Green Tea Powder (Matcha): Carbs?

[retroworx]

Anyone know the carb count of green tea powder? I know they must vary with manufacturer, but a ballpark would be helpful.

Thanks!

[retroworx]

bump

[Charski]

I TRIED to help you cuz I have a can of matcha but it's all in Kanji! LOL!! No can read, so sorry, Girlfriend.....

[scott123]

If I figure it out, would you send me some?

Seriously, though, although they're very different, a good jumping off point is instant tea powdered (unsweetened). The USDA database lists tea powder as having .4 g carbs per every .7 g teaspoon.

Now, one thing to consider is that instant tea is a dried extraction whereas matcha is ground leaves, so the matcha will have considerably more fiber, and, turn, less carbs. If I had to guess, I'm think, at most it has half the carbs of instant tea powder.

I have never worked with matcha, but I have seen it on TV and it looks like green flour, making it denser than tea powder- probably about twice as dense.

So half the carbs, twice as dense... .4 carbs per teaspoon.

What are you using it for? I just about worship green tea ice cream

[Charski]

Oh yum, green tea ice cream! We used to go to this darling little Japanese place where the owner, Yoko-san, took a liking to us. One time she brought us the green tea ice cream for dessert (this was back in the day when we ate that stuff) AND a glass of ice-cold plum wine - she showed us to pour the plum wine over the ice cream - MAN what a flavor combo! I don't think there's ANY chance of making that low-carb though!

Sadly she retired and sold the place and it went downhill very quickly, and then closed up. WAH!

Another yummy is green tea ice cream served with tempura-fried bananas.... [swoon]

[retroworx]

Originally Posted by Charski

I TRIED to help you cuz I have a can of matcha but it's all in Kanji! LOL!! No can read, so sorry, Girlfriend.....

Wow, but you went far and above the call of duty -- TRYING to read it at least.

[retroworx]

Originally Posted by scott123

If I figure it out, would you send me some?

Seriously, though, although they're very different, a good jumping off point is instant tea powdered (unsweetened). The USDA database lists tea powder as having .4 g carbs per every .7 g teaspoon.

Now, one thing to consider is that instant tea is a dried extraction whereas matcha is ground leaves, so the matcha will have considerably more fiber, and, turn, less carbs. If I had to guess, I'm think, at most it has half the carbs of instant tea powder.

I have never worked with matcha, but I have seen it on TV and it looks like green flour, making it denser than tea powder- probably about twice as dense.

So half the carbs, twice as dense... .4 carbs per teaspoon.

What are you using it for? I just about worship green tea ice cream

Hiya Scott:

Thanks for this -- relieves my anxiety about using it somewhat. Looks like I'm not doing too much damage.

I would send you some, but I've already had to sell off my house to buy this stuff! It's crazy expensive, even tho I bought a low grade of it that is called "ingredient" grade -- good for smoothies, cooking, etc, but not recommended as the best for actual tea use. Got it online from Matcha Source.

What am I using it for? Well, currently I've been adding it to a very low carb/low cal chocolate cake that I microwave every morning and snack from during the day. The cake has no eggs, no butter/oil/fats, tons of fiber and consequently: no taste. I've always thought that matcha had a chocolate essence somehow -- can't quite explain it but I've noticed it in green tea ice cream, for instance. So I've been throwing some into my cake, along with some espresso powder, and I'm managing to inject a modicum of flavor.

I've also made green tea pudding by adding some powder to whatever my low carb/calorie pudding base of the moment happens to be.

BTW, tho green tea powder may look like a flour consistency out of the can, purists will sieve it before using (special implements for this, of course ) and the final result is much more fine, less dense than flour, imo.

A link to some matcha recipes:

Matcha Tea Recipes

Special sieve solution:

[ouizoid]

as a low calorie/carb person, I would be interested in your cake recipe Retro

[retroworx]

Originally Posted by ouizoid

as a low calorie/carb person, I would be interested in your cake recipe Retro

I knew that despite my terrible description of it someone would ask.

Unless you have the following ingredients on hand, my recipe won't do you much good:

oat fiber
Z Trim
Walden Farms marshmallow dip
cellulose powder
egg white powder

I know! (I haven't claimed the title "Princess of Frankenfoods" for nothing. [I've conceded the Queen title to another LCF])

The crucial thing I've learned from my low cal experiments tho, that might help you out, is that Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa Powder has less cals than almost any low carb flour substitute (it lists at 5 calories per tbsp, if you trust the labeling) and rises pretty darned well, so it can be used as the primary "flour" in a recipe. With a little additional protein powder or egg white powder for "substance", you're off and running.

