Green Tea Consumption Is Inversely Associated with the Incidence of Influenza Infection among Schoolchildren in a Tea Plantation Area of Japan

The Journal of Nutrition, 2011 141:10 1862-1870; first published online August 10, 2011.

Green tea is known to contain antiviral components that prevent influenza infection. A limited number of adult clinical studies have been undertaken, but there is a paucity of clinical evidence concerning children. We conducted an observational study to determine the association between green tea consumption and the incidence of influenza infection among schoolchildren. Anonymous questionnaire surveys were undertaken twice during the influenza season from November 2008 to February 2009 (endemic seasonal type A influenza infection); each survey was conducted for 2663 pupils across all elementary schools in Kikugawa City (a tea plantation area), Japan. Each questionnaire was completed and submitted by 2050 pupils (response rate, 77.0%; age range, 6–13 y). The adjusted OR associated with the consumption of green tea for ≥6 d/wk compared with <3 d/wk was 0.60 [(95% CI = 0.39–0.92); P = 0.02] in cases of influenza confirmed by the antigen test. Meanwhile, the adjusted OR inversely associated with the consumption of 1 cup/d to <3 cups/d (1 cup = 200 mL) and 3–5 cups/d compared with <1 cup/d were 0.62 [(95% CI = 0.41–0.95); P = 0.03] and 0.54 [(95% CI = 0.30–0.94); P = 0.03], respectively. However, there was no significant association with the consumption of >5 cups/d. Our findings thus suggest that the consumption of 1–5 cups/d of green tea may prevent influenza infection in children.  


  Koi Genmaicha Tea Bag from Uji, Japan
  Now 15% off at The Matcha Shop

 Koi Sencha Tea Bag from Uji, Japan
 Now 15% off at The Matcha Shop  

Eikyo Magazine

Eikyo, Influencias Japonesas is a brand new magazine which pretends to be a guide of the latest trends arrived to the West from Japan. It brings to us interesting information about culture, food, fashion, art and entertainment, always told from a unique perspective that aims to connect the Eastern and Western culture. The Matcha House takes part of this last number just arrived to shops. So far, this month we show up in one of its valued pages, sure in the future will continue to be present in the magazine with some more of our contents. Thanks Eikyo!
More information http://www.eikyo.es/

The Matcha House and Chocolathé

We’ve stated 2012 with a new point of sale in the area of Levante. Chocolathé is a gourmet shop specialized on coffee, tea and chocolate. It is placed in the historic city centre of Alicante, and the owners, Laura and Elvira, are both passionate about everything related with tea. They the best selection of teas, coffees and chocolates, working with some of the best brands such as Oriol Balaguer, Bubó or Alma de Cacao. Besides, they offer a wide selection of accessories (mugs, kettles, trays, etc) It is a warm and friendly shop, very carefully decorated and it smells wonderful as you get inside! A place like this can not miss a corner dedicated to Japanese Green Tea. The Matcha House products are now available in Chocolathé

http://www.chocolateteycafe.com/
C/ del Médico Pascual Pérez, 17
03001 Alicante
T. 965 210 943

A Happy New Year 2012!

We thank you for all of your kind support over the last year. And we wish you a Happy and prosperous New Year 2012. This is our New Year Greetnig card.

(Japanese)
新春のおよろこびを申しあげます。

今年もあなた様のためよきお年でありますように。

(English)

A Happy New Year.
I hope you will have a wonderful year.

Matcha Tiramisu Christmas Cake!

For Christmas and New Year’s every year, we usually make Matcha Tiramisú Christmas Cake.  This recipe is made with a homemade sponge cake. It is definitely more sturdy than the usual tiramisu and it is easy to cut. In stead of the crystallization of the snow, you can cut any shapes you like. We wish you a Happy X'mas Holidays and a Happy New Year!!





