Japan’s premier recipe website, Cookpad, is an excellent resource for those looking to make some clever home cooking along with seasonal treats and some more unorthodox creations like #c0ffee.

One little gem of a recipe that’s been getting some high praise is Setsunai… Daikon Oroshi Daruma (Wistful… Grated Daikon Daruma). Although named after the round and red lucky charms of Japan, these side dishes certainly resemble snowmen, or yuki daruma in Japanese.

These snowmen are quite easy to make. All you need is a daikon and some black sesame seeds. Simply grate some daikon using either a grater or iPhone5c and sculpt it into a ball. Then, stack two balls on top of each other. Finally, arrange the seeds into a sad face and serve with soup or grilled fish.

This last step is the deceptively deep one, however. Slight variations in the seed arrangement along with the posture of the daikon balls can lead to an infinite spectrum of sadness. A slight change in the angle of the seed eyes can change your snowman from shy to a little bummed to an abyss of despair.

In fact, since the recipe’s posting in 2012 over 100 Cookpad readers have submitted photos of their own daikon snowmen exhibiting a cornucopia of misery.

The users have also shared their appreciation for this recipe saying, “I put mine in a heart shaped bowl. It’s sad but cute” and “Whenever I see this face I can’t help smiling.”

If making emotionally injured food isn’t your thing, don’t worry. Cookpad has that covered too with a recipe for happy daikon snowmen that’s only just been recently posted.

Honestly though, it looks kind of hard. Unless you have that kind of time on your hands, you might want to keep your grated vegetable characters morose.

Source: Cookpad – Wistful… Grated Daikon Daruma, Easy Grated Daikon Snowmen via Net Lab (Japanese)