Get a taste of green tea in these local menu items, from sugar biscuits to popsicles
This article first ran in the September 2018 issue of SouthPark Magazine.
Loaded with antioxidants, green tea has long been known for its nutrients and health benefits. But these days you’re likely to find more indulgent uses of the traditional ingredient. From icy popsicles to creamy semifreddo, local spots are concocting ways to turn this superfood into one of the season’s sweetest treats.
Seoul Food Meat Company
When you’re a Southern barbecue restaurant with Korean inspiration, it only makes sense that you’d serve a dessert that features Southern biscuits and Asian tea. The Green Tea Sugar Biscuits, which is the restaurant’s only dessert offering, includes two sweet, fluffy biscuits accompanied by a sugary green tea ice cream. “We wanted to have something people would be used to,” says manager Rebekah Kwon of the biscuits. “But we also wanted something with Korean culture and flavor.”
Upstream
This swanky SouthPark seafood restaurant’s latest addition to its dessert menu is a dish featuring warm chocolate-filled donuts accompanied by green tea semifreddo. Chef Gene Kato says he was inspired by the classic combo of coffee and donuts, but he wanted to incorporate Japanese culture. “Instead of the coffee, I used matcha tea, which is a ceremonial green tea,” he says. “Then I wanted to have a contrast of temperatures in the dish so I decided to do a semifreddo.” The result? A cool mousse-like concoction that pairs perfectly with the warm donuts.
King of Pops
This popular chain of pushcarts is known for its playful flavor combinations for tasty ice pops. Its latest creation, Matcha Lemonade, is a tart mix of juiced Florida lemons, organic cane sugar, water, and jade leaf matcha tea that creates a bright green pop. “This is our first season for it, but we’d played around with green tea in the kitchen before,” says general manager Jorge Ramirez. “We like to do funky stuff you can’t find at the grocery store. And people love it—especially people familiar with matcha.”
This story was originally published September 7, 2018 at 2:00 AM.