Regional produce makes for a very special pizza that you can only get in certain parts of Japan.
Mujirushi, a.k.a. Muji, has made a name for itself thanks to its high-quality, reasonably priced…well, everything. The Japanese lifestyle chain offers a staggering variety of products, from housewares and furniture to clothing and appliances, all of which tend to leave customers satisfied and wallets relatively full.
The Mujirushi catalog is so extensive that the exact product lineup can vary quite a bit from branch to branch, depending on the available amount of floorspace. The bigger the branch, the more unique the offerings, though, and on a recent visit to the largest Mujirushi in Japan, we found some very special pizzas.
Mujirushi’s food and beverage division has been looking for ways to shine a spotlight on locally raised produce, and so at certain stores in central and west Japan you can find what it calls “Local Pizzas,” which bear the message “Locally crafted pizza made with locally sourced ingredients.” Since Japan’s biggest Mujirushi is in Nara Prefecture, the star ingredient in their Local Pizzas is Yamatomaru eggplant.
Grown in Nara’s Yamato district, Yamatomaru eggplants are round with dark skin that has a dramatic sheen. They’re noticeably firmer than other varieties of eggplant, with slices retaining their texture and shape even after being grilled, baked, or steamed.
Mujirushi has two kinds of frozen Yamatomaru eggplant pizzas, one that also uses teriyaki chicken as a topping and the other that uses anchovies. We picked up one of each (the teriyaki chicken one costing 1,050 yen [US$7.25] and the anchovy 950 yen) and took them back home for taste-testing.
You can thaw the pizzas either in the fridge or in the microwave, and we opted for the latter, since we’re of the mind that “sooner is better than later” is pretty much always the appropriate philosophy for pizza.
We decided to try the Yamatomaru eggplant with anchovies version first. Taking the thawed but still uncooked pizza out after its stint in the microwave, we already knew we were going to be in for something good based on how good it looked and smelled even in this intermediary state, with luxuriously thick slices of eggplant stretching all across the top of the pie.
And after baking it…
…it looked even better!
They say that looks can be deceiving, but the operative word there is can. In the case of Mujirushi’s Yamatomaru pizza, the appearance is an honest declaration of how it’s going to taste. The eggplant slices are meaty and juicy, filled with delicious flavor that hits your taste buds the moment you bite into them.
The crust is outstanding as well, with just the right touch of outer-layer crispiness giving way to an invitingly soft bread texture underneath.
Moving on to the Yamatomaru teriyaki chicken pizza, we were just as impressed, and the extra proteins here make this an even better option if you’re feeling especially hungry.
Currently, the Yamatomaru eggplant pizza is only available at select Mujirushi branches, listed below:
● Osaka: Aeon Mall Sakai Kita Hanada
● Kyoto: Kyoto Yamashina, Coop Nijo Station, Aeon Mall Kyoto Katsuragawa, Matsui Yamate, Aeon Mall Kumiyama
● Nara: Aeon Mall Yamato Koriyama, Aeon Town Tomio Minami
● Wakayama: Forest Mall Iwade, Supercenter Okuwa Nanki,
● Shiga: Alplaza Kusatsu
● Hiroshima: Alpark Hiroshima
The “local” focus of the Local Pizzas mean that Mujirushi probably won’t be expanding the Yamatomaru eggplants ones’ availability all that widely or swiftly, but it’s definitely worth trying if you get a chance, and with how delicious they are, we’ll be keeping our eyes out for what sort of Local Pizzas might grace Mujirushi branches in other parts of Japan.
Reference: Mujirushi
Yamatomaru photo: Wikipedia/Uo3rt
All other photos © SoraNews24
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