Photo/Illutration “Oeuf mayonnaise” (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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Hoping to offer new experiences, Marie Chiba has spearheaded the pairing of Japanese sake and food based on her knowledge of chemistry.

She opened a bar specializing in sake called Eureka! in Tokyo’s Nishiazabu in 2022 with the goal of bringing the pairing experience to a wider clientele.

While “eureka” means “awakening” or “discovery,” the “!” is not an exclamation mark--it stands for “factorial” in mathematics.

The name reflects her wish that “there will be more discoveries through multiplication.”

The 39-year-old expert also has an increasing number of guests from overseas who come to enjoy the pairings of food and sake.

Chiba values what she calls a “pleasing uneasiness” that stems from her mother, who was a patchwork artist.

When Chiba made patchwork using pink and floral pieces of cloth as a child, her mother switched one piece to a gray one.

She was struck by a feeling that the work “is instantly amazing when a bit of the unexpected is added.”

One of Eureka!’s signature dishes is a pitch-black rendition of “oeuf mayonnaise.”

This is a classic French dish of boiled eggs covered with mayonnaise sauce.

Chiba thought the dish with such a pretty name and appearance would be familiar to guests from overseas and well received.

Yet thinking that a regular white egg lacks a certain wow factor, she decided to cover the egg with a black sauce made using squid ink.

Sometimes she offers oeuf mayonnaise in different colors such as pink, made with beets, or green, the color of the flag of Iwate Prefecture where she grew up, made with bell pepper.

As pairing dishes with sake becomes more popular, Chiba says she is happy to hear people ask for recommendations of sake that pairs well with certain dishes.

“We live in an era where social media is overflowing with countless tasty and moving experiences. That is especially why I want people to come to my place to experience not only ‘good taste’ but also a ‘bit of uneasiness’,” she says.

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Marie Chiba (Photo by Atsuko Shimamura)

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

BASIC COOKING METHOD

Main Ingredients (Serves 4)

4 eggs, 70 ml each of soy sauce, sake and sweet mirin sake, 12 grams sugar, 100 ml water, 100 grams mayonnaise, 5 grams matured black garlic, 30 grams squid ink (ika-sumi) paste

1. Add soy sauce, sake, sweet mirin sake, sugar and water in pot and place on heat. When it comes to a boil, move to storage container and cool in fridge.

2. Boil water in pot, add eggs and cook for about 5 minutes and 30 seconds. Cool in cold water and peel.

3. Immerse (2) in cold (1) and cool in fridge for a day.

4. Add mayonnaise and black garlic to bowl, mix with hand mixer or whisk.

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Add the mayonnaise and black garlic to the bowl. (Photo by Atsuko Shimamura)

5. Add squid ink paste to (4) and mix further until entire mixture turns black.

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Mix the mayonnaise and black garlic, then add the squid ink paste and mix further until the mixture turns entirely black. (Photo by Atsuko Shimamura)

6. Remove boiled egg from marinade and pour suitable amount of (5) on top.

About 175 kcal and 1.3 grams salt per portion
(Nutrient calculation by the Nutrition Clinic of Kagawa Nutrition University)

When cooling the eggs in the fridge, they will evenly color and absorb the flavor when the surface of the marinade is covered with plastic wrap to prevent them from floating. If you prefer hard-boiled eggs, cook for about 13 minutes. 

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

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