Ingredients:

- For mascarpone cream:65 g mascarpone1 egg yolk12 g of sugar1 teaspoon of rum100cc of whipped cream1 tablespoon Matcha
- For Matcha sponge cake:2 egg yolks40 g sugar50cc of milk40 gr flour2 egg whites1 tablespoon Matcha
- For white sponge cake:2 egg yolks40 g sugar50cc of milk40 gr flour2 egg whites
- For decoration:(First layer) 10 g of powdered sugar(Second layer) 10g of Matcha* *recommended Matcha: Premium Matcha 100g(For the figure of the crystallization of the snow) 5 grams of powdered sugar

Preparation:

1. Prepare Matcha sponge cake in a bowl, mixing the egg yolks, sugar, milk and matcha previously sifted. Then add the flour also pre-shifted. In another bowl prepare meringue, beating egg whites with a mixer and mix all.
2. In another bowl, prepare white sponge cake mixing white yolks, sugar and milk. Add the flour well sifted. In another bowl prepare meringue, beating egg whites and mix all.
3. Put 1. & 2. into two square molds respectively. Bake 15 minutes at 180 ºC.
4. Make mascarpone cream mixing egg yolk, sugar and rum. Add Matcha powder. Then add the whipped cream and mix all lightly.
5. Cut baked sponge cakes in half horizontally. First, put green sponge cake and spread mascarpone cream over cake. Put white cake over and spread cream over cake. Repeat this work.
6. On the top of the cake, drizzle powdered sugar to cover totally the surface of the cake.
7. Drizzle Matcha over cake to cover totally the surface of the cake.
8. Cut a paper template of the shape of the crystallization of the snow (or any other shape you like) and put on top of cake and sprinkle over powdered suger. Carefully remove the mold.
9. Your original Matcha Tiramisú Cake is ready to eat!  

Christmas Matcha Green Tea Stollen

A Stollen is a traditional German cake, usually eaten during the Christmas season. It is a loaf-shaped cake containing dried fruit, and covered with icing sugar.  We have to admit that we have never tried Stollen, we have seen it in the shops but we have never made it.  Yesterday, our confectioner friend SATOKO brought us a very original Stollen - "Matcha Green Tea Stollen with sweet chestnuts". It was the stollen to fall in love with.  Low in sweetness and healthly ingredientes are used.  It is so delicious that once you start, you will never able to stop eating it!!  

Ingredients:

70g butter
30g Wasanbon (Japanese White Sugar)
1 egg yolk
60g soymilk
8g dry yeast
80g bread flour
80g cake flour
2 tablespoon of Matcha
4g salt
1/3 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
30g sweet chestnut
50g Roasted walnuts
100g dried fruit dipped in rum
Melted butter and powdered sugar

Preparation:

1. Put the yeast into a small bowl and pour over the warmed soymilk (about 40ºC).
2. In a large bowl, put melted butter, add the Wasambon (Japanese sugar) and beat well.
3. Add whisked egg yolks and mix well.
4. Add sifted powders and mix throughly together.
5. Add  preliminary fermented 1.to 4. and knead well.
6. Add spices, chestnuts, walnuts, dried fruits and continue kneading until smooth. Form round shape and let it rise about 2 hours  (primary fermentation)
7. Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the marzipan into a rope and place it in the center of the dough.  Let it rise about 1 hour (Secondary fermentation).
9.  Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes at 180 ℃
10. While warm, brush the surface with some melted butter and leave to cool.
11. When cool, dust it with icing sugar. 

Merry Matcha Christmas Cupcake Tree!

Christmas is close. Hopefully some of the Christmas ideas listed here will help you!  Matcha cupcakes are a big hit at any holiday party and especially at Christmas parties.  Kids and adults even love them without frosting.  Our recipes usually are not very sweet desserts, but for these special holidays we want to present this very, very sweet recipe. We fell in love with it and we are sure that it will please almost any Matcha green tea lover. We wish you a Merry Matcha Christmas to all of you!!

Ingredient for Matcha Muffin (for 6 units)
60g butter softened
60g sugar
1 egg (M)
100g cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons powdered Matcha
1 tablespoon of condensed milk
50cc milk

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 170 ° C.
2. Sift the flour and Matcha tea. Soften butter at room temperature.
3. In a large bowl, mix butter and sugar until you get light and fluffy cream.
4. Add cracked egg gradually. Mix well.
5. Add milk and condensed milk. Mix well.
6. Add the flour, Matcha and Baking Powder. Mix well.
7. Divide cupcake mix into cupcake paper cases until they are 80% full.
8. Bake for 20 minutes.
9. Decorate cupcakes after cooling completely.