HTH,

[scott123]

Char, I like tempura bananas, but I'm more of a fried plaintain (maduros) kind of guy I have a recipe for bananas baked in rum that isn't bad either.

Originally Posted by retroworx

I would send you some, but I've already had to sell off my house to buy this stuff!

What, you don't have a second house to sell so I can have some?

Yes, that's why, even though I've been eating green tea ice cream for decades, I never bit the bullet and bought matcha. Too rich for my blood.

[retroworx]

Originally Posted by scott123

Char, I like tempura bananas, but I'm more of a fried plaintain (maduros) kind of guy I have a recipe for bananas baked in rum that isn't bad either.



What, you don't have a second house to sell so I can have some?

Yes, that's why, even though I've been eating green tea ice cream for decades, I never bit the bullet and bought matcha. Too rich for my blood.

Yeah, I really need to sit and do the math on this as the additional ingredient. I'm using about a TBSP per day in the cake and with the other specialty ingredients, this may have become the most expensive FLAVORLESS cake ever.

[ouizoid]

Retro: I guess I am the Duchess of Frankenfoods, cause I have all those ingredients! I actually follow your posts closely because of your interest in lowcal as well as lowcarb--so if you don't feel like posting your flavourless cake (try the WF Caramel mixed with some PB2 instead of marshmallow--the PB2 or other defatted peanut flour makes a nice addition to the Hershey's), feel free to PM me

Ouis

[metqa]

1 CARB PER TEASPOON

eta.
らくらまっちゃ
Rakuraku Matcha powder Ingredients: Green Tea, sugar
Serv Size 1 tsp (2g) Total Carb 1g, Sugars 1g, Fiber 0g

[Charski]

Originally Posted by metqa

1 CARB PER TEASPOON

eta.
らくらまっちゃ
Rakuraku Matcha powder Ingredients: Green Tea, sugar
Serv Size 1 tsp (2g) Total Carb 1g, Sugars 1g, Fiber 0g

Hmmm, the brand I have contains only "ground green tea" (3 of the very few words in English on the whole can! ) - no sugar.

So if THAT is the case - I'd think 1 tsp. of plain matcha powder would be 0 carbs? Cuz in the one with sugar, that 1 gram of sugar would account for the 1 gram of carbs listed!

[metqa]

Exactly. Look for the characters that look like this:

炭水化物

Tansuikabutsu
Carbohydrate

The first character looks like a kings face wearing a crown and long hair. 炭
The second character is water: 水　

Sugar looks like this:

砂糖
or さとう if it's written out in Japanese.

[scott123]

Originally Posted by Charski

So if THAT is the case - I'd think 1 tsp. of plain matcha powder would be 0 carbs? Cuz in the one with sugar, that 1 gram of sugar would account for the 1 gram of carbs listed!

That would be true if nutritional labels didn't round up or down. This could contain anywhere from .6 to 1.3 sugar carbs and .1 to .8 non sugar carbs and the label would still look the same.

Regardless of the rounding involved, there's definitely trace carbs in tea.

[Charski]

Yeah, Scott, I agree about the rounding - but in the absence of the sugar component (which my matcha doesn't contain) then the matcha powder by itself, in the amount that Retro is using, probably doesn't amount to more than 1.5 grams of carbs (because "0" is supposed to mean under .5 grams) and that doesn't take the fiber (if any) into account.

Metqa - Sorry but those all just look like little rectangles with numbers and letters in them to me! That's the way they're being interpreted at this end anyway....

[Charski]

OK, I'm sleuthing a bit - the name of the company that makes my Matcha is Shirakata-Denshiro shoten - the tea is imported from Japan. Because you consume the powder, 10 grams of it has 3.9 grams of fiber (as opposed to 0 in, say, green tea, because you're not actually drinking or eating the leaves) - and also 3.1 grams of protein. And you get all the polyphenols too because you ARE ingesting the tea itself, not just the liquid brewed from it.

Metqa, if you go to shirataka and add .co and .jp to it - it takes you to the Japanese website - so maybe YOU can figure it out! Again my reading of Japanese alphabet plainly sucks! LOL!

[metqa]

Originally Posted by Charski

Metqa - Sorry but those all just look like little rectangles with numbers and letters in them to me! That's the way they're being interpreted at this end anyway....

