The fruit sandwich eatery Maruichi Seika has opened a pop-up shop on the second floor of Kita-Senju Marui in Adachi, Tokyo. The shop is a collaboration between the popular local restaurant Ippo Ippo and Maruichi, a long-standing and much-loved fruit shop.Fruit is the key ingredient at Maruichi Seika where they want customers stuffing their cheeks with strawberries, oranges, pineapple, and more. Fruit is packed into fat sandwiches and combined with mascarpone cheese for a filling treat. The bread is provided by Furansuya, a local bakery in Kita-Senju that has been running for over 10 years.

A Select Look at the Line-Up

  Sky Berry | ¥740 (Tax Included)This sandwich is named after a particular variety of strawberry is known as the Sky Berry. It's sourced from Tochigi Prefecture and is known for its superior sweetness, juiciness, and the fact that it's low in acidity. Ordering this lets you enjoy three different kinds of well-known strawberry: the titular Sky Berry, the Tochiotome which is also from Tochigi, and the classic Amaou from Fukuoka.   Setoka | ¥840 (Tax Included)The Setoka is a rare and super sweet, full-bodied citrus fruit that's normally given as a gift in Japan. In sandwich form, it enjoys a perfect balance of sweetness and tanginess.   Pineapple | ¥630 (Tax Included)The Golden Pineapple from the Philippines is the variety used in this sandwich, packed with mouth-watering sweetness and offering a rich fruity fragrance.   Maruichi Mix | ¥740 (Tax Included)This sandwich is a combination of fruits including the Amaou strawberry from Fukuoka, the Kanjuku Kiwi from Ehime, and the Premium Banana from the Philippines. It also contains the best picked mikan which are bought fresh from the market every day.If you've never tried a fruit sandwich in Japan and are in Tokyo this winter, then don't miss out on Maruichi Seika's limited-time line-up.  

Tokyo Saryo was the world’s first ever hand drip tea specialist shop. This year, they’re celebrating the first tea of the season with the reopening of Ochazuke stand Tokyo Saryo. The Ochazuke stand was a big hit last year, and this year it will be open for a three month period from Wednesday 24th April to Wednesday 31st July.   Ochazuke is a Japanese dish that every Japanese person must have had at least once in their life. For many, it is a normal option for a light breakfast that you can make at home. It’s just green tea poured over cooked rice. Simple! However, in recent years, replacing the green tea with dashi stock has become the most popular form of this breakfast. The Ochazuke stand hopes to encourage people to use green tea for their ochazuke in their daily lives more often by creating an original ochazuke dish which really carries the flavour of green tea. The recipe has been specially made to fit in with modern daily lifestyle. This ochazuke is sprinkled with lots of green tea so you can really enjoy "eating" tea! Soft sprouting tea leaves that resemble the appearance of nori seaweed are collected and ground into a powder called tencha. This tea remains in its unground form of matcha. Pour water over the original green tea powder and the fragrance of the tea will be released!

Teahouse original ochazuke: Eel ¥500　Teahouse original ochazuke: Salmon ¥500 Teahouse original ochazuke: Scallop ¥500 　Teahouse original ochazuke: Plum ¥500 (*tax included in prices stated)

 You can also add olive oil to your dish afterwards for just ¥50.   Order Tokyo Saryo’s hand drip tea on top of your order (+¥150) and you will be presented with the first tea of the season that uses tea leaves freshly collected from Kagoshima. The leaves were collected on 7th April 2019 and a special recipe is used to make this tea.It’s not just tea they serve here! As an important base flavour, the stand also serves up dashi. This is made by combining bonito fish flakes and kombu kelp sourced from Makurazaki to produce a high quality and delicious flavour. You can also choose to add a topping of Nicomaru Genmai which is made from brown rice. This is very popular among adults as it adds a luxurious fragrance to your meal. You can eat in or take out for the same price. Every day, sales will end when they run out of rice, so get there as fast as you can!

