Today I’m chatting with Rachel Miyazaki from Niji Sweets. If you’ve walked through Queen Vic Market lately, you might have stopped in your tracks at a stall that looks more like a jewellery counter than a lolly stand: trays of shimmering kohakutou, those jewel-like Japanese sweets that catch the light and your imagination all at once. Rachel trained as a pastry chef, working everywhere from LuxBite to Marvel Stadium, but with Niji Sweets she and her friend Yiying are doing something entirely different. We talked about how a childhood love of baking, a detour through computer studies, and a trip to Japan all converged on these edible crystals. From the patient, days-long process of crystallising agar to the thrill of seeing someone’s face light up when they bite through that crunchy shell into soft jelly, Rachel is bringing something rare and beautiful to Melbourne and I am very happy to have had the opportunity to sit down with her and hear all about it.
Hi Rachel, thank you for coming. It’s really nice to have you on the podcast. I’ve been practising all morning to say the name of your sweets: kohakutou.
Yes. It’s a traditional Japanese sweet.
What does it mean?
It means crystal Kennedy, amber jelly. It is made with sugar and when it’s cooked, it becomes an amber colour. So that’s what gave it the name.
Oh, okay. Fascinating. Why kohakutou? Why did you decide to do that now in Melbourne? You don’t see it very often.
When we went to Japan, I tried it and I really loved it. This was many years ago. I made it on and off over the years even for my wedding. Lately we’ve just really got into it and me and my friend, we wanted something that we could sell that was a niche market, not many people have it yet and it’s really hard to find in Melbourne. There’s a couple of stores to sell it, but not very many. We wanted something that was new and tasted nice and it was shelf stable. It can sit out in the room two weeks, no problem.
I was really struck by the photos that I saw because it looks like jewels, like gems. I imagine it’s quite labour intensive, to make?
It’s not too bad. We hand cut each piece, that takes the most time and then we let it crystalise over a few days as well. But it’s not too bad. But it is fun to make because they look so pretty.
What’s the process?
It’s made with agar agar, water, sugar, and we might use tea, or fruit purees, and we put those in. We make up the jelly. It sets for a while, and then you cut it individually. and put it on the tray and it dries, it crystallises over a few days, maybe three, four days and then you have to flip it to dry each side, obviously. And then it’s done. You can air dry them or you can dry them in a dehydrator.
How do you decide on all those beautiful colours? Does anything work?
No. Some things don’t work. If it is too citrusy, it doesn’t set very well. Pineapple because of the enzymes in it, it doesn’t set very well. It doesn’t crystallize. Other fruits, like, say strawberry, we cook it down, we use fresh fruit purees and things like that. That’s what gives the colour and taste.
Did it take a bit of experimenting to get it right?
It did. I think we experimented for maybe about four months or so before we decided on the recipe that we wanted to use. We’re still experimenting on our new flavours and things like that.
You started off selling in the market?
Yes, yes.
What was the reception like?
Because it’s brand new. Whoever tried the samples, they’d be like, oh, this isn’t what I expected. Because it looks really hard. It looks like a hard candy, but inside it’s really soft jelly.
It feels like it’s really going gangbusters now. You seem to be very busy. Are you going to open a shop or what will happen?
Well, we’re starting up online orders. We’re setting up a website so you can order from us instead of having to come to the market.
Do you need to be artistic to make them, to cut the shapes?
Not artistic, but I guess if you’re just making it for yourself, it’s okay, you can cut many different shapes. It’s fine. And you can break it apart with your hands, you don’t have to use your knife even.
Some of them do look very like diamonds, is that an intricate way of cutting? Or do you just give it a go and however it comes out?
Well, that was part of the experiment. You’re seeing which shapes work, what has has the least wastage and things like that.
Can you reuse the wastage?
You can’t re-melt it, but we put all the off cuts in a fruity mix. We make a base and we pop all the offcuts in. It’s a nice blend of fruits in there.
How long have you been going now?
We officially started the markets in May.
It’s still very new. And before that, you were working as a pastry chef?
Yes, I was. Before this, I was working at Delaware North at Marvel Stadium.
It’s nice making things with my own hands. I can make them to my taste and creating things so I can feed people. I like seeing people’s reactions when they eat what I have made.
Rachel Miyazaki, Niji Sweets
Has your whole career been in pastry or did you do other kinds of cheffing?
No, just pastry.
What drew you to pastry, being a pastry chef?
I guess since I was young, I’ve always liked to bake and cook and I like eating sweet things. But when I was studying, I actually did computer studies first and then I decided, no, I actually really like pastry and I really wanted to do it. So I swapped over to pastry. I’ve always liked to being in the kitchen and I always thought about it. So when I decided to swap I thought, I’ll go for it and this is what I want to do.
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Malaysia. I came over to study for my VCE and then I stayed on.
What is it about being in the kitchen that you like?
It’s nice making things with my own hands. I can make them to my taste and creating things so I can feed people. I like seeing people’s reactions when they eat what I have made.
I think that’s it’s amazing, isn’t it, that you can study so hard and not see an outcome and then you cook for someone and you get that immediate reaction. So good. How long have you been a chef?
Since 2007. It’s been a while.
And you still enjoy it?
Yes, I do. Well, nowadays with kids, it’s a little bit harder to juggle it, but doing Niji Sweets, it’s easier because we can do that on the weekend.
What volume are you making? How much would you make a week?
Well, currently we’re just doing the markets and we might do orders for party favours and things like that. We have big events like the Japanese festival coming up next month so that would be a bigger market, but usually it’s smaller batches.
You first had the sweet when you were in Japan? Was there a seed there where you thought, hmm, one day I’ll try this?
I came back and I looked up the recipe and I thought, how do I make this? I tried a few recipes back then as well. It was fun to make. I really liked it.
I guess there’s the business side of things as well that you have to think about and marketing when you go out on your own, so it’s not just about the making. Is this something that you see yourself doing in years to come or would you like to get back to the kitchen to do other things?
Oh, that’s a hard question. I like doing this. It’s fun because you can make it on your own terms as well, but it’s also a lot more work behind the scenes, like all the paperwork and applying for markets. My partner Yiying takes care of most of the paperwork because I’m not that good at it.
I guess you’re actually at the markets yourself, so you’re having all that contact with people, which is a little bit different perhaps to working at Marvel Stadium, where maybe you’re in a big kitchen and not seeing the public.
Yes, that’s right. You don’t really interact with the customers. So it’s fun seeing people. It’s fun promoting your product and things like that.
Well, you’ve been a chef for a few years now. What would your advice be to younger people coming through now in the history?
Get good shoes, because you’ve got to be on your feet all day long so you’re going to really need good shoes.
That’s such good advice. No one’s ever said that before.
It’s really important.
I love that. Thank you.