“Soylent Green” Tea Cookies

April 1: Soylent Green Day and April Fools’ Day

What a coincidence that Soylent Green Day falls on April Fools’ Day. Why not fool some friends by serving them some “Soylent Green” tea cookies?!

Spoiler alert: Unlike the fictional food depicted in the film, they are not made of people but are made of matcha (Japanese green tea powder), they are not crackers but cookies and they are not mass produced at a mysterious factory but baked in small batches in a home kitchen.

Soylent Green tea cookies are sweet but have an earthy taste about them, which comes from the matcha flavor (or from its movie equivalent the “high-energy plankton gathered from the world’s ocean”). Soylent Green crackers were favored over its predecessor products, Soylent Red and Soylent Yellow. According to movie trivia, the word “soylent” comes from “soy” + “lentils”, implying that the crackers were protein-rich and nutritious. But the world’s ocean was unable to supply enough high-energy plankton to feed the masses so Soylent Green was rationed. Only human remains were a suitable substitute for the plankton-protein but this was not revealed until the film’s climax. Therefore, “Soylent Green is people!”

Have some fun on Soylent Green Day and April Fools’ Day by snacking on Soylent Green tea cookies, watching the classic movie and fooling friends with freaky food.

Recipe

(Adapted from Japanese Cooking 101)

Ingredients

• 4 teaspoons matcha
• ¾ cup cornstarch
• ¾ cup + 1 tablespoon cake flour
• ¾ cup cornstarch
• 5 tablespoons butter, softened
• ¼ cup granulated white sugar
• ½ cup powdered sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 tablespoon soy milk (as in “Soylent”; the original recipe uses regular milk)

Directions

Over a large bowl, sift several times the matcha, cornstarch and cake flour until well blended. In another bowl, cream the butter with both the granulated and powdered sugars. Beat in the two egg yolks.

Mix in the soy milk or milk. Gradually add the dry ingredients and mix until a cookie dough is formed. Cover in plastic film and refrigerate the dough for at least half an hour.

Divide the dough in two balls. Roll out each between two sheets of waxed paper about ¼ inch thick. Use a 1-inch square cookie cutter to cut out shapes OR slice into perpendicular lines with a pizza cutter or knife to cut out squares. Place the squares on lightly greased baking sheets about an inch apart.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for 12-15 minutes, being careful not to overbrown the edges. Remove from the oven. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for about five minutes. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack and cool to a crisp. Serve in rations by placing a few Soylent Green tea cookies in a plastic bag.

Notes

• Serve Soylent Green tea cookies with Soylent Red and/or Yellow sugar cookies (add food coloring to a basic roll-out cookie recipe).
• Serve Soylent Green tea cookies with spoonfuls of strawberry jam (one of the characters in the movie was indulging in this rare delicacy at $150 a jar!).
• Soylent Green crackers are rare indeed! Search for the movie memorabilia (boxed food) on eBay. The canned version was sold at a Bonhams auction for $2,250! 
• Watch the trailer and movie clips from “Soylent Green” from the Turner Classic Movies website.