Uiro rice cakes, dumplings, and rice cakes ... Japanese people love sweets with a chewy texture! The ingredients such as glutinous rice, wheat flour, and sugar are all simple, but you can feel the deliciousness that is behind them because they are "mochi".

I thought that "mochiri" lovers are a characteristic of Japanese people, and there were surprisingly many sweets with such a texture in some countries. It's a British "crumpet".


A crumpet is a pancake that originated in England. It is a familiar food that often appears at breakfast and tea time in England and is also sold at supermarkets. Unlike Japanese pancakes, the dough is fermented using yeast, so it has a unique “chewy” texture.

Even in Tokyo, where food cultures from all over the world gather, crumpets are rarely seen. What does a "chewy" pancake taste like? To try the unknown taste, I visited "BERRY'S TEA ROOM ", a tea shop in Suginami Ward.

■ Order a crumpet at a store full of British mood

A 3-minute walk from Hamadayama Station on the Keio Inokashira Line. At BERRY'S TEA ROOM on a quiet street, you can enjoy carefully selected teas and traditional English sweets such as scones.

You can choose from three types of crumpets called Menu, which started in September. "Plain crumpet" with butter and honey, "Sweets crumpet" with vanilla ice cream and fruits, and "Savory crumpet" with salty ingredients such as salmon and cheese. From sweets to light meals, there seems to be a wide range of crumpet arrangements. This time, I ordered a "plain crumpet" to try it simply.

■ Crumpet is here! What does it look like? What is the taste?

After a while, the crumpet was brought along with the set drink. With a diameter of 7.5 cm and a thickness of about 1.5 cm, it looks like an English muffin. Butter and honey are shining on the browned surface. Looks delicious! With excitement, insert the knife immediately.


When I try to cut it with a knife, I feel a strong elasticity from the dough that pushes the knife back. This seems to be quite "tight"! Let's finally eat.

When you put it in your mouth, it has a "moist" mouthfeel and a chewy texture that is more than you can imagine. The more you chew, the simple flavor of flour and milk spreads in your mouth, and the saltiness of butter and the sweetness of honey add to the deliciousness that will leave you behind. The reason why I feel nostalgic even though it is my first food is that it has a texture similar to mochi and uiro. The fact that the English people actually liked "mochiri" suddenly made me feel closer.

■ "Milk tea" is the best tea time

By the way, not "mochi is green tea", but "British is black tea", so of course I had black tea with me. There are many ways to drink black tea, such as "straight", "lemon", and "milk", but which one is best for your crumpet?

When I asked the owner, he recommended milk tea. "In the UK, black tea is milk tea, so most sweets are made to go with milk tea."

So, this time I chose milk tea. Of course, the compatibility with the crumpet, which uses milk for the dough, was perfect. At this shop, you can drink other than milk tea, so don't worry if you are a "straight" or "lemon".

■ Sweets that you can't miss if you like "mochiri"

A crumpet that is still unfamiliar in Japan. However, the texture of mochi and uiro is sure to appeal to Japanese people with a tongue. The traditional way to eat crumpet is to put it on a skewer, bake it in the fireplace, and then add plenty of butter and honey. I think it's similar to Japanese mochi, which is baked in the hearth and then eaten with soy sauce.

If you like "mochiri", you can't miss this crumpet. Like mochi, it can be a sweet or a light meal depending on the topping you choose, so it is recommended for both sweet and spicy parties. When you eat it, like in England, bring a thick milk tea together!