Taiwan's 'Chef Train' and Asaban Tea present Japanese tea and dessert pairing

台灣「鳴日廚房餐車（Chef Train）」與大稻埕茶館（ASABAN）推出日式茶點搭配

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Prepare for a unique culinary journey as Pingtung-based pastry chef Dai "Chef Train" Jyun-hong (戴峻弘) teams up with Asaban Tea founder Chuang Tzu-teh (莊子德) for an exclusive pop-up.

The collaboration explores the intricate process of Japanese tea production, from initial steaming to final refinement, pairing five teas with five desserts, each echoing a specific stage of tea craftsmanship.

Dai, a storyteller through his desserts, draws inspiration from his farming background. For this event, he boldly incorporates ingredients such as burdock root, yam, and green bamboo shoots.

Asaban Tea, located in a mysterious, old Dadaocheng building, offers a reservation-only omakase tea experience. Chuang, inspired by his time in Kyoto, launched the brand in 2021 to promote Taiwanese tea, often blending it with cocktails. His signature soy sauce dango is a popular favorite.

The culinary journey begins with gyokuro, a premium Japanese green tea known for its sweet and umami notes. The complementary dessert is a refreshing sorbet of salt-fermented cucumber and fresh chayote juice, balanced with yogurt and guava, offering a crisp, invigorating start.

Next, organic sencha represents the "leaf shaking" stage of tea processing, with its complex seaweed and herbal aromas. Dai’s dessert features fresh yam puree, fermented yam foam, and Japanese Shinano gold apple, garnished with savory bonito flake brittle, creating a light, multi-layered texture.

The kneading process, crucial for flavor development, is embodied by Uji kabusecha, a tea with robust flavor and rich umami. The accompanying dessert ingeniously uses green bamboo shoots: the outer shell becomes a jelly, the inner shoot a sweet sorbet.

Sliced bamboo shoots are artfully arranged, paired with maple chantilly cream and candied makauy-infused pineapple, delivering a harmonious blend of sweet, savory, and bitter notes.

The fourth course surprises with an astonishing burdock root ice cream, paired with Okayama bancha. This tea, representing the drying stage, carries toasted and malty aromas. It perfectly complements the earthy burdock ice cream and an almond crumble base, evoking warm, woody undertones.

The experience culminates with sakeguro lemongrass hojicha and a passion fruit financier, symbolizing the final refinement of tea. Kagoshima tea leaves, roasted on-site and infused with Sichuan peppercorn and lemongrass, create a fragrant contrast with the sweet-tart financier, tangy passion fruit, and a savory white miso caramel sauce, providing a memorable conclusion.