Christmas brings the smell of cinnamon, cloves and matcha
Japan’s closest answer to mulled wine is probably o-toso, a sake infused with spices, herbs and dried fruit, and sometimes lightly honeyed. The beverage is traditionally drunk as a toast to health and longevity during New Year celebrations.Recipes for o-toso vary, but they usually comprise a medicinal blend of herbs that ties in with the drink’s salubrious connotation. Some commonly used spices include sanshō Sichuan pepper to improve circulation, benihana safflower to fight inflammation and fennel to aid digestion.The recipe below uses the flavors of o-toso to spice a matcha tea cake. Its blend of medicinal spices also recreates some of the notes you would find in a traditional Christmas cake: cloves to improve liver function, dried ginger to soothe tired muscles, cinnamon for heart health and dried mikan mandarin peel powder to lower cholesterol.
