This glittering culinary creation is designed to bring luck to purchasers of Japan’s Dream Jumbo Lottery tickets!

This week, tickets for one of Japan’s biggest lotteries of the year, the Dream Jumbo Lottery, went on sale across the country. The lottery offers a top prize of 500,000,000 yen (approx. US$ 4.4 million) and 100,000,000 yen for each of the adjacent numbers before and after the top prize. For the numerous hopeful ticket purchasers hoping to share in the riches, a dumpling shop in Tokyo has come up with a unique creation.

To coincide with the sale of the lottery tickets, the Shinjuku Omoide Yokocho branch of gyoza (pot sticker) chain Gyoza no Antei is offering, for a limited time, the Good Fortune Dream Jumbo Gold Leaf Dumpling. Not only does the large golden dumpling look like a million dollars, it’s also filled with lucky ingredients as well!

Because it ‘s the Dream Jumbo Lottery, the dumpling is also made in a jumbo size, about three to four times the size of a regular gyoza. To make sure that it’s properly cooked, the dumpling is first steamed then fried, and for the finishing touch, it’s wrapped completely in a sheet of gold leaf measuring 10 centimeters (approximately four inches) square. The precious gold material is made specifically to be edible and crafted by gold leaf manufacturer Hakuichi, based in Kanazawa City of Ishikawa Prefecture, the leading gold-leaf producing area of Japan.

Of course, the dumpling has to be tasty as well, so they’ve filled it with a selection of appetizing ingredients chosen for their lucky symbolism.


The lucky ingredients include:
1.  Octopus, for the pronunciation of the letters “oc”, which sounds like the word for 100 million (oku) in Japanese
2.  Dried squid (atarime), which sounds like the word for jackpot (atari) in Japanese
3.  Okra, again for the similarity in sound with the word for 100 million
4.  Lotus root, considered a lucky symbolism of good visibility due to its numerous holes
5.  Mushrooms as an example of a fungus (kin), which is pronounced the same as the word for gold  in Japanese
6.  Apple juice in a lovely “gold” color symbolizing financial luck and riches
7.  Gold leaf to wrap it all up as lucky ingredient number seven.

Yup, the list of ingredients makes the dumpling sound even more appetizing!

▼ Now, that’s a dumpling with quite a presence! But then again, the Japanese have always been fond of using gold leaf in food, just to add a bit of sparkle and excitement.

The giant dumpling is priced at 1,077 yen (US$9.70), but as a special service, they’re offering a 300 yen discount to customers presenting a Dream Jumbo Lottery ticket, bringing the price down to a lucky 777 yen. They’ll be serving a maximum of 300 gold dumplings until June 2, the same period as the Dream Jumbo Lottery tickets are on sale.

If you’re in the Shinjuku area and looking for a little nourishment as well as some good fortune,  or even just a bit of glitzy fun, then you may want to try this gold covered treat while supplies last!

Shop information
Gyoza no Antei Shinjuku Omoide Yokocho Branch / 餃子の安亭(アンテイ)新宿思い出横丁店
Address: Tokyo-to, Shinjuku-ku, Nishishinjuku, 1-2-1 Five K Building 2nd floor
東京都新宿区西新宿1-2-1 ファイブKビル 2F
Open 11:30 a.m. – 3 p.m. / 5 p.m. – 11:30 p.m. (Monday -Friday), 11:30 a.m. – 11:30 p.m. (weekends and holidays)
Website

Source, images: ＠Press