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food (Page 272)

This is what happens when you order ramen with “200 times” the regular spiciness

Ramen is a popular comfort food in Japan because, unlike many Japanese foods, there’s very little formality in eating it, it’s not especially good for you and therefore tastes wonderful, and you’re generally free to customize to your heart’s content, choosing a broth of your liking and then heaping on the toppings until you can barely see the noodles if you so desire.

Spicy ramen varieties aren’t uncommon, either, with many popular chains such as Ichiran offering customizable spiciness levels from one to ten. Of course, if you’re the right combination of bored, crazy and rich, you can pay extra to exceed the tenth level of spiciness; right on up to 200 times normal.

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10 ways shopping at Wal-Mart in China is completely different from how it is in the US

Wal-Mart just recalled donkey meat in China because it contained meat from other animals, including fox.

Despite the recent scandal, the mega-retailer has become wildly popular in China. Wal-Mart plans to open 110 additional stores there in the next few years.

Shopping at a Chinese Wal-Mart is totally different from shopping in one in the U.S.

We highlighted some notable contrasts.

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It’s the year of the horse, so let’s… eat a horse!?

2014 is the year of the horse, according to the Chinese zodiac. The Chinese zodiac animals play an important role in Japanese new year traditions, even though they no longer follow the Chinese lunar calendar. Themed goods featuring the zodiac animal of the year can be seen almost everywhere you go when the new year comes around. Yokohama originated bakery Pompadour created this adorable horse character bun for the occasion!

Wait, what? There’s real horse meat in it?!

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Nullify your New Year’s weight loss resolution with Year of the Horse roll cake

In Japan, 2014 will be another “Horse Year” on the Japanese zodiac calendar. Last year, Japan celebrated the snake, which is said to bring wisdom and good monetary fortune to businesses. The horse, however, brings leadership, good business partnerships, and instant failure to all weight loss resolutions in the form of this adorable customized roll cake from Tokyo’s renowned Rihga Royal Hotel.

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How most Japanese people spend their New Year’s: eating nonstop at home 【Poll】

How will you be spending New Year’s Eve this year? Celebrating with family or friends? Watching a countdown on TV? Sleeping, oblivious to the world and perfectly happy about it? Here’s what Japanese respondents on one online poll said they’re be doing when the ball drops, the clock strikes twelve, and the temple bells are rung 108 times.

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McDonald’s Japan serving “American Vintage” burgers starting this January

Ah, the good old days! It seems like every generation longs for that time when they were young and all was right with the world. McDonald’s Japan is taking that feeling of nostalgia and cramming it into a hamburger with their freshly announced American Vintage campaign, taking us back in time with 1950’s diner fare, 1970s soul food and 1980s pop culture cuisine.

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We cook a Christmas cake in a rice cooker to ring in the holidays

When discussing Christmas in Japan it would be remiss not to mention the traditional cake that families and individuals buy during this time of the year. RocketNews24 also purchased a cute Santa cake to please our collective sweet teeth and warm our bellies in the cold winter.

However, it wouldn’t be a RocketNews24 Christmas with cooking that bad boy up in a rice cooker. Heck, if Big Macs or Oreos work, then rice-cooker-cooked Christmas cake should be a grand slam. Unsurprisingly (for us at least) the results were both festively pretty and delicious!

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5 reasons Japanese convenience stores rock

You have probably noticed that we here at RocketNews24 are huge fans of Japanese convenience stores. And if you have ever lived in or visited Japan, odds are you too came to love these amazing places. But what exactly makes Japanese convenience stores so different and special compared to those overseas? Click below to see five reasons why we think these “conbini” totally live up to the hype! 

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Pizza Hut Japan’s latest promotion gives “golden crust pizza” new meaning

Though it may not be a traditional holiday dish, pizza is often the perfect entrée for the holiday season. After all, between Christmas and New Years, there’s bound to be an opportunity to throw a party for your friends, and for those who’d rather not slave away in the kitchen for a day, pizza is often the best way to provide food to a group.

Well now Pizza Hut Japan has given us a new reason to party: in its latest promotion, the company is giving away actual gold necklaces worth nearly a thousand dollars each.

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Troll your friends with personalized “Made in China” M&M’s this Christmas!

We’re all familiar with M&M’s, the colorful candy-coated chocolates, but did you know that you could create your very own M&M’s? Okay, perhaps some of you lucky people have visited M&M’s World and already know about this, but for the rest of us who don’t, YOU CAN CUSTOMIZE M&M’s! You can even print your Twitter ID on it! If you don’t have a Twitter account, that’s perhaps the best reason to get one.

Our reporter Kuzo takes us through the customization process!

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  • Dec 19, 2013

New banana shake-flavored Tokyo Banana cakes come out — in bright prints!

Visitors to Tokyo may be aware of a popular local sweet called Tokyo Banana sold here in the city. They’re cute, yellow, banana-shaped sponge cakes with banana custard cream filling inside. And yes, they’re as good as the description sounds, which is why the cakes are a well-loved treat in Japan, and seemingly in other  parts of the world as well, as I’ve actually heard people from Singapore and Malaysia mention that they’re fans of the cake.

