Green tea pastelitos and ‘matcha con leche’ fuse Latin-Japanese flavor at this Miami food truck

Think green-tea flavored drinks and ice cream are cool? Powdered matcha is even trendier. To find it look no further than Yoko matcha, a turquoise food truck that serves up drinks and more in the ever evolving Wynwood Yard. The matcha is imported from Shizuoka, Japan, and here, this specialty matcha café fuses Japanese and Latin flavors.

Start with These Drinks and Small Bites

Order a traditional Matchalada, made with matcha whisked into hot or cold water, or the Matcha con Leche latte and have it at a nearby picnic table. The matcha Bonbon is thick and made with condensed milk and the matcha Limonada is a lemonade with grassy notes and a hit of mint. The creamy not-too-sweet matcha Frappe is made with coconut milk and white chocolate. There are also coffee drinks which you can pair with matcha alfajors — cookies sandwiched with dulce de leche — or mini matcha bundt cakes.

Share These Dishes and Desserts

Matcha bowls can be shared or ordered individually. Try the acai bowl with matcha, topped with house-made granola, coconut flakes, cacao nibs, chia seeds and dried goji berries. It’s like eating a crunchy smoothie. Chia pudding is made with the omega-3-rich soaked seeds, matcha and coconut milk, and topped with strawberries. Or share several baked-to-order pastelitos filled with a mixture of matcha cream cheese and white chocolate that ooze sweet creaminess. There’s also a vegan matcha tart with coconut and cashew milk mousse topped with raspberry coulis and a fluffy matcha waffles sprinkled with matcha and powdered sugar. Everyone will want their own matcha brigaderio fudge ball, rolled in grated coconut, like a sweet, rich truffle.

What Makes It Special

Best friends Chie Dambara and Evelyn Vigistain run the stationary food truck and are passionate about the world of green tea. Madrid-born Dambara moved to Tokyo with her dad when she was six. After relocating to Miami last year she saw a niche for quality matcha drinks and uses organic, kosher, non-GMO matcha. Dambara named the business after Yoko Dambara, her late Japanese grandmother who was a master tea ceremony sensei in Tokyo.

This story was originally published January 9, 2018 at 5:24 PM with the headline "Green tea pastelitos and ‘matcha con leche’ fuse Latin-Japanese flavor at this Miami food truck."