This revamped instant matcha curry improves on taste, cuts back on the bitterness.

When we gave it a taste a few months ago, the instant matcha curry from Kyoto deceived us with its pungent curry scent, as it packed a surprisingly powerful punch of matcha green tea powder. It seems that the marketers of the curry – Kyoto-based tea sellers Itohkyuemon – have taken heed to the opinions of those who’ve tasted it and felt overwhelmed by the powerful bitterness of matcha, and are revamping the recipe to make it more pleasing to the palate.

Since the instant curry went on the market three years ago, it has sold over 33,000 pouches of the rich green stuff. However, with a number of tasters remarking on the strong bitterness of the matcha green tea powder, Itohkyuemon has worked to make “a more palatable curry, while keeping the color, taste, and essence of matcha.” The selling point of the new instant green tea curry is that it has a subdued bitterness from the matcha powder, with increased chicken extract for a more flavorful richness and white pepper for a stronger hint of spiciness.

▼ From our previous taste-test

Image © SoraNews24

The curry still comes in the easy-to-prepare vacuum-sealed pouch, which simply needs to be boiled for a few minutes to heat it up and then it’s ready to serve over some white rice. Additional ingredients are much the same as before too, but this time more bite-sized, including chunks of carrots, potatoes, chicken, and sauteed onions, all of which are standard fare in Japanese-style curry. The matcha used includes two different powders made from the first harvests of tea leaves, to bring a subdued bitterness to the umami of the curry roux.

You can pick up a pouch of the new curry now from Itohkyuemon stores in Kyoto, for 540 yen (US$4.73) per single-serving pouch. To round out your Kyoto matcha adventures, you may also want to check out the all-you-can-eat matcha buffet happening in Kyoto too this month.

Shop information
Itokyuemon (Kyoto Station branch) / 伊藤久右衛門（京都駅前店）
Address: Kyoto-fu, Kyoto-shi, Shimogyo-ku, Higashi Shiokojicho 579, 1st floor
京都府京都市下京区東塩小路町579番地1F
Closed January 1
Open 10 a.m.-6:30 p.m.
Website

Source, featured image: @Press