eggs evenly. When eggs start to set, cut them into bite-size chunks in the pan using a spatula. Remove the cooked eggs from the pan.
4. Add the rest of the peanut oil to the pan. Add the cooked rice noodle to the pan and stirfry the noodle in the pan.
5. Add torn chicken pieces to the noodle. Pour Matcha Pad Thai Sauce and lime juice. Toss well to coat evenly.
6. Add dry roasted peanuts and cooked eggs. Toss well
7. Serve with cilantro, carrots, and cabbages. Garnish with lime pieces. Enjoy!
Matcha Grilled Chicken
Ingredients
Matcha Thai Marinade Sauce
- 1/4 cup Mirin (Japanese rice wine)
- 1 Tbsp. Matcha, dissolved with 1 Tbsp. warm water
- 2 Tbsp. Ginger, grated
- 3 cloves Garlic, minced
- 3 Tbsp. Honey
- 2 tsp. Dried & crushed Red Chilli Pepper
- 3 Tbsp. Cilantro (Stems are perfectly fine), chopped
- 1/4 tsp. Salt
- 1 tsp. Lime zest, grated
- 2 tsp. Fish sauce
- 3 pieces Chicken breast halves
Instructions
- Mix all the ingredients together in a quart size ziplock bag.
- Add 3 chicken breast halves to the ziplock bag and seal tight. Marinade in the fridge for 2-8 hours.
- Remove chicken from marinade and grill in the medium-high heat for 8-10 minutes on each side. Discard the marinade.
Upgrade your Pad Thai Noodle with Matcha Umami and health!
Matcha Pad Thai Noodle
Ingredients
Matcha Pad Thai Sauce
- 1 batch Matcha Marinade shown in the above recipe (freshly made for this recipe; do not use the marinade previously used for marinading chicken)
- 2 tsp. additional fish sauce
Pad Thai Noodle
- 1-2 pieces Thai Style Matcha Grilled Chicken, torn into bite sizes
- 8 oz Flat rice noodle
- 3 Eggs
- 1/4 cups Dry roasted peanuts
- 2 Tbsp. Peanut oil, devided
- 1 Medium size Carrot, shredded
- 2 cups Cabbage, shredded
- 1/4 cups Cilantro, chopped
- 1 Tbsp. Lime juice
- 1 Lime, cut into 6 wedges
Instructions
- Make 1 batch Matcha Pad Thai Sauce by mixing all the ingredients and an additional 2 tsp. fish sauce. Set it aside until you need it. Special Note about Caffeine in Matcha: You can substitute Matcha with Decaf. Sencha powder if you'd like to avoid Caffeine. Grilling heat will reduce caffeine in the marinade if you are wondering about caffeine in Matcha Marinade for Grilled Chicken.
- Cook rice noodles according to the package instructions.
- Crack eggs and whisk lightly with a fork. Heat 1 Tbsp. peanut oil in a large pan. Pour the whisked eggs into the heated pan. When the edges start to get cooked, gather the edges into the center to cook eggs evenly. When eggs start to set, cut them into bite-size chunks in the pan using a spatula. Remove the cooked eggs from the pan.
- Add the rest of the peanut oil to the pan. Add the cooked rice noodle to the pan and stir-fry the noodle in the pan.
- Add torn chicken pieces to the noodle. Pour Matcha Pad Thai Sauce and lime juice. Toss well to coat evenly.
- Add dry roasted peanuts and cooked eggs. Toss well.
- Serve with cilantro, carrots, and cabbages. Garnish with lime pieces.
Meet the Author: Kiyomi
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*Reference:
Kenzo Kurihara “Umami the Fifth Basic Taste: History of Studies on Receptor Mechanisms and Role as a Food Flavor” Biomed Research International 2015