Butalina in Heaven

Honestly, Fukuoka is packed with delicious food. The classics like motsunabe (offal hotpot), mizutaki (chicken hotpot), and goma saba (sesame mackerel) are a given. While you might not get to indulge in something as luxurious as ara (grouper) hotpot often, there's Hakata ramen, soft udon noodles, and Fukken chow mein. It's also surprisingly a yakitori paradise – you could never eat enough, no matter how big your stomach is. Souvenirs are tempting too, but my go-to is "Chicken Egg Somen."

It's a beloved confection in Fukuoka, apparently originating from a Portuguese recipe that came via Nagasaki during the Nanban trade. You can still find it at a few shops today. The rich, creamy egg yolk and the super sweet syrup are absolutely amazing, and it pairs perfectly with a slightly bitter tea. My only regret is that it seems to be losing some of its spark lately. It's so delicious that I can't help but fantasize about its potential—if it were used not just as a finished product but as an ingredient itself, its possibilities could expand even further...

Probably sharing similar roots to these chicken egg noodles is the traditional Spanish dessert from Andalusia called "Tosino de Cielo." Legend has it that during the Middle Ages, nuns in monasteries used the abundant egg whites leftover from clarifying the region's famous sherry to make puddings. While regular puddings use whole eggs, milk, and sugar, this one uses only egg yolks and sugar. It's not like the trendy, creamy, melt-in-your-mouth puddings; it has an intensely rich, egg-forward flavor.

Following this recipe, we developed what is probably the world's richest pudding, "Heavenly Pig," with "Tamago-ya Yamataka" in Gunma. It's a very small pudding, but thanks to everyone, it ranked first in sales in the Yonnana Club Sweets category last year. It has been very well received.

This project began with the goal of "developing products worthy of an egg artisan." Our next target was the "egg tart." I enjoy them myself, happily eating them when visiting places like Hong Kong. However, most egg tarts emphasize the crispy texture and flavor of the "tart shell," leading me to think there should be products that place more emphasis on the "egg" itself.

First, we tackled the question: "What exactly is an egg tart?" Ideally, we'd have traveled to Lisbon, Portugal—home to the Belém Pastry Shop, considered the originator of this dessert—but budget and time constraints made that impossible. So, we resorted to buying and devouring every egg tart we could find at bakeries, convenience stores, and pastry shops.

Next came the prototyping phase. Rather than just talking about it, we decided to create while thinking, "What would be an egg tart worthy of an egg artisan?" As we made prototypes, we shared our impressions: "This one's just plain ugly," "Looks cute at first glance, but lacks that egg aroma," "The flavor's too monotonous for eating one whole tart," and so on. We moved forward, all members sharing their sensory feedback. We amateurs said some pretty rude things to professional pastry chef Midori Takayama, but the result was an egg tart we could be confident in – one with a unique flavor you won't find just anywhere.

This is probably the world's richest egg tart: "Butterina from Heaven." Not only can you enjoy the rich egg flavor with a sauce reminiscent of Tossino de Cielo, but underneath lies caramel, adding a delightful accent.

Once again, Art Director Shoko Kudo, Copywriter Junpei Iwata, and Designers Yuki Nishimori and Yui Fujita created a wonderful package for us.

You can purchase it here (← click). If you're interested, please do give it a try!

Enjoy!