Warming leaves smell like potato chips with salt and oil, roasty, smoky. Feels like I’m about to take an unctuous bite rather than a sip. Immediately after pouring, the wet leaves smell like roasted, in-season asparagus — super green and full of umami. Pour is nearly-neon yellow and smells of peas, asparagus, almonds, salt, potato. Taste is much more mellow, with a medium bodied asparagus broth, grass, the tiniest peck of astringency, creamy rice. Pineapple and sugar scents at the bottom of the cup.
Nori and sesame, like that shaker concoction that health food restaurants used to keep around, coming from the wet leaves after the second pour. Nose is not nearly so pronounced on this steep, but still lovely like an asparagus soup or risotto — vegetal and creamy. Tastes of roast, umami, a tinge of floral that I can’t quite grasp, still some minor astringency and definite vegetal notes. More pineapple and cotton candy at the bottom of the cup!
Something like fried okra chips coming off the leaves now — like a crispier, oiler, toastier green than the asparagus was. Still pouring bright yellow, but the nose is starting to empty a bit. Some more grass and astringency in the mouth, with seaweed and steamed rice, though I’m getting some barely-there fruit notes as I swish, too.
Spinach from the leaves as they give up their fourth pour, and further steeps start tasting like a more generic “green tea” profile.
The savory character of these Chinese-style greens continues to absolutely delight me.
Flavors: Asparagus, Astringent, Cotton Candy, Cream, Grass, Nori, Oily, Pineapple, Potato, Rice, Roasty, Salt, Seaweed, Sesame, Smoke, Spinach, Sugar, Toasty, Umami, Vegetal
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The nori and sesame topper is furikake! Love making it at home so it’s not so sweet. XP
Ohhhh, of course! That’s so funny, I was recently trying to find a furikake without fish and absolutely did not make the connection that that was the same stuff. Durr. Brains, I tell ya.
My favorite version is gomashio, just roasted sesame seeds coated in salt! Easy to make at home too. :)
I used to make all sorts of furikake back in the day! An old favorite cooking blog of mine has a recipe for tea furikake that I would make with spent leaves (dried out in a low temp oven)
https://justbento.com/handbook/johbisai/homemade-furikake-no-9-green-tea
How cool! I remember thinking What-Cha’s Vietnamese green fish hook leaves were so delicate that I would eat them in soup. I wonder how much umami the leaves still have to contribute after steeping, and how much bitterness they add? Yum.
The nori and sesame topper is furikake! Love making it at home so it’s not so sweet. XP
Ohhhh, of course! That’s so funny, I was recently trying to find a furikake without fish and absolutely did not make the connection that that was the same stuff. Durr. Brains, I tell ya.
My favorite version is gomashio, just roasted sesame seeds coated in salt! Easy to make at home too. :)
I used to make all sorts of furikake back in the day! An old favorite cooking blog of mine has a recipe for tea furikake that I would make with spent leaves (dried out in a low temp oven)
https://justbento.com/handbook/johbisai/homemade-furikake-no-9-green-tea
How cool! I remember thinking What-Cha’s Vietnamese green fish hook leaves were so delicate that I would eat them in soup. I wonder how much umami the leaves still have to contribute after steeping, and how much bitterness they add? Yum.