A breakthrough in the senbero arts has been made.

Welcome back to Japan’s Best Home Senbero, the series where our ace reporter Mr. Sato tries to hunt down the best combination of food and alcoholic drink for under 1,000 yen (US$6.55), known as a “senbero” in Japanese. This month’s installment brings us to Super Value, a supermarket chain from Saitama that was founded in 2022, making this business younger than the Japan’s Best Home Senbero series itself!

But enough JBHS trivia, let’s see what’s on the menu this time around, starting with a can of Mizoremon lemon sour for 137 yen ($0.90). The name is a pun on the Japanese word “mizore” which means “sleet” and despite the shared implications of being cold and wet, the Japanese word must be more appetizing than the English.

Next, we have a pack of thin sushi rolls, a variety sold individually for 99 yen ($0.65) each, so we picked up three for a total of 297 yen ($1.95).

Why not make your next senbero a total sausage party with Ito Ham Morning Fresh Select Wieners? A two-pack of these babies was sold for just 199 yen ($1.30).

Then, our reporter picked a pack of pickled plums pleasantly priced at 50 yen ($0.33). These are Japanese plums, known as “sumomo” in Japanese and not to be confused with ume, which are also sometimes called “Japanese plums” and often pickled.

There’s also a bag of Showa brand Tempura Flour for 199 yen ($1.30), hinting at something a little more extravagant this time around.

And it’s all topped off with a mikan orange for just 79 yen ($0.52).

All in all, this senbero cost 961 yen ($6.30) before tax. This is OK according to the Senbero Association guidelines which do not recognize taxes… no one tell the government, please.

Ahiruneko excitedly showed off his bounty, eager to make some unprecedented senbero treats.

▼ Ahiruneko: “Hello, everyone! Welcome to Senbero Cooking with me, Ahiruneko! I have a simply splendid senbero in store today!”

▼ Ahiruneko: “I don’t think you all heard me! It’s Senbero Cooking time!”

▼ Ahiruneko: “I’m going to show you some senbero tricks that will blow your mind!”

▼ Ahiruneko: “Hey, you over there! It’s Senbero Cooking time!”

▼ Ahiruneko: “Did you hear the news? It’s Senbero Cooking time!”

▼ Ahiruneko: “Don’t you know what that means? SEN-BER-O!”

▼ Ahiruneko: “Hey, God! It’s SENBERO COOKING TIIIIIIIIME!!!”

▼ Ahiruneko: “I hope you’re ready because this brand new, original segment that I developed is going to revolutionize Internet articles.”

Ahiruneko was interrupted by the rattle of the front door knob and creak of the heavy door as none other than Mr. Sato peeked his head in.

▼ Mr. Sato: “What’s all the racket?”

▼ Mr. Sato: “Wait… Did you say something about a senbero?”

▼ Mr. Sato: “What the hell, man?! You’re introducing this as if it’s new? Senbero Cooking is my concept!”

▼ Mr. Sato: “You know, I’ve been wanting to give you a piece of my mind for a while now, Ahiruneko!”

▼ Mr. Sato: “I do NOT approve of you doing Senbero Cooking! How do you like that?”
Ahiruneko: “Hahaha! Senbero Cooking is mine and there’s nothing you can do about it!”

▼ Mr. Sato: “That’s not how it works! It doesn’t belong to you!”
Ahiruneko: “Oooh! Watcha gonna do? Cry to mama!”

▼ Mr. Sato: “The wildly popular Senbero Cooking segment is mine and you can’t have it!”

▼ Ahiruneko: “Tough tooties! I’m not gonna part with Senbero Cooking for anything in the world… except a fried chicken bento from Zuien up the street. The 500-yen one too! None of that cheap crap!”

▼ Mr. Sato: “…”
Ahiruneko: “…”

▼ Mr. Sato: “Deal!”

▼ Ahiruneko: “Pleasure doing business with you. As long as I got my Zuien chicken, nothing else matters…”

▼ Mr. Sato: “Hello, everyone! Sorry about that attempted hostile takeover of Senbero Cooking, but we’re back on track with me, Mr. Sato!”

▼ Mr. Sato: “Looks like we’re making some tempura, so I guess we’ll start with the batter. After all, you can’t have Senbero Cooking without the cooking, am I right?”

▼ P.K. Sanjun: “Sorry, I gotta get through here… Isn’t this Japan’s Best Home Senbero though?”
Mr. Sato: “You’re screwing up the camera’s focus, man.”

▼ Mr. Sato: “Sorry folks, this episode of Japan’s Best Home Senbero Cooking is just full of interruptions, isn’t it? Hahah!”

▼ Mr. Sato: “Back to our batter… Hmm… It doesn’t all seem to fit in this measuring cup.”

▼ Yoshio (behind the camera): “You’re supposed to just use the cup to measure it and then put it in the bowl.”
Mr. Sato: “Ah yeah, that makes sense…”

▼ Mr. Sato: “I guess that’s why they call it a ‘measuring cup.'”
Yoshio: “You don’t cook much, do you?”