Ingredient for coverage
1 / 4 cup butter (1 cup = 200ml)
Matcha Tea  8g
1 / 4 cup milk
1 + 1 / 2 cups icing sugar

Preparation:
Mix melted butter with Matcha tea in a bowl. Add milk and beat until it becomes smooth and creamy. Gradually add icing sugar until it reaches the consistency you want. Adjust the amount of icing sugar to taste. 

Christmas in the forest

Here is an easy and quick recipe for Christmas cookies. Kids love animal-shaped cookies. We cooked these cookies in 3 flavors:  normal butter flavor, black chocolate and Green Tea Matcha.  We did not use any mold nor cookie cutters to make these cookies. What you will need is only your hands and your imagination!!  Enjoy this friendly recipe with your kids and your friends and have a nice Christmas days! We do wish you a Merry Matcha Christmas!!

Animals we made: monkey, pig, coala, cat, panda, dog, rabbit, bear, brown dog, squirrel, and reindeer.

Ingredients:
(for 20 cookies of 4mm thick)
200g flour
100g sugar
100g butter at room temperature
1 egg

2 teaspoons of Baking Powder
2 teaspoons of Matcha green tea powder
2 teatpoons of  Cocoa powder

For decolation:
1 egg yolk
Small Chocolate balls
Star-shaped sugar decolation
Flower-shaped sugar decolation

Preparation:
1. Leave the butter out of the refrigerator to melt a bit.
2. Shift the flour.
3. In a large bowl, beat the butter. Add suger and beat again until the texture becomes creamy.
4. Add beated egg and continue beating until the mixture becomes yellow-white.
5. Add flour and mix slowly with a rubber spatula until dough just comes together.
6. Separate 1/4 of the dough and add Matcha Powder. Mix well.
7. Separate another 1/4 of the dough and add Cocoa Powder. Mix well.
8. Wrap three color dough respectively and place in refrigelator for 1 hour.
9.  Make animal-shaped cookies and tree-shaped cookies.
10. Bake on parchment lined baking sheets for 15 minutes at 175 º.
11. Decolate the cookies as you like.

Winter New Products

Matcha Latte Instant
A delicious and revolutionary drink very easy to prepare. Matcha Green Tea, with an ancient tradition, get adapted to our days on an easy and healthy way to take care of our health day by day. Three teaspoons and a little of water is all you need to enjoy a Matcha Latte every morning. Well Warm water in winter, with ice cubes in summer, take care and enjoy all year round.



Cook Matcha Eco
Ecological culinary grade of Matcha. Increasingly more people are sensitized with organic products. Allready satisfied with our Teatime Organic Matcha (for infusion), now we offer you the opportunity to create the most original and delicious recipes with Organic Matcha. As fresh as the rest of our products, and newly harvested with methods that have particular regard to environmental protection.

Buy these products at http://www.shop.thematchahouse.com

Green Tea Promotion extended!

Sencha, Matcha Sembei, Kompeito

Due to the great interest aroused by the Uji Japanese Green Tea Promotion, we've decided to extend it until next Monday, November 21st, or until stocks last.



Enjoy and don't miss the opportunity to get top quality green tea at an unbeatable price. Continue shopping on... http://www.shop.thematchahouse.com

Uji Tea Sale on The Matcha Shop!

http://shop.thematchahouse.com/

Sergi Vela

Matcha Nougat Candy with Passion Fruit


Matcha Nougat Candy with Lime


Pastry Piece with Matcha

Today we continue with our label Masters of Matcha presenting the recipes of Sergi Vela, one of the main professionals inside and outside the Spanish pastry scene. In 2009 established himself as one of the ten best pastry chefs in the world with his Best Chocolate Cake in the World within the World Chocolate Masters. He started very young, with sixteen years we found him in the Barcelona Confectionery Guild. Later he worked hand by hand with by Paco Torreblanca, for whom he feels true admiration as one of the great masters. Currently he is teaching at the School of Hotel Industry and Tourism of Barcelona, in charge of training the future great pastry chefs in the country.
Among his favorite ingredients, yuzu, a Japanese citrus-scented tangerine and chocolate, for its versatility, its taste, its smell ... On this occasion, this great and young master, for whom the bakery is not just a job but a way of life, dares with Matcha green tea to delight us with three spectacular recipes. From here, our thanks to Sergi for wanting to share them with us all.
For further details about these recipes please contact info@thematchahouse.com