Matcha White Hot Chocolate

There are some flavors that just seem destined to be paired together.  Salt and pepper.  Ginger and scallion.  Chocolate and peanut butter.  To that exalted list of flavor pairings, I 'd like to nominate matcha green tea and white chocolate.

I was craving something warm, sweet, and comforting, and for some reason my mind came up with matcha and hot chocolate.  But not regular hot chocolate, a white hot chocolate.  A quick google showed me I wasn't the first one with this idea.  I followed Love & Lemons' recipe which was super simple:  melt some white chocolate chips in some milk, whisk some matcha green tea powder in some hot water, combine the two, and voila!  Matcha white hot chocolate!

I love how the two flavors interact with each other.  By itself, matcha can be bitter and unpleasant while white chocolate can be too sickly sweet.  But paired up, they temper each other's extremes to give you a creamy, herbaceous concoction.  For the milk, I used vanilla soy milk, which adds just a hint of sweetness.  If you're looking for a thick, decadent hot chocolate, this is not the right recipe.  But if you're looking for a perfectly balanced, subtly flavored hot chocolate that you can drink without feeling too guilty, it doesn't get any better than this.

Matcha White Hot Chocolate (adapted from Love & Lemons)
makes 1 cup

3 tablespoons white chocolate chips
3/4 cups vanilla soy milk
1 teaspoon matcha green tea powder
1/2 cup hot water

Melt the white chocolate chips in 1/4 cup of the soy milk by microwaving on high for 30 seconds.  Stir until combined.  Heat the rest of the soy milk and mix together.

Whisk the match into the hot water.  Combine with the soy milk mixture and serve.

Next:  Heart-Shaped Tamgaoyaki
Previously:  Burmese Coconut Noodles with Tofu
Two Years Ago:  Passion Fruit Marshmallows
Five Years Ago:  Nutella Ice Cream
Six Years Ago:  Tomato and Eggs over Rice