Rinko Murata loves all types of curry. In this edition of Tokyo Dinner, she invites the person she wants to meet up with the most to eat the curry she’s been wanting to eat the most.   This month’s notable restaurant she stopped by was HEIJITSU HIRU DAKE in Kōenji, Tokyo. Their curry portions are generous and are good for the stomach and satiety center. They serve a curry flavoured with Japanese dashi, or ‘stock.’   How do you spend your early afternoons when you have time off? Lounging around at home with quality time to yourself sounds like a good plan. Definitely appealing.   But this is a rare opportunity. How about going on a little adventure to try something you can get a kick out of because it’s midday and a weekday?   I know the perfect curry house for your hungry selves. HEIJITSU HIRU DAKE.   As the Japanese name suggests, it’s a curry that can only be eaten at lunchtime, a mysterious dish that doesn’t appear on regular days off.   I land in Kōenji, a place I love the most. Even though iKōenji is Kōenji, the closest station to the restaurant is Higashi-Kōenji Station. My vision is filled with all kinds of sights. It’s like being lost in a treasure chest. This place is actually normally a café and goes by the name Schwarze Katze. It’s open mainly on Friday night, weekends and holidays. “HEIJITSU HIRU DAKE” runs in a rented room in the café and and is open when the café is. It’s kind of luxurious to have the chance to eat my favourite food (curry!) in a place like this. My heart desires the Wadashi Soboro Curry (¥980) that I mentioned earlier. It also comes with self-service coffee for after your meal. For toppings you can choose whatever you like. Since I was there and didn’t want to get lost on what to pick, I went for all the toppings (¥300). The water I ordered comes in a plastic bottle. The tables have antique displays. Everything on them was wonderful. The air was clad in that rich, familiar scent of curry, a special one that I would never get to eat had I not come here. The instant I hold the curry in my mouth the delicious flavour of the dashi sparks in my mouth like fireworks. The broth has a slight thickness to it and a strong, deep flavour that fades into a soft aftertaste on the tip of your tongue. It’s not at all spicy, and the goodness of the dashi is luxurious like being escorted by a gentleman. And I can’t forget the smell. My taste buds throb at this new sensation. Like its name suggests, this is a dish where the Japanese dashi stands out above the ingredient crowd. The restaurant owner has gathered much experience in the kitchen from traditional Japanese cuisine to sushi, ramen, yakiniku, izakaya style and so on. He encountered this place by chance, and with one look he said to himself, “I want to try doing curry.” The Wadashi Soboro Curry came about through his gained culinary experience combined with the aesthetics of the café. To bring out the full flavour of the dashi so it isn’t drowned out by the curry spices, the owner uses two types of skipjack tuna, kombu, dark sleeper, and dried sea slug, as well as a type of soy sauce called Kaeshi. 15 more ingredients are blended together to create the spices, creating deep and delicate flavours. Now it’s time for a session with the mountain of ingredients I greedily asked for. It’s enshrined with classics like meat soboro, beefsteak, agedama, bonito flakes, and dried plum in addition to pickled daikon radish, crushed natto, Japanese ginger, and okra. The spinach and onsen tamago egg sit at the foot of the mountain and create a new culinary sight. The base of the dashi is mobilized with a force of Japanese ingredients with a smell and flavour and that comes together harmoniously in your mouth. I’m spellbound by the flavours that stand out coupled with the pleasant textures of the agedama, daikon and ginger. Hey, I must have hit every ingredient in there. All correct.   I added a sprinkle of pepper that was on the table and create yet another refreshing aromatic veil. The compatibility of the pepper with the dish works so well precisely because it uses a Japanese dashi. Wadashi, or Japanese broth, is a staple of Japanese cuisine. The curry and Japanese soul carved into this dish resonates with me. It’s my first time eating it, yet I’m still filled with a sort of nostalgia―a warm embrace. I also understand why when the shop opens, the customers in the café stand up and change with the next line of customers. The owner has a wonderful sensitivity, and has worked out a way to put his own matchless warmth into each and every bowl. I caught sight of his gentle smile as he was cooking in the kitchen. It left an impression on me. What a delicious curry to enjoy in such a wonderful place. All five of my senses have reached peak happiness. I grab my post-meal coffee and head onto the streets of Kōenji. What a wonderful weekday afternoon.   Text:Rinko Murata Photo:Kayo Sekiguchi Edit:Miiki Sugita Translator: Joshua Kitosi-Isanga

Kurogi is a Japanese restaurant that is said to be the most difficult in Tokyo to get a reservation. The owner, Jun Kurogi, has a group company called A KUROGI HALAL FOODS, who is releasing a new brand of caviar called CAVIAR PURE together with JAPAN CAVIAR, Inc - the biggest producer of caviar in Miyazaki Prefecture - with the hope of global expansion. CAVIAR PURE will go on sale starting December 13th.

 

JAPAN CAVIAR's caviar brand "CAVIAR PURE" uses leading edge techniques and delicate skill that has been handed down through the years to produce a great flavour unique to Japan that was born from the Japanese mindset to deliver only the best of the best.

A lot of high grade imported caviar uses preservatives, pasteurization and high salinity (5-7%) to prioritize the prolongation of food storage. However, using this process reduces the flavour and freshness of the caviar. That's where "CAVIAR PURE" comes in. Only sturgeons that are raised healthily are harvested for their fresh roe which is processed into caviar. The company is also able to produce a low salt concentration thanks to blending low mineral salt. This is where the real flavour of the caviar comes in: as once it has been cured to bring out the good flavour it is quickly put in cold storage producing fresh caviar for you to enjoy.

 

Moreover, everything from harvesting to the production of the caviar is consistent in Miyazaki Prefecture. No chemicals are used at any point during the rearing of the sturgeons - they are reared within strict guidelines which are are firmly adhered to so as to not spoil the flavour.

 

The deciding factor of the caviar's great taste is the natural flavour of the caviar brought out by blended low mineral salt. The seasoning uses only the best blended salt selected by the caviar masters around the world. Jun Kurogi is one of those masters and demonstrates excellence of his seasoning with the harvested caviar.

