味な副音声 ～voice of food～currently outside the Japan top 100
同棲開始日に2人で作るベスト料理は？味なフレンズのこの夏おいしかった食べ物の話。
The second installment of Aji na Fukuonsei's (味な副音声) two-week "best summer food" special brings listener letters spanning huevos rotos on a Madrid terrace, freshly baked Pullman loaves on a couple's first night of living together, three standout bakeries, and a Seven-Eleven snack developed by host Hirano Sakiko (平野咲子) herself. Hirano also shares her own summer highlight: the "Aji Kyū Rice" she made at home the night a big work presentation was instantly approved. The episode traces the quiet but enduring ties between what we eat and the moments that shape us.
What this episode answers
What is huevos rotos, and in what setting was it eaten?
Huevos rotos is a Spanish dish of thin, crispy fries topped with a soft-set fried egg and slices of Iberian ham, eaten by breaking the yolk and mixing it through the potatoes. A listener who enrolled in a graduate program in Spain this summer had it on a terrace with beer on the first night out with new housemates.
What did the listener who moved in with their partner choose as their first home-cooked meal together, and what happened next?
The listener baked a Pullman loaf in a bread machine they bought specially for the move, waiting side by side with their partner for it to finish before eating the entire loaf fresh from the machine. They report baking one every day off since, always finding it too good to save any for later.
Which bakeries were recommended this episode, and what was standout about each?
Boulangerie Sudo (ブーランジュリー須藤) in Shōin-jinja-mae, Setagaya (a chewy pepper ham sandwich kneaded with sweet Aomori Takekimi corn); Lulu Sol (ルルソール) in Komaba-Tōdaimae (a cardamom roll with lemon zest on croissant dough, soaked with sugar butter); and Bart (バート) near Gifu Station (chocolate-mint ice cream packed with fresh mint leaves, plus iced tea).
What dish did Hirano Sakiko make on the night her work was rewarded, and what does it consist of?
She made "Aji Kyū Rice" (鯵キューライス) — a recipe by Hasegawa Akari (長谷川あかり) — of horse-mackerel sashimi and finely chopped cucumber and ginger marinated in salt and vinegar, then mixed into warm rice. She made it after spotting cheap horse mackerel at a supermarket on the way home from a day her major presentation was instantly approved, and enjoyed it alongside Veritasbrau non-alcoholic beer and Koikeya Pride Potato Kami-no-Shio chips.
What did the Seven-Eleven Fluffy Sandwich mean to the listener who wrote in, and what feelings did Hirano put into developing it?
The listener, exhausted from childcare and returning from a hospital visit, bought the sandwich and shared it with their mother, discovering nutmeg in the raisin version and a black-tea aroma in the chocolate version. Hirano said she wants the snack to be there "when you're worn out and falling apart," and emphasized that being available at a convenience store is essential to that mission.
A Late Mother and "Pari-Pari Potato" — Home Flavors Aren't Only Homemade
Before the main theme, Hirano Sakiko read a letter from listener "Asa-san." Hearing Hirano mention Kibun's Pari-Pari Potato (パリパリポテト) in an earlier episode had moved Asa-san to tears: her mother had loved the snack, always asking for it on every shopping trip together. Her mother passed away suddenly three years ago, and it is only recently that Asa-san has been able to revisit those memories. Hearing the potato mentioned on the show felt like being gently warmed, she wrote.
Hirano responded with quiet warmth: "Home flavors aren't just the ones someone cooked from scratch. Kibun's Pari-Pari Potato is one of my own precious tastes from childhood. And because it's frozen and always available, that flavor — and that memory — is always within reach."
Huevos Rotos in Spain, and a Mission to Make Fried-Potato Dishes Trendy
Listener "Ueshima-Coffee-ni-Itsudemo-Ikitai-san" enrolled in a graduate program in Spain this summer and wrote in to describe the huevos rotos they ate on the first night out drinking with new housemates. The dish: thin, crispy fries topped with a soft-set fried egg and slices of Iberian ham, then the yolk broken and folded through the potatoes. Eating it on a terrace with beer on a warm summer night left an impression they can't shake, and they plan to eat it as many times as possible before returning to Japan.
Hirano laughed that she'd love to see the dish sneak into a Spanish-food fair at Royal Host, then riffed on the wider world of fried-potato dishes — a European style of tossing fries with vongole (garlic-clam), or a Chinese preparation with coriander and chili. "I'm going to keep pushing for fried-potato dishes to go mainstream next year," she declared.
Hasegawa Akari's Recipe and Aji Kyū Rice on a Triumphant Night
Listener "Hana-san" named Hasegawa Akari's steamed corn with rosemary as their summer best. Ready in about ten minutes, the dish lets the rosemary and butter soak deep into the corn so that each bite releases a fresh wave of flavor. Hana-san, about to enter the workforce, has already decided to make it next summer when the fatigue of a new job sets in.
