The Evolution of Tamagoyaki

Tamagoyaki is loved by everyone, from children and adults to guests from abroad.

At Yahata Sushi today, we make our tamagoyaki using a special dashi stock devised by the fourth-generation proprietor.

These days, this type is even sold at convenience stores as “sushi restaurant tamagoyaki” or “sushi restaurant gyoku.”

Although it is called sushi restaurant tamagoyaki, I do not believe this type was served at sushi restaurants before the war.

It was only after the war that this style of tamagoyaki came to be used at sushi restaurants.

Before then, eggs were extremely precious, so when making tamagoyaki, white-fleshed fish, shrimp, yam, and other ingredients were ground into a paste, mixed with the eggs to add bulk, and then cooked.

Today, eggs are said to be remarkably good value for their price—though they have become considerably more expensive with recent circumstances—and as the prices of eggs and the seafood once used to add bulk have reversed, prewar-style tamagoyaki has become much less common.

What is more, tamagoyaki made with seafood is very labor-intensive.

To explain how it is made, at Yahata Sushi we begin by grinding thick cuts of sea bream and shrimp in a mortar.

We add grated yam, then grind it with a pestle until it becomes sticky and smooth.

Finally, we crack in the eggs, mix in sugar, salt, mirin, and so on, and pour the mixture into a special frying pan.

That alone takes roughly an hour.

The difficult part begins here: we patiently cook it over such a low flame that it would go out if someone merely passed nearby.

Since both sides of the egg must be cooked, this takes around 40 to 50 minutes.

From preparation to the finished product, it takes about two hours.

That said, this applies when it is made thick. Apparently, it used to be made thinner, so while it may not have taken quite this long, it still requires far more work than today’s thick, postwar-style tamagoyaki.

For this reason, as the pace of life accelerated during the postwar period of rapid economic growth, today’s simple and delicious tamagoyaki quickly spread among sushi restaurants.

As for how it spread, according to what the fifth-generation proprietor learned from Chef Shinoshima Chu of Japanese cuisine, who had once looked after him, it began when a sushi chef saw this tamagoyaki being served as a snack at a soba restaurant and said, “We can use this at a sushi restaurant too!”

Even today, many high-end and particularly dedicated sushi restaurants seem to make traditional-style tamagoyaki.

We can make it at Yahata Sushi upon request, but please consult with us several days in advance.

Oh, and it seems that craftspeople of the older generation also have some reservations about calling today’s tamagoyaki “gyoku.”

“Gyoku is what we call the old kind; these modern ones are called tamagoyaki.”

That is what I was told a long time ago.

For the fifth generation, though, since they are both made with eggs, it feels as though calling them both gyoku would be perfectly fine.

In any case, we put our heart and soul into making our tamagoyaki at Yahata Sushi, so we hope you enjoy it!