One of the reporters at our sister site Pouch is also apparently a big fan, so when a new version of Tokyo Banana came out this month, she naturally had to get her hands on some! And what’s so special about the new Tokyo Banana cakes? Well, to start with, they’re only sold at one location — Tokyo Station to be exact — and not only do they come in a different flavor from the regular cakes, they come in beautiful, colorful prints!

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Too lazy to cook? Try these new ready-made meals from Japanese convenience stores!

If you are hungry, Japanese convenience stores are beautiful places that have pretty much everything your heart could desire, from a quick on-the-go snack to a yummy summertime ice cream treat. And some of the best things they offer are ready-made meals like curry and rice, pasta or ramen. These ready-made meals can be like a gift from heaven on a busy day when you don’t have time to cook and need to take a break from frozen food.

But did you know that many convenience stores in Japan put out a new ready-made meal every Tuesday? Since you may find it hard to stake out every convenience store, we sent our reporters to try out some new meals. Click below to see the six that they recommended!

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Baskin Robbins Japan accepting pre-orders for Kagami Mochi Ice Cream Cakes

With New Year’s just around the corner supermarkets and department stores all over Japan are displaying kagami mochi. These are mounds of the popular Japanese food mochi which is made from rice and has a gummy consistency.

They can serve as household decorations up until 1 January when they may then be happily, and hopefully safely, devoured. However, mochi has a subtle sweetness that some might find rather bland. If that’s the case for you then Baskin Robbins is hoping you’ll enjoy their Kagami Mochi Ice Cream Cakes.

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Curry of the Dead: Zombie-bait curry that’s good enough for human consumption

So, let’s say you wake up one morning, unlock your smartphone, and find yourself bombarded with all caps texts from friends about some “zombie apocalypse.” And probably a few Instagram selfies, too, just to mark the occasion.

You look out the window and, sure enough, there go a few zombies shuffling down the street, moaning about brains.

What would you do??

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We try some “First Love” flavored gyoza in Tochigi’s “Gyoza Town”

Utsunomiya City in Tochigi Prefecture is famous nation-wide for its Chinese fried dumplings known as gyoza in Japan. The capital city boasts over 200 gyoza shops many of which are densely located near Utsunomiya Station in what is known as “Gyoza Town.”

Our reporter, Usagi, braved the imminent threat of deliciousness and boarded a Tochigi-bound train. Next stop: Gyoza Town!

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We go behind the scenes at Japan Airlines’ in-flight meal factory【Photos】

Airline meals once had a pretty bad rap, but in-flight food has improved quite a bit since Seinfeld was wondering what its deal was. And really, isn’t it kind of amazing that you can get a hot meal at all when you are barreling through the sky at 600 miles per hour in a small metal tube?

For everyone that has ever wondered how that perfectly portioned food turns up on your tray, we’ve gone behind that scenes at the in-flight meal production center for Japan Airlines (JAL) to get the scoop.

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Cakes disguised as Chinese food for under-the-radar sweet sneaking or just confusing your brain

I recently went to a cake shop, but when the time came to order, I said, “I’ll have the soy sauce ramen with a side of fried dumplings.” Don’t worry, I haven’t lost my mind. I was just at a hot new sweets shop in Shinjuku called, Maplise, where the specialty of the house is a decadent dessert that looks like a hot bowl of noodles.

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The top 10 Japanese restaurants outside of Japan

Last month, the outspoken Japanese blogger Madame Riri gave us all a lesson in how to tell whether or not a restaurant abroad serves authentic Japanese food. But let’s be honest, it takes more than tradition to make a dish delicious, and there’s something to be said for adjusting the menu to match local preferences. We’ve certainly experienced this phenomenon in the wide world of sushi!

And so, to celebrate the creation of successful Japanese eateries across the globe, here are the top 10 restaurants that serve Japanese food in foreign countries!

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American chef perfectly captures the scrumptious soul of Japanese cuisine 【Video】

A lot can be learned about a culture by investigating what it eats. Japanese cuisine is full of tradition in terms of preparation and presentation, thoughtfulness in regards to portion sizes, and an overall sense of resourcefulness. There are many things on the menu that may not sound appetizing to people with a Western palate when given a detailed description, but with good visual presentation, even the most obscure sounding dishes can become mouth-watering morsels.

The video From Japan with Love (and Dashi) produced by foodie and filmmaker Daniel Klein gives us all an amazing glance at some of Japan’s most iconic dishes. It gives a fine glimpse into the soul of Japan and is guaranteed to leave you hungry for Japanese cuisine!

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12 culinary delights from Japan that you can find in New York City

As much as we at RocketNews24 love talking about Japanese food and introducing our readers to new places to eat or our own crazy culinary creations, we appreciate that for many, popping over to Tokyo or Osaka for a week of washoku dining bliss simply isn’t on the cards. But thankfully, great Japanese food can be found all over the world – if you know where to look!

For those of you to whom New York is a heck of a lot closer than Tokyo, Susan Miyagi Hamaker, one of our friends from JapanCulture•NYC, has prepared a fantastic list of 12 authentic Japanese foods that are available within the city, even sharing some tips on which restaurants to check out if you’re in town. Yup, the real just got that little bit closer!

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