I just fell in love with this happy chappy, the purveyor of owara tamaten, little cubes of grilled honey-flavoured meringuey/marshmallowy goodness. His cheeky chuckle brought a smile to our faces as I held up two fingers and said “owara tamaten o futatsu kudasai” (“I’ll have two please”).
A delightful translation of this unusual little treat was posted above the street stall for the benefit of tourists (such as us). Interesting to note that agar-agar, a vegetable gelatin derived from seaweed, is used as the setting agent.
The dexterity he displayed as he picked up the soft meringue cubes with chopsticks was very impressive. They were submerged into a mixture of egg yolk, honey and mirin (for colour and taste), allowed to drip dry and then deposited on a hot plate to toast.
They taste as amazing as they sound and look – cloudy puffs of eggy sweetness, tinged with a sweet honeyed outer coating. You can purchase them in take-away packs, but to eat them straight off the grill became one of those eye-closing, mouth-savouring moments.
Double-oooohhhh… I’m salivating. It’s true that there is simply too much good food in the world.
Uh huh…I think that every time I walk past the doughtnut van at the Vic Market
I want to shove my face into that cube of gooey crispy looking goodness. Is that wrong?
Hey anon – Not wrong at all…cause that is exactly what I did when I saw them
Met the same man in May 2008 at Takayama Spring festival. Took the same photo of his unique recipe and tried the marshmallow:) Is it possible to find a better English translation of how to make it? Would like to give it a try!
I would love to give it a try as well! Unfortunately I haven’t been able to find a recipe, but I reckon it’s basically an “Italian Meringue” which has been stabilised with agar (gelatin). Once set, cut into blocks, dip in the egg yolk/mirin/honey mix and grill. If I had a good mixer (Italian meringue by hand can be a rather laborious process), I’d probably give it a go!
Just looking through your older posts and this really looks really good!! I miss Japan!! Hope I can go back there soon!
Hey Hungry Hamster – oooh, I miss Japan too! Danny and I recently went to see Shinjuku Incident at the movies (new Jackie Chan flick). It’s mostly shit – so don’t go see it, but what I did love was all the fantastic shots of Tokyo! I turned to Dan and said “Ooooh…I wanna go back!”
Hi, I’m going to Takayama soon and I’m wondering where can I find Owara Tamaten? Is it located in Jinya Mae market? Thanks
Hi Jane – yes, you’ll find it at the markets, but the one that runs alongside the river. You can’t miss it as it’s very popular!
Good luck! Oooh..I wish I could be saying that I was going back to Takayama soon!