Honey Genmaicha 玄米茶 Ice Cream
I really enjoy teas that lean towards savoury profiles so genmaicha is right up my alley. With toasted brown rice mixed into green tea, there's this irresistible added nutty, earthy depth of flavour. Genmaicha was historically consumed by poorer folks as the rice acts as a filler to reduce the price of the tea, but I personal think the flavour trumps pure green tea!
Adding ground genmaicha into the ice cream helps provide an added texture and visual cue on what to expect when you bite into it. Using honey vs regular sugar also helps highlight the grassy notes of the tea.
Genmaicha 玄米茶 i.e. green tea with toasted brown rice infused ice cream, packs a nutty earth flavour lightly sweetened with honey.
- 240 g milk
- 480 g heavy cream
- 180 g honey
- 1 g salt
- 34 g genmaicha
- 8 egg yolks
- 11 g genmaicha (finely ground)
In a medium saucepan, add milk, heavy cream, honey, salta and genmaicha. Mix well to combine.
In a medium bowl, separate 8 egg yolks. Store egg whites for other use.
Put saucepan over heat, heating milk mixture until steam just begins to rise from the surface. Remove from heat.
Temper egg yolks: While continually whisking egg yolks, stream warmed milk mixture into egg yolks. (I typically add about 3 ladles of warmed milk)
Return egg yolks back to the saucepan with rest of the milk mixture. Return saucepan back to the heat, continually stirring with a heatproof spatula. Cook until mixture thickens and coats the back of the spatula.
Pour mixture through a sift to get rid of loose tea leaves. Press down on leaves to extract as much liquid as possible.
Optional: With a mortar and pestle or food processor, grind 11g of genmaicha. Add to ice cream mixture, stir to combine.
Pour ice cream mixture into a resealable plastic bag, or bowl to store in fridge overnight or until extremely cold.
Once mixture is extremely cold, churn in your ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.