Owara Tamaten at Takayama Rinseido

One of the highlights of our visit to Takayama was our stroll through the Miyagawa Morning Market, along the East bank of the Miyagawa River. Stalls and shops sell fresh produce from local farms, traditional pickles, a wide range of other specialist ingredients, sweets, drinks and much more.

Alerted by the small crowd, we stopped to see what was on offer at a small shop manned by a smiling elderly couple.

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Inside, the gentleman prepared the food; outside the lady took orders and payments.

A sign above the shop window read:

“Owara Tamaten: I pass when it beats an egg white and enter and cut the honey which came to the boil of sugar and agar to a pip after cooling it and soak it in the liquid which added sweet sake to and egg yolk, and it is the Japanese sweet that it is unusual which baked 6.”

Aided by the lady’s further prompt of “marshmallow”, we placed our order to give it try.

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A few moments later, a hot cube of honey-sweet marshmallow was carefully handed across.

Wow! So fresh and light, it melted away in the mouth in moments!

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Some research helps makes more sense of how these delicacies are made: Egg whites are beaten with sugar and agar to create floaty light uncooked marshmallow. Once set and cut into cubes, these are dipped into a glaze of beaten eggs, sake, mirin and honey before being fried to a pale golden brown.

 

Rinseido has two locations in Takayama, one on the Miyagawa River road, between between Kaji-bashi and Yayoi-bashi (bridges), and another at Shimoichinomachi 88-1.

With thanks to Akiko Tanabe at Ryokan Tanabe, Takayama for her kind help with address details.

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