 

If you're feeling a little bit luxurious then why not try some high quality caviar obtainable only in Japan?

 

 

The travel reservation site, “Rakuten Travel” announced  its“2017 / Ranking of accommodations which offer game dishes.” They calculated the number of the users and days the users stayed targeting the plans including the word “game (gibier)”and announced that “Shinjo Kanko Hotel” won first place.

 

 “Gibier” is a French word meaning the flesh of wild animals and it has developed as a food culture of aristocracies in Europe since old days.

 

No.1 / Aichi Prefecture / Shinjo Kanko Hotel

No.2 / Shizuoka Prefecture / Gensen Kakenagashi no Yu Oyado Sakaya

No.3 / Nara Prefecture / Totsugawa Onsen Seikyo no Yado Sansui

No.4 / Wakayama Prefecture / Ryujin Onsen Bijin Tei

No.5 / Ishikawa Prefecture / Shiramine Onsen Hotel Happo

 

 “Shinjo Kanko Hotel” which won first place offers a curry using venison every morning. Okumikawa is an area near the hotel rich in nature and the meat of the animals living in this area is tasty since it does not contain much fat. Venison contains less fat than other kinds of meat and contains lots of protein and iron. Also, venison is not smelly, so it is suitable for beginners of game dishes.

 

“Gensen Kakenagashi no Yu Oyado Sakaya” which won second place has been offering “Daimyoyaki,” a famous dish which grills brawn, pork and beef with vegetable produced locally (Amagi). Their brawn nabe (Japanese hot pot) made with miso sauce which takes about a week to make is known as the local dish of Amagi and you can enjoy it during the autumn and winter seasons. The users of the accommodation are saying “Daimyoyaki is a simple dish where you grill meat and vegetables together but it is very tasty.”

 

 “Totsugawa Onsen Seikyo no Yado Sansui” in Nara Prefecture which won the third place is an accommodation which offers local foods located in Totsugawa Village rich in nature. The brawn nabe using the natural brawn of Totsugawa and the tea ceremony dishes where you can enjoy venison, brawn and Chinese soft-shelled turtles at once are offered. They use clean spring, locally grown vegetables and meat. The users of the accommodation are saying, “I heard some game dishes are smelly but the dishes offered by this accommodation were very good.”

 

Why don’t you enjoy full-fledged game dishes at Japanese accommodations?

 

 

At the juicy-meat gyoza (dumpling) specialty store, “Shinjuku Kakekomi Gyoza / Kabuki-cho Store” they will begin the sales of the 5-colored colorful gyoza, “Colorful Rainbow Gyoza” starting from 2017 November 16^th (Thurs.)

 

The interior of “Shinjuku Kakekomi Gyoza” has been designed to look like the Edo Period fire fighter organization, “Hikeshi-tai.” Paper lanterns hang from the ceiling and there are wooden tabs hanging all over the wall. When you enter this store, you will feel as though you have time-slipped into the Edo Period and you can enjoy the atmosphere and the lively feeling.

“Colorful Rainbow Gyoza” has a skin with a chewy texture and is packed full of meat. The 5 colors of the gyoza are made of the following; squid ink, turmeric, spinach and red peppers. The skin does not absorb water and become soggy so it is good as a take-away item. This gyoza is not only very delicious but is a very photogenic 5-colored gyoza.

This gyoza uses specially chosen cuts of pork and special attention has been paid to the “umami” flavor of the meat. It is a “shoronpo”-like gyoza with lots of meat juices. The secret of the meat juices is the fact that high-quality scallop muscles and fish soup is used. The flour used to make the skin has a chewy texture and is suited to envelop the meat juices. No garlic or “nira” (leek) is used so it is very popular with women. The more you chew the more the meat juices fill your mouth and it is a truly exquisite gyoza.

 

2017, November 29 (Wed.) is known as “good meat day” (The reading of the numbers in Japanese – “ii niku” means “good meat.”) On this day a “Ii Niku no hi” campaign will be carried out. The campaign will be carried out from 23:00 ~ 5:00 (90 minute duration) for all customers who have reservations after 23:00. “Colorful Rainbow Gyoza” (500 yen per order) will be offered (the 5 gyoza will be the following gyoza; boiled gyoza, fried gyoza, deep fried gyoza, gyoza cutlet and colorful rainbow gyoza.) Customers can eat as much as they like for this price.

This gyoza has now been registered as a “GYOZA＆TOKYO” food item. This labeling is a part of a promotion campaign to announce good food to foreign guests to Tokyo. “&TOKYO” is a logo for Tokyo citizens, private business persons and foreign travelers. It will be used to highlight the charms of Tokyo. Various activities and things can be places before the “&” mark and this will express this Tokyo charm. They aim to spread this movement and by adding various activities and things at the front of the logo “&TOKYO” help to make this logo a symbol of Tokyo.

 

Why not try this gyoza which tastes delicious and looks awsome.