Kami Gohan
Since being introduced by Professor Fukuda of the Faculty of Education, we had long been indebted to D style Tokyo, a patisserie in Waseda.
Every cake created by Chef Murata was truly exquisite, and we often had him make whole cakes for birthdays and other occasions.
Much to everyone’s regret, Chef Murata closed his shop in 2022, and is now active in Minakami, Gunma Prefecture.
The other day, Chef Murata dropped by all the way from Minakami!
It had been three years since we last met, and I was so happy to see him again.
As fellow chefs, we had often talked over various things at his shop, so I would have loved to sit down and have tea with him. But he came right at lunchtime, and there was no time to talk at leisure—he simply had sushi and was on his way.
He brought us a gift at that time: Kami Gohan, Minakami’s branded rice.
Located upstream on the Tone River, Minakami is blessed with clean water and is well suited to producing delicious rice.
I have no idea why, but at a time when rice has vanished from Japan, we could not be happier to receive such precious rice.
Well then, let’s dig in right away.
To enjoy the flavor of the rice itself, I first tried it as tamago kake gohan—rice with raw egg.
For the egg, I used fresh Okukuji eggs from Ibaraki, separating the white and yolk and whipping the white into a meringue.
Pour that over the rice, then add the yolk on top, and it is complete.
A drizzle of delicious oyster soy sauce makes it even better!
The sweetness of the rice really stands out! It is truly delicious!!
Next, I simply topped it with a pickled plum and had it with a fried egg. That, too, was exceptionally delicious!
Thank you so, so much.
It would have been even better if we had one of Chef Murata’s cakes for dessert, but let’s look back at the photos and imagine having some.
The fifth-generation owner, who loves mille-feuille, often had him make whole mille-feuille cakes.
One of the chef’s specialties was a cake called “Puits d’Amour.”
Apparently meaning “well of love,” it was a grown-up cake filled to the brim with rich custard cream beneath a covering of crêpe pastry.
It had quite a kick of alcohol, and the kirsch was wonderful as well.
The autumn Mont Blanc was an absolute must-have masterpiece.
Piped fresh to order, it was superb, with a proper baked meringue inside.
Oh yes, their greatest specialties of all were the “square cap,” modeled after Waseda University’s cap, and the “baseball cap,” modeled after the baseball team’s cap.
I have quite a collection of photos, so please take a look.
Writing this has made me crave the chef’s cakes unbearably!
Chef Murata’s delicious creations will continue to live on in the fifth-generation owner’s heart!