OOOPS! Sorry! I forget. here's a Jpeg. See how the first one looks like a kings head! with a three pointed crown, and his two eyes and his mustache, and long hair on the left side . . .
King Carbohydrate

[Charski]

YEAH! I can definitely see that fits the description!

[retroworx]

Originally Posted by ouizoid

Retro: I guess I am the Duchess of Frankenfoods, cause I have all those ingredients! I actually follow your posts closely because of your interest in lowcal as well as lowcarb--so if you don't feel like posting your flavourless cake (try the WF Caramel mixed with some PB2 instead of marshmallow--the PB2 or other defatted peanut flour makes a nice addition to the Hershey's), feel free to PM me

Ouis

Ding! Ding! Ding!

We have a winnah!

How can I resist when you are probably the only other person on the planet I can share the recipe with??

So here, forthwith, is my recipe for Tons o' Flavorless Cake. (Yes, I think that's what I'll call it.) Offered here with the following caveats:

1. This cake is relatively flavorless. (Duh!)

2. This cake has a TON of fiber, so the uninitiated should be very wary.

3. On the other hand, this cake can be nuked in 6 minutes (700 watt oven) and the entire recipe (6 mini loaves as I make it) comes in at approximately 122 calories, 3 fat, 9 carb and 23 protein. That's only 21 calories and 1.5 carbs per mini loaf! And despite all the weird ingredients and fiber, it actually manages to rise to double the batter height. (That was quite the challenge!)

_____________________________

[COLOR="Red"]Tons O' Flavorless Cake[/COLOR]

Dry Ingredients:

1 tbsp protein powder (I use Any Whey as I have found it rises the best, but probably any would do as it is used in such small proportion)

3 tbsp egg white powder

4 tbsp oat fiber

4 tbsp granular Erythritol

4 tbsp Hershey Special Dark Cocoa (other cocoa will be fine, but is usually 4x the calories)

1 tbsp Black cocoa (can just up the regular cocoa if unavailable)

1 tbsp espresso powder

1.5 tsp baking powder (non-aluminum kind)

.25 tsp baking soda

.75 tsp Splenda Quickpack

2 packets Sweet One (Ace K)

.5 tsp cellulose powder (adds structure and helps the rise, I believe)

1/8 tsp salt


Wet Ingredients:

2 tbsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp Z Trim gel

1 tbsp Walden Farms Marshmallow Dip (this is not actually for flavor, but adds lift, rise, and some emulsion --probably from the gum blend. This is how I get away without egg yolk, I believe.)

11 tbsp cold water


Directions:

1. Mix the dry ingredients thoroughly. (I actually have begun to pulse the dry ingredients in my Magic Bullet as the egg white powder was sometimes turning into dry pellets when cooking -- probably from not allowing them enough time to soak up moisture completely before cooking. Smaller granules seems to help.)

2. In a separate bowl, large enough for all the cake batter, mix the wet ingredients thoroughly.

3. Add dry ingredients to wet. Blend/beat well.

4. Evenly distribute batter into greased silicone baking wells.

5. Nuke for approximately 6 minutes. Better to remove from oven even if the tops still seem a touch wet -- they will harden and solidify a bit more when cool. (Your cooking time will vary, of course, with oven wattage and choice of baking pan. I don't suggest trying this as one large cake -- you won't get a terrific rise, but cupcake pan or mini-muffins would do just fine.)

More flavor (what little there is!) will develop if you fridge these overnight.


Some notes:

I microwave these instead of baking because of the volume of oat fiber in the recipe -- I've found that this much oat fiber never seems to really dry with traditional oven cooking -- the result was kind of gummy.

I'm sure that the addition of real egg or butter or chocolate would make these quite palatable, btw, and still fall nicely within most people's plans. They are an "extra" for me however, and I just have wanted to keep the stats as low as possible.

I change this up all the time, different tweaks here and there. Tomorrow I think I will swap out the espresso and black cocoa and throw in just a smidgen of instant chocolate pudding mix, a tsp or 2, for flavor. That might wind up adding about 1 extra carb, but I feel like throwing caution to the wind.

If you do try this, Ouis, please report back and tell me how it worked for you.

ETA: Hey don't forget that with a cake this low in stats, you can afford to slather some yummy cream cheese frosting on top -- that'll add some flavor! LOL!

Here is a pic of my 6 mini loaf silicone pan, btw:

[retroworx]

Metqa and Charski and Scott:

You guys are the best anonymous kitchen friends a girl could have!

[Charski]

LOL! Yeah, we're a bunch, huh?

