Ashitaba Ice-Cream

Japan Adventures (Pt. 1):

明日葉アイスクリム

Ashitaba (pronounced ah-shh-tah-bah) can be translated, literally, as "tomorrow's leaf." It is a type of herb usually consumed as a tea and is well known for its' plethora of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. 

About two years ago in the Summer of 2014, I had traveled to mainland Japan and later went down to the more rural parts within the country. For about a week or so, my taiko group, family, and I stayed on this very small island named Hachijo. After venturing around this very tiny island, our tour guide led us to a small, yet regularly frequented ice-cream shoppe where only two flavors were being sold... Vanilla and (to my surprise) ASHITABA!!! Rather than green tea (which is arguably the most popular flavour in Japan), they sold such an unheard of flavor.

As we moved on to other parts of the island (and consulting Google of course), I found out that the residents of Hachijojima have had Ashitaba as apart of their diets for hundreds and hundreds of years. Most of these residents and those who came before them believed Ashitaba to be a "longevity herb," and I soon found out that it is also know as a most popular ice-cream flavor as well!

This photo was taken at a different location than the first. I am holding my ice cream in front of a Milk Vending Machine (*-*). This was at a well-known cow farm on the island and they had their own cute little milk carton vending machine full of fresh milk. At the time, I was unaware that my ice-cream would be previously served, frozen, and packaged. It doesn't quite look like it, but I promise you this particular ice cream cone was harder than a rock.

If anyone was wondering, Ashitaba tastes very much like green tea, granted it is a bit more aromatic than green tea. Unless you have been living in Japan all your life, or raised in the states drinking only Japanese tea, it would be very difficult to even taste the difference. Sweet is sweet. <(^-^)>