Tokyo Michelin Star Chef Takes Last Year's Forbidden Mochi Toast, and Upgrades It to a New Level

Shusaku Toba has earned stars from the Michelin guide for his work as owner-chef at Tokyo restaurant Sio, but his most recent newsworthy endeavor has been a little less "haute cuisine", and a little more "midnight snack."

Last year, the internet was ablaze with a new recipe called "forbidden mochi toast," and home cooks sung the praises of a slice of white bread toasted with American cheese and Yukimi Daifuku brand mochi ice cream. A "forbidden" but apparently delicious combination of flavors, perfect as a midnight snack, or quick sweet indulgence. But where does Shusaku Toba come into the story? Well, this spring Yukimi Daifuku is at it again, and they're aiming for the stars (Michelin stars, apparently). Chef Toba has taken a break from his busy schedule preparing elegant French cuisine in Tokyo, to come up with some new takes on the classic (?) forbidden mochi toast recipe.

The theme of this Yukimi Daifuku promotion is "Restaurant Yukimi," and unlike the basic forbidden mochi toast, these recipes are made to be eaten with a knife and fork. So the first recipe is a "sweet and salty forbidden dish" that they suggest might just be addictive: bacon and egg Yukimi Daifuku toast.

In the video posted on both the Yukimi Daifuku official Twitter, and also Chef Toba's account, the chef quickly whips up the perfect sunny side up egg, fries some bacon, and then covers them with melty, toasted ice cream mochi. The final dish is splashed with a few drops of soy sauce, and Chef Toba digs in with gusto, finally declaring the dish so delicious that he's shaking. Literally, shook.

After the insanity of that last breakfast bonanza, the second recipe from Shusaku Toba might not be so eyebrow-raising to anyone who's ever had a good apple pie. Because "apple pie Yukimi Daifuku toast" is just what it sounds like: buttered toast, the ubiquitous slice of American cheese, a good layer of apple jam, toasty-melty ice cream mochi, and a final sprinkling of cinnamon on top. After getting over the initial shock of the original forbidden mochi toast, this seems like a pretty mundane treat. Chef Toba does seem to think it's so good that he "want[s] to go to all kinds of people's houses and make this for them," though.

The recipes each came with instructions for unique cups of tea meant to accompany the toast, posted in the comments of the original tweets, which probably wouldn't surprise anyone who's kept up with Chef Toba's restaurant Sio, lately. Tokyo's recent state of emergency announcements have called for restaurants to close early, cutting into normal dinner hours, and Sio has responded by starting to offer their multi-course dinner menu early in the morning as well, as breakfast. And while a fancy brunch elsewhere in the world might mean bottomless mimosas, Chef Toba has decided to replace the wine accompaniments he normally offers, when it comes to breakfast, and instead pair each dish with a different kind of tea. We can see the influence of that new Sio breakfast revolution in the teas paired with the toasts, and perhaps in the breakfast-themed bacon and egg recipe as well.

While these recipes seem a little ridiculous, Twitter users have been posting their own experiences with the basic forbidden mochi toast for months now, with all signs pointing to delicious. And according to the dramatic (and perhaps surprised) reaction of Chef Toba himself, halfway through his meal of apple pie Yukimi Daifuku toast, "it's actually delicious."

Maybe the recipes are really worth a try.


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