Hirano shared her own Hasegawa Akari moment. On a day when an all-important presentation was instantly approved by the client's executives, she stopped at a supermarket on the way home — tired but elated — and spotted inexpensive horse mackerel. That called for "Aji Kyū Rice": horse-mackerel sashimi and finely chopped cucumber and ginger marinated in salt and vinegar, then mixed into warm rice. She rounded out the table with Veritasbrau non-alcoholic beer and a bag of Koikeya Pride Potato Kami-no-Shio chips she had tracked down at a pharmacy, and declared it "the best summer day."
A Bread Machine on Moving Day and a Potato Showdown Between Spouses
Listener "Lime-san" had long admired Hirano's home bread-machine stories but couldn't justify the purchase while living alone. Moving in with their partner gave them the push they needed: a bread machine was bought, and baking a Pullman loaf became the couple's very first project in their new home. They waited side by side for the loaf to finish, then ate the whole thing on the spot, stunned by how good it tasted fresh. They've been baking one every day off since — and the results are always too delicious to save any for later. "Their first home-cooked meal together being a bread machine loaf is almost too perfect," Hirano said.
Listener "Mitsuha-san" brought a different kind of kitchen story: after frying potatoes in a sweltering, air-conditioning-free kitchen in the height of summer, she watched her husband announce that fried food "has to be eaten piping hot" and polish off nearly the entire batch. A fight followed. The next day, she fried a fresh batch just for herself. "Time passes," Hirano said with a laugh, "and these kinds of battles emerge."
Three Bakeries — Shōin-jinja-mae, Komaba-Tōdaimae, and Bart in Gifu
This episode drew an unusually rich crop of bakery recommendations. Listener "Chimita-mama-san" spotlighted Boulangerie Sudo in Shōin-jinja-mae, Setagaya, and a summer-limited item: a chewy loaf kneaded with sweet Aomori Takekimi corn, stuffed with tender black-pepper ham, and dressed with cultured butter and a mayo-based sauce. "I nearly cried, it was so good," they wrote. The summer edition has ended, but the year-round pepper ham sandwich is still available.
Listener "Herohero-kaasan" recommended the lemon-and-cardamom roll at Lulu Sol in Komaba-Tōdaimae — a croissant-dough spiral layered with cardamom and lemon zest, soaked through with sugar butter, and finished with coarse sugar on top. Paired with Nepali tea, it is, the listener reports, the ultimate reward break. Hirano noted wryly that she has been predicting a cardamom roll boom for some time, though the trend has yet to fully arrive: when a Scandinavian bakery opened at Isetan this spring, the cinnamon roll still stole the show.
Listener "Hampen-san" introduced Bart, near Gifu Station, whose interior was designed by architect Seki Yūsuke (a past guest on Ajina Fukoncei) and whose tea menu was overseen by Onishi-san. The chocolate-mint ice cream is loaded with as much fresh mint as it can hold, giving it a distinctly green, herbal aroma unlike anything from a commercial brand; the iced tea was exactly what a body still carrying late-summer heat needed. The shop's lineup of cardamom rolls and fresh doughnuts was also praised.
Seven-Eleven's Fluffy Sandwich — A Sweet for the Worst Days
The final letter came from listener "Kutabiremomonga-san." Back at home after a hospital visit, back aching from the demands of childcare, they picked up the Fuwa-Fuwa Sand (ふわふわサンド) — a product Hirano helped develop — at a Seven-Eleven and shared it with their mother. In the raisin sandwich they detected a spicy warmth; the ingredients listed only "spices," and it was a week later, on a walk, that they realized it must be nutmeg. The chocolate sandwich, they wrote, sent them "flying straight to Britain" on a wave of black-tea aroma.
Hirano could barely contain herself: "This letter feels like it was written by my own wishes." She then reflected on the thinking behind the product: "Sweets should be there not only for happy times, but especially for the moments when you're worn out and falling apart. That's why it matters that you can just wander into a convenience store and pick one up." The Fuwa-Fuwa Sand has been on sale at Seven-Eleven stores nationwide — excluding Okinawa — since October 6.
Takeaways
- Home flavors don't have to be homemade — a listener's letter about her late mother and Kibun's Pari-Pari Potato showed that frozen and store-bought foods carry just as much emotional weight.
- Listener recommendations produced a detailed map of three standout bakeries this episode — in Shōin-jinja-mae, Komaba-Tōdaimae, and Gifu — each described with specific dishes and precise reasons to visit.
- A letter about Hirano's own Seven-Eleven Fuwa-Fuwa Sand, on sale nationwide since October 6, turned into a reflection on the role convenience-store sweets can play on the hardest days.
This article is edited from a machine transcript of the first 30 minutes of the episode. It is not an official summary — please listen to the episode itself.