Well I only lack 3 ingredients - Z-trim, cellulose, and the Walden Farms marshmallow yuck - I mean cream - but I guess I can therefore be a Frankenfoods Junior Achiever, huh? Actually I HAVE lots more Frankenfoods than I will ever use!

And uh - I don't SEE the matcha powder in there??? Huh?

[retroworx]

Originally Posted by Charski

I guess I can therefore be a Frankenfoods Junior Achiever, huh?

Hmmm, we'll have to see where to place you in the Frankenfoods Royal Court. We seem to already have the Queen, Princess and Duchess accounted for.

Yeah, to stay on thread topic, there should be 1 tbsp of matcha powder in there, but it's not necessary. Didn't want to break the sound barrier on specialty ingredients.

Definitely the marshmallow cream is HORRENDOUS on its own (except as a PB fluff with peanut butter or PB flour [see Linda Sue]) but it has some sort of mysterious properties that help my weird stuff rise.

I suspect the cellulose is functioning as xanthan does in gluten-free baking, providing structure which helps the rise. Xanthan in some amount could probably be used instead, but I've found the cellulose to be less slimy.

Off to give the pudding mix a try for my flavor-challenged cake. Gotta keep the carbs/cals in line, tho, so somethin' else has got to go. (Can you tell I love a challenge?)

[metqa]

I've got jars of walden farms stuff bought on sale and I'm afraid to use them. I've got the chocolate syrup, don't know if I have the marshmallow. the shrimp sauce is ridiculous, and something else I tossed after several uses. Oh yeah, the neon pink barbeque sauce I mean I really tried, but pink chicken is NOT appetizing.

Y'all are making me want Mattcha Ice-cream!

[retroworx]

Originally Posted by metqa

I've got jars of walden farms stuff bought on sale and I'm afraid to use them. I've got the chocolate syrup, don't know if I have the marshmallow. the shrimp sauce is ridiculous, and something else I tossed after several uses. Oh yeah, the neon pink barbeque sauce I mean I really tried, but pink chicken is NOT appetizing.

Y'all are making me want Mattcha Ice-cream!

Metqa:

Before you throw the worst of the Waldens stuff out, consider using it in a combo to reduce cals and carbs. For instance, I've used a generous portion of the Waldens marinara in combo with another sauce to significantly reduce the overall stats without sacrificing too much flavor. Same with the barbeque sauce. Just a thought. . . .

[retroworx]

Originally Posted by retroworx

Off to give the pudding mix a try for my flavor-challenged cake. Gotta keep the carbs/cals in line, tho, so somethin' else has got to go. (Can you tell I love a challenge?)

FYI (I know you all have been waiting breathlessly ): the addition of 2 tsp instant chocolate pudding mix in the Tons o' Flavorless Chocolate Cake recipe above is in terms of flavor/texture/mouthfeel. Now just gotta knock some more carbs off somewhere else -- possibly with the sweeteners as the pudding has some of its own. . . .

[ouizoid]

Retro!!!!! Thank you!!! I went and bought the pan today, so tomorrow is flavourless cake day!

As to WF mixtures--I buy cases of the caramel and marshmallow dip for the mixing properties. The caramel mixed with Fage nf yogurt is really good--add in a few TBS of PB2 and it is truly heaven--sometimes I even add chia gell --my fave concoction is 2 Tbs nf cream cheese, 2 TBS nf sour cream, 2 TBS WF caramel sauce and 2 Tbs PB2--lowfat/local/lowcarb and delish

The marshmallow sauce is infinitely improved by the addition of 3+ tbs of cinnamon--it actually becomes quite palatable and is a nice addition to the above mentioned nf cc/nf sc cocktail-

I would love to stay in touch about other lowcal lowcarb concoctions-

Dutchess Ouis of the FrankenLands

[ouizoid]

HMmmmmm. I wonder if I mixed some of the WF caramel and FF creamcheese if it would make a good frosting for these--

[metqa]

Originally Posted by retroworx

Metqa:

Before you throw the worst of the Waldens stuff out, consider using it in a combo to reduce cals and carbs. For instance, I've used a generous portion of the Waldens marinara in combo with another sauce to significantly reduce the overall stats without sacrificing too much flavor. Same with the barbeque sauce. Just a thought. . . .

Yeah, I hate to throw stuff away, I found that if I add my own horseradish and LC ketchup to the coctail sauce, it tastes loads better. When I run out I'm just gonna use those two ingredients anyway.

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll see what I can do with them.