Sowing The Moon Teahouse

Summer Chabana

Download chabana_summer.doc

Yokan with Domyoji

 DOMYOJI  - Part I

                 

Domyojiko	1 oz / 30 g	2 oz / 55 g
Water	¼ cup / 60 ml	½ cup / 120 ml
White sugar	.5 oz / 15 g	1 oz / 30 g

 

Combine domyojiko, water, and sugar.

Cook over low heat, stirring slowly.

Cover and let sit for ½ hour.

YOKAN

                             

Water (cold)	1 cup / 240ml	2 cups / 475 ml
Kanten powder	2 packets	4 packets
Kuzu	1 ½ T	3 T
White sugar[1]	1 cup / 185 g	2 cups / 370 g
White an or koshian	10.5 oz / 300 g	21 oz / 600 g

 

Dissolve kanten and kuzu in water and cook until clear.

Add sugar and an and continue to cook - stirring constantly –

until extremely thick.

Add food coloring – if desired – during this time.

.

DOMYOJI - Part II

     

Water   kanten

50 ml   ½ packet (about ¾ t)

100 ml   1 packet

 

Dissolve kanten in water and cook until syrupy.

Add it to the re-constituted domyoji.

Add ½ cup of the yokan mixture.

 

Pour the yokan into mold.

Before it sets up, pour domyoji/yokan mixture on top.

 

Allow to cool thoroughly and de-mold.

 

 

---

[1] With koshian, try part – or all – brown sugar

Peach Mizu Yokan

Peach Mizu Yokan

 Mizu yokan is usually made with an. If you don’t have an, but want a sweet that is creamier than kanten, try using soymilk.

               

Soymilk	2   cups
Kanten   – powdered	1 packet (4 oz)
White   sugar	½   cup
Fresh   peaches    Pureed    Diced	1   cup   ¼   cup

 Add kanten to soymilk. Cook and stir until quite thick. The sugar may be added after the kanten dissolves. Remove from heat, add the peaches, and pour into a long mold (or small ones).

Food color may be used if the peaches don’t give a good color. If pure soymilk, with no sweeteners is used, additional sugar may be needed.

 

Peach Mizu Yokan with white an

 

                   

Water	¾ cup
Kanten   – powdered	1 packet (4 oz)
White   sugar	½   cup
White   an	150   g
Fresh   peaches     Pureed    Diced	(150   g)   ½ cup   ¼   cup

Kanten with Soy Milk

Download kanten_with_soy_milk.doc

The Way of Tea at Green Gulch

Sowing the Moon Teahouse is a authentically constructed Japanese teahouse, located at Green Gulch Farm Zen Center in Marin County, California. The grounds include a traditional roji (tea garden).

Classes in the Way of Tea, in the Urasenke tradition are offered, by Meiya Wender and Scott McDougall. 

We also offer Sunday afternoon (monthly) tea gatherings which are open to the public as well private tea gatherings. To register for a scheduled tea gathering, please call the Green Gulch office: 415-383-3134.

You are also invited to contact us to arrange a tea gathering for your friends, family, school or professional group, or work colleagues. Teas can be held in celebration or commemoration, for those interested in experiencing Japanese culture, or simply as an intimate way to meet.

For more information about classes or tea gatherings please e-mail us at: GreenGulchTea@sfzc.org or call Jeremy Levie at 415-354-0428.

Information about Green Gulch Zen Center is available online at:  www.sfzc.org

Please post your thoughts on tea as COMMENTS on this blog. All those interested in Tea are also invited to send me articles and information of interest to the Tea Community, to be posted on the blog. Sign up by putting your e-mail address in the little box. Keep in touch.

Thank you for your support.

Meiya Wender,

Blog editor

Private Tea Gatherings

You are invited to contact us to arrange a tea gathering for your friends, family, school or professional group. Teas can be held in celebration or commemoration, for those interested in experiencing Japanese culture, or simply as an intimate way to meet.

Upcoming Tea Gatherings

Sunday Afternoon Tea Gatherings

August 26, September 16, October 14

November 11 - The Opening of the Winter Hearth (Robiraki)

1:30 - 3:00 pm

Join us in the quiet, timeless setting of the tea house for conversation, a traditional Japanese sweet, and a bowl of whisked green tea. Your role as guest is simply to be willing to be fully present and open to the possibilities of this particular gathering, this particular time and space.
No prior experience is necessary; a brief instruction will be given.
Please register in advance through the Green Gulch Office:  415-381-3134
$25

Scrolls

Scrolls in The Sowing the Moon Teahouse Collection

Download list_of_scrolls.DOC
Download ho_zo_onozukara_hiraku.doc

Download tori_naite.doc

Download rakka_ryusui_ni_shitagau.doc

Download na_mu_dai_bo_sa.doc

Sumi-e Paintings

Tea guests and students are now enjoying sumi-e paintings on the fusuma of the teahouse. After several years of discussion and waiting for the right moment to present itself, Nanga painter Michael Hofmann painted the fusuma in July of this year. The paintings encapsulate our Tea and Zen heritage -  Green Gulch / Bay Area landscapes - hillsides,coast and foggy mountains - done by a Californian who trained in Japan in a tradition that came from China.

Michael was raised in the Bay Area and has lived in Japan for most of the last 34 years, studying painting with a Nanga painter and Buddhist priest, the late Jikihara Gyokusei. Nanga, (Southern School of Chinese Painting),  is also known as "bunjin-ga" - "literati painting" - and is closely identified with the Obaku Sectof Zen.

Michael's work can be seen at: http://www.fsinet.or.jp/~ttstudio/hof-e.html

Making a Chashaku

Tools and supplies

Attractive bamboo, at least 3-4 cm. diameter

Froe or chisel and mallet

Saw

Carving knife

Sandpaper

Masking tape

Deep pot

stove or hot plate

Candle

Making ‘blanks’

Choose pieces of bamboo and saw into lengths of about 35 cm. Wrap masking tape around the pole before sawing, to prevent splintering. 
From node to tip: about 20 cm. (If necessary, it could be as short as 14 cm.)
From node to end: 13 cm.

Split the lengths with a froe or chisel, choosing which parts you want to use for chashaku. Depending on bamboo diameter, you may get 2 or 4 or even more possible pieces from one length. Trim the ‘blanks’ to about 2-3 cm. wide.

Mark area to bend.

Using a belt sander, sand paper, or knife, remove back of node and flatten the blank in the area where it will bend.

Soak in water for a day, then heat the water and simmer.

Remove bamboo from water and immediately heat over candle flame, continually moving it and being careful not to scorch it. When it softens, bend gently.

 Plunge bamboo into ice water and tie with cord to maintain the bend, or prop between weights until completely dry.

Trim both ends with a saw

 

Tools for chashaku making are available at these 2 stores & online.

 Hida Tool (in Berkeley, CA)
http://www.hidatool.com/index.html
Kiridashi knife (& others)

Japan Woodworker  (in Alameda, CA)
http://www.japanwoodworker.com/page.asp?content_id=2896
“knives for woodworkers”
3/4" Blue Steel Woodworking Knife (Kogatana) (& others)They also have froes for splitting bamboo.