Photo/Illutration Ham breaded and deep-fried with blue cheese (Photo by Atsuko Shimamura)

Editor’s note: In the Taste of Life series, cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.

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After quitting her job as a systems engineer, Marie Chiba began working at a Japanese sake bar in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward in 2010.

While visiting breweries around Japan to learn about sake, she heard about “sensory evaluation,” which analyzes sake through its aroma and other components, and began attending a seminar.

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Marie Chiba (Photo by Atsuko Shimamura)

Chiba, 39, had studied organic chemistry at the faculty of engineering while studying at a university.

She says the aroma and flavor of sake, which she had vaguely thought of as being “dry” and “fruity,” became linked with familiar and specific chemical substances such as ethyl caproate, and she was intrigued.

Until then, her conversations with the sake brewers would not naturally flow.

But as she learned more, she closed the gap with them, and now they consult with her on various occasions, asking her questions such as, “A certain aroma has emerged. What should we do about it?”

She once felt discouraged when an older acquaintance who runs a restaurant told her, “Don’t talk about sake using chemistry.”

But she continued to visit breweries with a notebook in hand. She even read medical books to learn about chemistry to better understand sake.

The sake brewers saw this and were supportive.

She became intrigued by “pairing,” where sake and dishes that are compatible in aroma and flavor are enjoyed together.

Hoping to offer a “pairing experience” instead of just good food and tasty sake, she opened Gem by moto in Tokyo’s Ebisu in 2015.

The restaurant is now closed.

The restaurant’s first signature dish was “ham breaded and deep-fried with blue cheese.”

She came up with the recipe while hoping to introduce “doburoku,” unfiltered “cloudy” sake, served at  Minshuku Tono inn in Iwate Prefecture, where she comes from.

When the Great East Japan Earthquake struck in 2011, Chiba realized the things she had taken for granted were transient and began hoping to pass down sake and culture of her hometown to the next generation.

The sparkling, sweet sake is to be enjoyed with fried ham in place of the sauce. The unfiltered sake gently envelops the salted fried ham.

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Born in Iwate Prefecture, Marie Chiba owns a shop specializing in sake. After working as a systems engineer and working a stint at a sake bar, she opened Eureka! in Tokyo’s Nishiazabu in 2022.

BASIC COOKING METHOD

Main ingredients (Serves 2)

2 thick slices of steak-style sausage (or 6 slices of pork loin ham “rosu hamu”), 20 grams blue cheese, black garlic the size of a rice grain, 140 grams flour, 1 egg, 200 ml water, some breadcrumbs, some oil

1. Crack egg in bowl and mix with flour and water. Whisk until smooth and heavy.

2. Spread blue cheese on 1 thick sausage (or 3 layers of ham) and spread black garlic in the middle.

3. Sandwich with another thick sausage (or 3 layers of ham) and press with hand to flatten.

4. Thoroughly cover (3) with (1), then dust evenly with breadcrumbs.

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Carefully cover the sides with batter and breadcrumbs. (Photo by Atsuko Shimamura)

5. Deep-fry in oil heated to 180 degrees until coating turns golden.

About 370 kcal and 1.7 grams salt per portion
(Nutrient calculation by the Nutrition Clinic of Kagawa Nutrition University)

SHORT MEMOS

After sandwiching with the sausage or ham, carefully cover the sides with breadcrumbs as if sealing with a lid.

The underside of the coating will not burn if fried on a mesh skimmer called “ami-jakushi.”

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From The Asahi Shimbun’s Jinsei Reshipi (Life Recipe) column

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