I first had Genmaicha at a Japanese restaurant and from the first sip I was hooked.

The flavour of the toasted brown rice and green tea was just so appealing to my palate and I just wanted to keep on sipping an endless supply… I just had to know what it was and where I could get it. I did find some at a little tea house and have had it a few times since, but I ran out and couldn’t find any near me and after having a cup at my friend Gen’s house the other day, I was determined to get my hands on some.

Turns out, all you need is brown rice and green tea. Very easy to get both of those; and like many things, when you do it yourself, you can have a lot more for a lot less.

So here is what you need…

Making Genmaicha

This is organic green tea (Sencha) and Organic short grain brown rice

I heated my cast-iron pan on medium high heat and put a layer of rice on the bottom which worked out to about an equal amount of green tea that I had.

toasting the brown rice

Stir the rice and toast it until is smells nutty, kernels are popping and the rice is a nice golden brown colour. Just make sure that it doesn’t burn.

toasted brown rice and popped rice

Let cool and then mix with the green tea.

homemade G

Use about 1 tsp per cup of hot water and Enjoy…

Simple pleasures