
What do you like to put on your rice when you eat it? Do you go for Western-style with butter and salt, or maybe Japanese-style with an egg or some natto? How about flavoring your rice with… a burp?
It’s not as crazy as it sounds. Supposedly if you smell someone’s burp while you’re eating, you can flavor your own food with a dash of whatever they ate. This sounded just bizarre enough to be true, so we gave it a try here at RocketNews24 headquarters. We have the extremely appetizing videos to prove it, so prepare to watch and be amazed!
We were inspired to try this experiment by famous Japanese YouTuber Hikakin, who attempted the same thing in this video:
Here’s what we did: three of our Japanese writers ate a different rice topping (raw egg, natto, and fried egg), then downed a bunch of burping powder to get the juices flowing.
After that another Japanese writer came in with some white rice, had each of the original three burp in his face, and then eat some rice right away and try to guess what they ate. If their burp was flavorful enough, he should had no problem guessing correctly.
That’s science for you, ladies and gentlemen. Here’s the video of the entire ordeal with some highlights below:
▼ The first burp: raw egg. Look at our reporter Go on the left enjoying that egg-y aroma.
▼ Next up: natto. Yeah, that’s about the correct face you should have whenever you smell natto.
▼ And lastly: fried egg. Not sure if Go is enjoying this or about to keel over.
▼ And what was the final result? Did the burping really deliver the taste of the original food? The answer is….
.
.
.
.
.
Absolutely not. Even though it definitely made the rice-eating unpleasant, burping actually did almost nothing to change the flavor of the rice. In fact, the only flavor that rice-eating Go claimed to have gotten from the burping was something none of them ate: apple. Where did that come from you ask?
▼ From the apple-flavored burping powder. Hey, even the best experiments have a few technical oversights.
Despite the experiment’s failure, we still consider it a great success. It gave us a perfectly valid excuse to burp in other people’s faces while eating, and now you can do it too! Just say you read about this really amazing “lifehack” on a Japanese website, and let the hilarious dinner table burping commence.
Source: HikakinTV
Images: ©RocketNews24
[ Read in Japanese ]





Bugs for dessert? Taste-testing Japan’s wasp dumplings and locust rice crackers【Taste test】
Ultimate lazy sukiyaki – Can you make the king of Japanese hot pots in a rice cooker?【Taste test】
We head out to Kyoto to eat a delicious crepe crammed with fermented soybeans, rice【Taste Test】
How do other flavors of ice cream rice compare to Meiji’s matcha ice cream rice recipe?
The most expensive natto in Japan – Eating the “black diamonds” of Tanba Kuro【Taste test】
Tokyo government organizes food truck event to clear out delinquent/homeless teen gathering area
Japanese onsen egg maker from 100-yen store Daiso needs to be on your shopping list
Universal Studios’ Sailor Moon theme park attraction is finally coming to America
Godiva now makes tofu in Japan, and sakura chocolate tofu too![Taste test]
Starbucks Japan releases new My Fruit³ Frappuccino at only 34 stores around the country
Highest Starbucks in Japan set to open this spring in the Tokyo sky
Studio Ghibli adds new anime tumblers to its cool streetwear brand in Japan
Japanese government says country needs more women’s room toilets to meet modern society’s needs
Train station platform ramen store closes its doors on half a century of history in Tokyo
This Japanese vending machine doesn’t sell drinks, but you can buy drinks through it
Studio Ghibli releases Catbus pullback keychain that runs like the anime character
Studio Ghibli adds new Mother’s Day gift sets to its anime collection in Japan
Virtual idol Hatsune Miku redesigned with look that adds new elements and brings back old ones
The next time you’re feeling stressed out, you could relax on a Pokémon Psyduck chair from Japan
Cherry blossoms begin blooming in Japan with record-early starts for sakura season
Komachi Shokudo: Japanese mum’s-style cooking for breakfast, lunch and dinner in Tokyo
The top 10 graduation songs in Japan as chosen by current Japanese high school students
Starbucks Japan unveils new sakura cherry blossom collection for hanami season 2026
The 10 most annoying things foreign tourists do on Japanese trains, according to locals
Nine great places to see spring flowers in Japan, as chosen by travelers (with almost no sakura)
Starbucks Japan releases new sakura goods and drinkware for cherry blossom season 2026
Starbucks Japan releases first-ever Hinamatsuri Girls’ Day Frappuccino
Japan’s cherry blossom season predicted to start earlier than we’d thought, especially in Tokyo
Survey asks foreign tourists what bothered them in Japan, more than half gave same answer
Japan’s human washing machines will go on sale to general public, demos to be held in Tokyo
Starbucks Japan releases new drinkware and goods for Valentine’s Day
We deeply regret going into this tunnel on our walk in the mountains of Japan
Studio Ghibli releases Kodama forest spirits from Princess Mononoke to light up your home
Japan’s newest Shinkansen has no seats…or passengers [Video]
Major Japanese hotel chain says reservations via overseas booking sites may not be valid
Put sesame oil in your coffee? Japanese maker says it’s the best way to start your day【Taste test】
No more using real katana for tourism activities, Japan’s National Police Agency says
Edo Rice shows you what rice tasted like in the samurai era by continuing centuries of tradition
Should you warm up your convenience store onigiri rice balls in the microwave?【Taste test】
Should you add tartar sauce to Japanese curry rice? CoCo Ichi makes diners an unusual offer
Beef and sashimi in the same rice bowl: Brilliance or blasphemy? We find out【Taste test】
We put weird food in curry to make it “un-curry-like”, find a killer secret ingredient instead
Do we say yay or nay to the additive-free rice balls that can last 100 days at room temperature?
You COULD eat a terrifying octopus egg in Japan, but SHOULD you? Let’s find out!【Taste test】
Natto-infused ramen is a thing — we tried it, we love it【Taste test】
We spice up our fermented soybeans with curry powder flavored natto【Taste Test】
With Japanese rice prices going crazy, can California rice win over our Japanese taste-testers?
Who makes Japan’s best Spam-style onigiri convenience store rice ball? Let’s find out【Taste test】
No one asked but we did it anyways: MOS rice patty burgers X ochazuke【Taste test】
Taste-testing the “cheese that gives you weird dreams”【Experiment】
Why throw away your leftover ramen broth when you can use it to make awesome ramen rice instead?
We eat at three Japanese family restaurants to find the one with the best-value breakfast
We try Kaldi’s microwavable Omelet Rice to find out if it really cooks that easily【SoraKitchen】