With this “jewellery box of the sea”, birthday dinner and dessert is sorted in one meal.

Our Japanese-language reporter Ahiruneko turned 37 last week, and when his wife asked him, ahead of the event, what he wanted to eat for his birthday, he simply answered “cake“.

So when the big day arrived, Ahiruneko sat down for dinner and his wife handed him this box, which led him to think he and his family would be skipping dinner and going straight to dessert.

▼ However, when he reached inside to pull out the cake, he discovered…

▼ … the cake was actually sushi!

▼ Well, that certainly was a birthday surprise!

When he asked his wife more about the beautiful-looking meal, she told him she’d purchased it at a place called Hokushin.

Hokushin has a reputation for being expensive, but surprisingly, this sushi cake was reasonably priced, at 3,980 yen (US$28.68). While they sell individual slices of the cake on a daily basis, customers wanting to purchase a whole cake are required to reserve it in advance.

Called “Cake Chirashi“, as a nod to chirashizushi, the sushi-topped rice bowl dish from which this cake takes its inspiration, this was a beautifully made meal.

Mounds of tuna had been placed around the top of the cake to mimic swirls of whipped cream, and instead of fruit or nut garnishes, there was tuna, prawn, salmon, salmon roe, and pieces of white fish such as sea bream.

The glistening sashimi, with shiso leaves and cucumber slices peeking out in between, was so carefully placed it looked like a jewellery box of the sea.

▼ As his family sang “Happy Birthday”, Ahiruneko made a wish and sliced into his birthday sushi cake.

The slices were just as beautiful — with chopped kanpyo (vinegared gourd strips) and tobikko (flyinf fish roe) sandwiched between the vinegared rice base to add to the flavour.

Although Ahiruneko had initially feared the cake might taste like a gimmick, he needn’t have worried — every morsel on the cake was high quality, especially the salmon roe, which was the most delicious he’s tasted in a long time.

What you get for the price is great value, especially considering you’d pay just as much for a regular cake with sponge, strawberries and whipped cream.

It was like having all the fun of receiving and cutting into a birthday cake, but with the added element of surprise sushi to boot. Ahiruneko was grateful to his wife for coming up with such a great idea, and if you love sushi as much as he does, he highly recommends trying it too!

Reference: Hokushin
Images: ©SoraNews24
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
[ Read in Japanese ]