▼ Mr. Sato: “Oh, hush, you do know you’re talking to the host of Senbero Cooking, don’t you?”
Yoshio: “It’s Japan’s Best Home Senbero.”
Mr. Sato: “Same difference…”

▼ Mr. Sato: “Check it out! This measuring cup even measures water. Whoever designed this thing is a genius!”

Mr. Sato celebrated putting flour and water into a bowl by triumphantly raising his fist in the air.

He then started to mix the ingredients together.

As he mixed, the sheer joy of cooking began to envelop his heart with a warm glow.

That same warm glow began to wrap around the blood vessels in his brain, causing the circulation in it to slow down considerably.

▼ Mr. Sato: “Um… That should do it. Now… it’s time to dip the norimaki!”

▼ Mr. Sato: “Here I go…”

Our reporter dipped beneath the table and quickly re-emerged looking rather different.

▼ Mr. Sato: “Hey, it’s me…”

▼ Mr. Sato: “Arale Norimaki!”

▼ Mr. Sato: “See, because I dipped and then, you know… We’re working on a costume budget. See you later, folks!”

Mr. Sato then began cutting the sushi rolls into shorter segments so they’ll fry more easily.

▼ Mr. Sato: “Ahiruneko bought these so I don’t know what’s inside. Looks like kanpyo, natto, and mentaiko…”

Next, he put slices in the sausages so they wouldn’t explode while being fried.

After heating the oil, he decided to just try a couple pieces first to see if everything was OK.

He put the batter-dipped pieces of sushi into the oil but their color changed rather quickly, suggesting the oil was too hot.

Before continuing, he put the pieces onto a rack to drip and cool before a quick taste test.

▼ Mr. Sato: “Let’s see how this is…”

▼ Mr. Sato: “Oh, wow! This is really good! The seaweed is crispy and there’s a nice aroma. I think I’ve just created the best senbero recipe ever!”

While the sushi tempura idea was technically Ahiruneko’s, he did sell the rights to Senbero Cooking for some chicken so Mr. Sato was legally able to take credit for it. He felt those test pieces weren’t thoroughly cooked though, so he lowered the temperature a bit for a more even job.

Suddenly a small bit of oil splattered up and came into contact with our reporter’s hand.

▼ Mr. Sato: “Ouch!”
Yoshio: “Quick! Do your feng shui!”

▼ Mr. Sato: “Oh yeah, good call! Ouch, ouch, ouch…”

▼ Mr. Sato: “Ouch, ouch, ouch…”

▼ Mr. Sato: “I call upon the energies of the eastern wood element!”

Having successfully healed his slight and momentary pain, Mr. Sato finished frying his food.

▼ Mr. Sato: “These are frying up much better now.”

After that, he did the sausages.

▼ Mr. Sato: “Oh, there’s something else here. What’s this?”

▼ Mr. Sato: “I can’t see it so well… Su… Su…mo…”

▼ Mr. Sato: “Sumo?”

▼ Mr. Sato: “SUUUUUUUUMOOOOOO!”

▼ Mr. Sato: “SSSSSSSSUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

▼ Mr. Sato: “Sumo! Sumo! Sumo!”

▼ Mr. Sato: “Sumo! Sumo!”

▼ Mr. Sato: “Sumo! Sumo! Sumo!”

▼ Mr. Sato: “Seiji! Sumo!”
Seiji: “Huh? Sumo?”

▼ Seiji: “Are you sure? For real?”
Mr. Sato: “Yeah, now bring it!”

As the two titans’ bodies clashed a thunderous sound boomed and shockwaves pulsed through the workstations.

▼ Seiji: “Arghhhh!”
Mr. Sato: “You’ve gotten better at this!”

▼ Seiji: “Hurgharghhhhhh!”

▼ Seiji: “Hurghurmph!”
Mr. Sato: “Ooof…”

▼ Seiji: “HYARGHHHHHNGH!”

▼ Mr. Sato: “Damn… Ya got me.”

▼ Seiji: “Bwahaha! You thought I was an easy target, didn’t you?”

▼ Mr. Sato: “Yes, Seiji, you have gotten much sturdier in your 10 years with our organization. I’m proud of you, son.”

Mr. Sato returned to the kitchen with a full heart at seeing how his co-worker had grown into a hearty young man. The next step was to fry up the Japanese plums.

Frying pickled plums seemed like a strange kind of overkill, but a senbero is all about new tastes and experiences.

The various battered and fried items were left to cool and dry off before eating.

And that completed the Super Value tempura senbero!

▼ Mr. Sato: “Yes… Time to eat!”

▼ Mr. Sato: “But first! I usually get the bottom-barrel alcohol that doesn’t taste good, but this alcopop Ahiruneko got looks really nice. It looks really sleety!”

▼ Mr. Sato: “I know! I should go around and ask people if they’re feeling sleety too!”

