Matcha chia pudding
Chia seeds, milk and matcha stirred together in the evening, and a thick green pudding straight from the fridge in the morning. A few minutes of work, two servings and one step not to skip.
Preparation
15 min
Total
15 min
Servings
2
Level
Easy
Matcha chia pudding takes a few minutes to make, and the fridge does the rest. Chia seeds swell in the milk and, over a few hours, turn it into a thick pudding you eat with a spoon, while the matcha gives it a green colour and a grassy flavour with a slight bitterness that sweet fruit balances well.
Culinary matcha is all you need here: with milk and fruit, its bolder profile works better than delicate ceremonial matcha. The one step not to skip is whisking the matcha in a little warm water first, as for our matcha white hot chocolate. Tipped straight into cold milk, it stays in the pudding as green lumps.
Each serving has 2 g of matcha, so about 60–70 mg of caffeine, the same as a bowl of usucha. Worth remembering if the pudding is going to be an evening dessert. This one is for adults, not children.
Ingredients
240 ml cold milk (whole cow’s milk or a plant drink, such as oat)
60 ml water at 80 °C
45 g chia seeds (about 4 tablespoons)
4 g culinary matcha (2 level teaspoons)
10 ml maple syrup or honey (optional)
150 g fresh fruit to serve, such as raspberries and mango
Preparation
1
Sift the matcha through a fine sieve into a wide bowl. For a cold dessert this step is a must: cold milk will not break up any lumps that get through now.
2
Pour over 60 ml of water at 80 °C and whisk with a chasen in a “W” until every lump is gone — 15–20 seconds. If you are sweetening it, stir in the maple syrup or honey now.
3
Pour in the cold milk in a thin stream, whisking all the time, until the colour is even.
4
Add the chia and stir for half a minute. Leave for 10 minutes and stir again, so that seeds that have sunk do not stick together in lumps at the bottom.
5
Divide between two glasses or jars, cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight.
6
Stir before serving. If the pudding has turned out too thick, add a splash of milk and stir.
7
Add the fruit just before eating. Overnight it releases juice and turns the green grey.
8
In a sealed jar, the pudding keeps in the fridge for two days.
