Chicken with Matcha? Why Not?

It is safe to say that chicken is among the handful of food items that can be found in almost every culture’s cuisine. This should come as no surprise because this meat has a universal appeal to it. It’s healthier than many other kinds of meats, so health-conscious individuals tend to gravitate toward it. It is also not subject to many religious restrictions, as opposed to pork (Muslims are restricted from consuming it) and beef (Hindus treat cows as sacred).

With that said, a variety of chicken recipes have been made, from the good old breaded tenders to the more sophisticated wine-stewed variants.

But culinary artists and cooking enthusiasts are not done yet. New chicken recipes just come out of the blue every day. In this article, we present three recipes that celebrate the rather odd combination of chicken and matcha green tea powder.

Health Benefits of Matcha

But first, let’s find out why adding matcha to your diet is beneficial to your health. Matcha is rich in antioxidants, it helps burn more calories by boosting your metabolism, contains fibers that help your body detox naturally, as well as vitamins, and necessary minerals, such as magnesium, chlorophyll, zinc, selenium, to name a few. It’s also helpful to those suffering from high blood pressure, high blood glucose levels and high cholesterol. Matcha improves your mood and helps concentrate better. So, as you see, one can only benefit from cooking with matcha. And below are three awesome recipes of dishes with matcha.

Roasted Matcha Chicken

Roasting is traditionally a task that demands time and effort. The cook has to be mindful of the time the food is exposed to the heat. They also need to make sure that it is cooked evenly, so the meat has to be moved regularly. To do this, the food is placed on a skewer and made to rotate over top of the coal pit. But now that there are ovens with thermostats and timers, oven roasting has become the go-to method of people who don’t have much time. To prepare roasted chicken:

1. Flatten a few cloves of garlic and then mix them with two tablespoons of finely chopped parsley.
2. Stuff this mixture into a whole chicken.
3. To make the dish more exciting, loosen the skin of the chicken and put a layer of matcha-and-butter mixture underneath the skin. Make sure that the layer is even.
4. Sprinkle salt all over the chicken, and then bake for about 20 minutes in the preheated oven.

Chicken Tenders with a Matcha Twist

Deep frying it is perhaps the most common way of preparing chicken. Traditionally, the breading process just involves dipping the chicken pieces in seasoned flour, beaten whole eggs, and breadcrumbs. Those who love matcha can modify this flow a bit. They can mix matcha green tea powder into the breadcrumb. This green addition will give the chicken tenders the earthy umami taste that will surely make diners wanting more.

Chicken with Yogurt and Matcha

Cooking is great because it allows the harmonious mixing of seemingly diverse influences and traditions. Yogurt is a Turkish innovation that has gained popularity all over the world. Matcha is now a popular beverage globally, but it is the Japanese who first sipped it. The fusion of these two will make chicken such a delight to the palate. To prepare chicken with yogurt and matcha:

1. Coat chicken with olive oil and salt.
2. Place the chicken pieces neatly on an oiled sheet pan, and bake for 25 minutes.
3. Let chicken pieces cool for five minutes, then coat them with ginger-infused yogurt.
4. Cook for another five minutes.
5. Serve on top of steamed rice, and sprinkle with a pinch of matcha green tea powder.