Worried about socializing with alcohol on the streets of Tokyo this close to Halloween, Mr. Sato decided to change his man-on-the-street segment to a man-in-the-office one.

▼ Mr. Sato: “Excuse me, sir! I’m with SoraNews24. May I have a moment of your time?”
Takamichi: “Oh, why yes. I’m a big fan.”

▼ Mr. Sato: “I’m doing a poll in light of all the political news recently and want to know: Are you sleety?”
Takamichi: “Oh hell yeah! I’m already pretty sleety.”

▼ Mr. Sato: “Excuse me, sir? Are you or have you ever been sleety?”

▼ Yuichiro: “Oh, I’m totally sleety. No doubt!”

▼ Mr. Sato: “I’m sorry, sir. Did I catch you at a bad time?”
Go: “Yes. Make it quick.”

▼ Mr. Sato: “Are you sleety?”
Go: “Why didn’t you say so in the first place? I certainly am, good sir!”

After getting enough polling data, Mr. Sato returned to his senbero.

▼ Mr. Sato: “Let’s try drinking this sleet stuff. By the way, I thought I just made ‘sleety’ up but they all seemed to know what it meant… I wonder what it is.”

Mr. Sato decided to drown his curiosity in his sleety lemon drink. It was much smoother and more delicious than his past beverages like discounted artificial beer-flavored drink.

But it was still the deep-fried sushi rolls that stole the show in this senbero. They were a double-threat of texture and flavor that made him want to eat more and more.

They also went great with alcohol – a true home senbero innovation!

Our reporter was also worried the tempura pickled plums would be too sour, but somehow the tartness was reduced by the frying. It just goes to show, you can never be sure what the result of cooking might be.

▼ “Knock! Knock!”

▼ Mr. Sato: “Huh? There were no guests scheduled for this senbero. Who is that?”

▼ Mr. Sato: “Cutieboy QT, is that you?!”

▼ Mr. Sato: “Hmm? Nobody… I could have sworn I heard a knock. Maybe my mind is getting too sleety.”

Mr. Sato returned to his fried foods and a few minutes later…

▼ “Knock! Knock!”

▼ Mr. Sato: “Again? Maybe I’m not hearing things if it happened twice.”

▼ Mr. Sato: “Huh? No one again! What’s going on here? Is this some kind of sleety prank?”

▼ Ahiruneko: “Yo! Down here!”

▼ Mr. Sato: “Eek!”

▼ Mr. Sato: “Ahiruneko! It’s you?!”

▼ Ahiruneko: “Yes, it is I, Ahiruneko. You were supposed to get me a chicken bento but you didn’t. I am now so hungry that I have no energy. This wasn’t part of the deal… THIS WASN’T PART OF THE DEAL!”

▼ Mr. Sato: “Oh, jeez! I’m sorry. Hang on! I’ll go get you something to eat.”

▼ Ahiruneko: “Yesssss… I… would appreciate that…”

▼ Mr. Sato: “I came up with this awesome recipe for sushi tempura. You’re gonna love it!”

▼ Ahiruneko: “Actually, that’s mahurghngh…”
Mr. Sato: “Shushhhhhh… Save your energy and eat my tasty morsels.”

▼ Ahiruneko: “Mmm… Mmm…”

▼ Ahiruneko: “I knew those would be good…”

▼ Mr. Sato: “I think there’s an orange around here too… Oh! There it is.”

▼ Mr. Sato: “Why is it on your head, Masanuki? Are you supposed to be one of those sleety mikan dogs?”
Masanuki: “…”

▼ Masanuki: “Meow!”

▼ Mr. Sato: “He’s a cat!!!”
“To be continued!”

Um… Yeah, I’m not sure this will be explained at all in the next episode, but we did discover that tempura sushi rolls are really good. Those two things ought to cancel each other out, so hopefully you’re not too mad and will join us next time on Japan’s Sleetiest Home Senbero!

Catch up on all our “Japan’s Best Home Senbero” articles here:
Episode #1 – Lawson Store 100
Episode #2 – Don Quijote
Episode #3 – Costco
Episode #4 – IKEA
Episode #5 – ABS Wholesale Center
Episode #6 – Aeon
Episode #7 – Kaldi
Episode #8 – 7-Eleven
Episode #9 – Milk and Cake for Dogs
Episode #10 – Hanamasa Meat
Episode #11 – Life
Episode #12 – Shokuhinkan Aoba
Episode #13 – Seiyu
Episode #14 – Amika
Episode #15 – Lopia
Episode #16 – OK
Episdoe #17 – Family Mart
Episode #18 – Manbero
Episode #19 – Ministop
Episode #20 – Yaoko
Episode #21 – Cosmos
Episode #22 – Daily Yamazaki
Episode #23 – Panbero
Episode #24 – Senpafe
Episode #25 – Valor
Episode #26 – Costco/Gyomu Double Senbero

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