A Cup of Tea 6: Zenzai

I had matcha tea over at my friend’s house over in Kotoni the other day. During my visit she served this beautiful zenzai.

Zenzai is simply adzuki beans simmered in a sugar syrup and served with white rice dumplings. The winter version–which is served heated–is the most well known, but today of course I was served the summer version: chilled and in a delicate porcelain bell flower cup.

Another way to serve summer zenzai is to spoon it over a scoop of ice cream. This also sounds like a delightful treat, but as I cannot eat ice cream, my friend was so kind as to refrain from serving it in that way.

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