Matcha Vegan Panna Cotta

1. Gather all the ingredients.
2. In a small saucepan, heat 1¼ cups unsweetened soy milk over medium heat until warm to the touch. Keep a close eye on the pot and DO NOT BOIL. Turn off the heat.
3. Place 1 Tbsp matcha (green tea powder) in a bowl. Add a little bit of the heated soy milk. Using a whisk or chasen (bamboo whisk), mix the soy milk and matcha together. Tip 1: Matcha dissolves easier in warm liquid. Tip 2: Gradually add in the soy milk. DO NOT pour too much soy milk at once. Superfine matcha powder can easily become lumpy and harder to combine.
4. Add more soy milk as needed, until the mixture becomes a smooth paste and there are no more lumps of matcha.
5. Add the matcha paste back into the soy milk in the pot. Whisk it well to combine. 
6. In a new pot, add 1⅔ cups water and 1 tsp kanten (agar) powder.
7. Whisk together and bring it to a boil on medium-high heat. Once boiling, reduce the heat to low and cook for 2 minutes until the powder is completely dissolved.
8. Add 7 Tbsp sugar to the kanten mixture and whisk to combine.
9. Then, add the matcha soy milk to the kanten mixture. Give it another whisk until well combined, and turn off the heat.
10. Prepare glass ramekins or containers on a tray. Place a fine-mesh strainer over the ramekin and strain the matcha soy milk mixture. Divide the mixture evenly.
11. Using a spoon, collect the small bubbles into one corner of the ramekins and scoop them up. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours to set.

To Serve

1. Sprinkle extra matcha on top using a fine-mesh strainer. Then, add the optional toppings of your choice. For these ramekins, I placed gold flakes on top (you can buy them on Amazon).
2. For this ramekin, I sprinkled matcha and decorated with strawberries and blackberries.
3. For the last ramekin, I placed anko (red bean paste), mochi balls (shiratama dango), and chestnuts in heavy syrup.