Vague dreams.

Today, I'm going to blog about one of my favourites in life. MATCHA.

Lately, I've discovered a new way to incorporate Matcha Powder into my meals, thanks to Chloe!:p Hehe. Her healthy way of eating has certainly motivated me into eating more healthily from now onwards.. Well, this is a very simple meal for breakfast/brunch actually, so if you're a Matcha lover like I do, & would love to start eating healthily from now onwards, please don't hesitate to try the recipe as below!

Firstly, this will be the Matcha Porridge, or better known as Matcha Oatmeal. I've tried making it this morning for the first time & from there, I've come up with a revised version for the Matcha Oatmeal recipe from this website based on my first try today.. Just so you know, the recipe that I've found from this website is rather simple. It doesn't require any source of milk or whatever, so I hope it's useful for those of you who wants to try this as well! 

So, the ingredients are as follow (the serving for this is sufficient for 1!) :

• 3/4 cup organic rolled oats- If you want to fill full for a longer time, you can always extend the portion to 1 cup of rolled oats
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice or apple cider vinegar- In this case, I've used the Organic Zi Enzymes that contains a mixture of vegetables & lemon + cider in it
• 1 cup water, and additional water for soaking
• 1 teaspoons organic matcha powder- If you prefer a darker green-coloured & richer matcha taste for your oatmeal later, you can always increase it to 2 tsp. However, do take note that the more powder you add, the more bitter your oatmeal tastes. So I would highly recommend you to add 1tsp first
• 1-2 teaspoons organic brown sugar- Add this only if you prefer to have your matcha oatmeal with a rather sweet & less bitter taste
• Pinch of sea salt
• Sliced fruit (Strawberries, bananas, blueberries etc.) or  any choice of NUTS (like almond, walnut..)

p/s: If you've noticed, I stated "organic" for the rolled oats, matcha powder & some other ingredients as I've personally chosen to use the organic ones instead :) You can always use the normal ones instead of organic stuffs if you prefer!

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Directions

1. Soak the rolled oats in water overnight. Preferably in a glass jar. (You can always purchase a glass jar for only RM5 at any Daiso stores!) Add the 1 tbs of lemon juice/apple cider vinegar etc. to the water to improve the phytic acid neutralising effects of your matcha oatmeal.
2. In the morning, pour off the soaking water & rinse the oats. Draining & rinsing will get rid of the phytic acid that has leached into the soaking water.
3. Prepare matcha paste by mixing the preferable amount matcha powder as stated as above with a little bit of water just enough to dilute the powder. Set aside.
4. Add 1 cup of water to a pot and bring it to a boil over medium-high heat, then turn down the heat and mix in the matcha paste all at once. Stir the matcha paste evenly over the heat.
5. Pour in the rolled oats immediately & add the pinch of salt to it. 
6. Continue to simmer, stirring frequently, & take a bit of your matcha oatmeal to taste the bitterness of it & add the amount of brown sugar according to your personal preference. In my case, I've added 2 tsp of brown sugar as I do prefer my oatmeal to have more of a sweet than bitter taste.
7. Stirring lasts until your matcha oatmeal thickens. Remove it from the heat.
8. Finally, you can serve it with your favourite choice of fruit! :)

p/s: Please remember that in order to prepare this matcha oatmeal, it requires to you to soak the rolled oats the night before! Soaking is important as it increases the digestibility of oats. What's more is that by soaking oatmeal, it allows enzymes to neutralise phytic acid. 

**The following is a short passage regarding "Phytic Acid" that I've extracted from the website. Please read it if you're interested to know why is it that important to soak your rolled oats in advance :) 

"Phytic acid, which is present in large amounts in unsoaked oats, is known to inhibit the proper absorption of certain health promoting minerals, including zinc and iron. To maximize the phytic acid neutralizing effects of matcha oatmeal, this recipe will instruct you to add a little bit lemon juice or another acidic medium to the water used for soaking oatmeal."

In short, the health benefits that matcha offers is tremendous! If you're curious to find out what health effects would matcha bring, please read the following link: http://www.healwithfood.org/health-effects/matcha-powder.php 

You wouldn't believe if until you read it! ;) 

I hope this revised version of the recipe helps! Do give it a try if you want! haha.

Till then.

XXKRYSTALH