Gyonuts look set to become the nation’s trendiest new sweet. 

Japan loves to throw out the rulebook when it comes to foreign-born sweets, a fact we recently saw when udon noodle chain Marugame Seimen released Udonuts, made with – you guessed it – udon flour.

These unusual doughnuts became a surprise hit, with the chain selling more than a million servings in the six days following their release.

▼ Since then, the Udonuts continue to be a hit, even collaborating with Dragon Ball Z.

Now, Osaka Ohsho, a popular local restaurant chain specializing in Japanese-Chinese cuisine, particularly gyoza, is adding another weird doughnut to the sweets scene: the Gyonut.

As you might have guessed, Gyonut, or “Gyonatsu” as it’s pronounced in Japanese, is an amalgamation of the words “gyoza” and “doughnut”, and that’s exactly what this treat is about. Like Udonuts, these new morsels promise to be delicious while also making use of ingredients that would otherwise go to waste, making them good for both customers and the planet.

▼ 大阪王将 = Osaka Ohsho

▼ The new gyoza doughnuts are made from gyoza wrappers, and they first began appearing in stores last year.

According to Osaka Ohsho’s official website, these fried treats aren’t only made with gyoza wrappers, as they also make use of croissant dough. This suggests a more complex texture than the Udonuts, and with such unusual flavours on offer – Gyoza, Sugar, Strawberry Milk, Chocolate and Mapo Tofu – these definitely push the boat out on what normally constitutes a doughnut.

▼ The Gyonuts come in packs of five for 300 yen (US$1.92), and we purchased the Mapo Tofu, Sugar, and Gyoza varieties.

Gyonuts are fried to order, so it takes a little time for them to be served. However, the fact that they are guaranteed to be freshly fried and piping hot are one of their strengths, so we had high hopes for the tasting.

Starting with the Sugar variety, we were instantly hooked on the flavour it delivered. Powdery sugar coated the tongue to provide a mellow and consistent sweetness, while the crunchy, slightly hard texture was reminiscent of Sata Andagi, doughnuts that are a local specialty in Okinawa.

▼ The firm exterior gives it a wonderfully fluffy centre, just like a sata andagi.

The freshly made nature of the doughnut ensures the exterior maintains just the right amount of firmness, making for an impressive mouthfeel. This gave each one a signature texture that remained consistent throughout the board, but one thing that certainly wasn’t consistent was the flavours.

▼ Mapo Tofu

Mapo Tofu is a spicy tofu dish, and while it tastes great as a standalone meal, the doughnut version blew our minds. The flavour appeared to be all in the powder, and it tasted identical to mapo tofu, breaking all our preconceptions on what a doughnut should be.

Even our reporter Seiji Nakazawa, who eats a lot of Chinese food, confirmed that it tasted like the real thing, and when he tried the gyoza variety, it too, tasted so much like a dumpling that he couldn’t quite believe what he was eating.

The flavour of the Gyonuts was totally unexpected, and the Mapo Tofu and Gyoza varieties were so strong and punchy that they overpowered the palate, in a good way. Seiji says they’re like nothing he’s ever tasted before, and he reckons foreign visitors to Japan will get a kick out of trying them, as it shows just how weird things can get in this land of uniquely Japanese creations.

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