Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
food (Page 290)
Is there no end to the Golden Arches’ generosity?
Just as the restaurant’s french fry offer comes to an end– but not before some teenagers took full advantage– McDonald’s Japan has announced that it’s about to give away free hamburgers.
That’s right- even to degenerates like you and me!
Full details after the jump>>>
It’s not every day that you hear of a dish whose ingredients include a chemical element.
When most people hear of cesium, they probably think of either high school chemistry class or, if you happened to be glued to the TV during last year’s nuclear disaster in Fukushima, the element’s association with radiation…
So when a restaurant in central Tokyo openly advertising a lunch-time curry featuring a “cesium burger” came to our attention, we had to check it out.
Our brave food reporter Kuzo headed into town to find out whether the rumours were true and, if they were, to see what on earth a meal featuring a potentially hazardous chemical substance could taste like…
Sarabeth’s is a popular New York bakery restaurant chain featuring a breakfast menu loved by the locals since 1981, and has become such a huge part of New York food culture that it has influenced movies, TV, and publishing. And now Sarabeth’s has finally arrived in Japan, opening a branch in Shinjuku at the beginning of this month.
Rocketnews24 correspondent/foodie extraordinaire Kuzo went to check it out!
When travelling to America, most Japanese people usually have one or two “must-eat” foods on their itinerary, the most popular of which are probably hamburger and apple pie.
When our Japanese reporter, Yoshio, visited America last month, he wasted no time in seeking out the former. His haste and curiosity led him to something called the Donut Burger, which, as you might imagine, didn’t go over so well.
Determined not to commit the same mistake with his apple pie, Yoshio had his American acquaintances point him in the direction of the best damn all-American apple pie the country has to offer.
Where did that take him? Check his report below to find out!
You, Me, And a Tanuki is a weekly featured blog run by Michelle, a Californian who is currently one of only two foreigners living in Chibu, a tiny fishing village on one of the Oki islands in Japan. Check back every Saturday for a new post or read more on her website here!
If I ever have a craving for fish, I just have to stand out in front of my house and wait for a fisherman to drive by (which won’t take too long since I live on an island). Last Monday I was waiting outside with my husband to be picked up for a work party when the taxi driver (who is also a fisherman) drove by. He stopped his little K-truck and asked if we wanted some fish. I said yes and he proceeded to fill a plastic grocery bag with around 20 flying fish, 4 long scary looking fish, 3 or so pokey fish, and a weird purple/blue crab (sorry, he said the names in Japanese so quickly that I didn’t manage to remember them all. Any fish experts, please tell me what they are in the comments section below).
Aside from their yearly Big America burgers, McDonald’s Japan is usually mild-mannered when it comes to gimmicky burgers. Burger King Japan, however, is the flashy, too-much-making-wearing stepsister of the far more popular McDonald’s. From the Pumpkin Bomb Burger, filled with deep-fried pieces of kabocha to the BK RiNGO Burger filled with grilled slices of apples and cinnamon, BK Japan has produced their fair share of shocking burgers.
Arguably the most shocking burger to grace the “BK Lounge” was the completely black Kuro Burger, released in September.
Since McDonald’s doesn’t have a black version of their signature sandwich, our resident foodie, Kuzo, decided to make his own Black BigMac…a BigBlack if you will.
Read More
As fall turns into winter, Japanese people look to food such as hot noodle dishes as a tasty way to warm up. Udon noodles, in particular, are great during the winter, and nothing beats slurping up a steaming bowl of udon on a cold day.
We discovered a unique way to eat hot udon noodles at Mentouan, a noodle shop in Nara. When you order a bowl of udon at Mentouan, you are presented with what appears to be a small pouch floating in broth…but you can’t see the noodles!
Following his report of Kyoto’s gigantic one-noodle udon, our resident foodie Kuzo went to Mentouan to try this “invisible udon” for himself. Read More
Udon is one of Japan’s most well-loved noodles dishes, ranking in line with soba and ramen. Everyone has an opinion over which is the tastiest, but those who like a bit of girth in their noodles will probably go for udon, which are traditionally rolled thicker than other Japanese noodles.
If you really want something to chew on, Tawaraya, an established noodle house in Kyoto, makes udon noodles so thick that only one fits inside the bowl.
Our resident foodie, Kuzo, recently took a train out to the ancient capital to try Tawaraya’s udon for himself. Check out his report below!
Villa Escudero is a beautiful hacienda-style resort built inside a working coconut plantation located in the Quezon province of the Phillipines. The resort has become a prime tourist destination for both locals and overseas visitors, who are drawn by the cozy rooms, natural beauty, and unique cultural activities such as bamboo rafting and rural village tours.
Perhaps most unique of all is the Waterfalls Restaurant, where guests can enjoy a meal on bamboo dining tables set at the foot of a small waterfall.
Before departing on his trip to the United States, our Japanese reporter Yoshio told us that he was looking forward to eating a real American burger. What that meant to him, apparently, was a 50% ground beef and 50% ground bacon patty wedged between two glazed donuts and skewered on a steak knife.
Are you happy now, America? Japan associates you with bacon and glazed donuts. Actually, that sounds about right…
Check out Yoshio’s taste report below!
Fight! Fight! Fight!
Times are tough in Japan, and, as reported here on RocketNews24 earlier this week, the country’s two biggest gyūdon chains, Sukiya and Yoshinoya, are tightening their belts after seeing financial losses in the first half of the tax year.
The restaurants’ response to the decrease in profits? Stop cutting costs, end the focus on dirt-cheap dishes and instead launch new, fancier menus in the hope of enticing new customers and squeezing a few extra yen out of regular patrons.
Both Yoshinoya and Sukiya’s new dishes that are more than twice the price of their regular gyūdon staples, but the restaurants claim that they are a cut above the rest as a result. But will the average salary-man, with just 500 yen per day to spend on lunch, want to pay extra for a fancier menu? And if they do, which dish should they choose?
Armed with a camera and grumbling stomachs, we headed out to both restaurants on two seperate days to try the new dishes for ourselves.
Let the New Gyūdon Wars begin!
We Japanese love rice; we’re quite obsessed with rice, in fact. We all have our favorite brand of rice, depending on the specific type of rice and the location it was grown (yes, location is very important and can greatly affect the price of the rice), and some people shell out a fortune to buy super-expensive “high-end” brand rice. But not many Japanese people are familiar with biryani, the spicy flavored rice common in India and some Muslim countries as well.
One of our reporters at the Pouch site recently had the chance to taste some excellent biryani right in the middle of Tokyo and shares with us her experience. Her report follows below. Read More
First of all, let it be known that I like meat.
Chicken, beef, turkey, pork; it’s all good. While I’m by no means shy of vegetables or fish, I love to cook, and there are few meals that I enjoy more than a good chicken curry, a classic beef lasagne, home-made hamburgers, or a nice, simple, piece of medium-rare steak.
But when food comes to me with its face still intact, I’m not so happy.
In the past, a few vegetarians have told me “If you couldn’t bring yourself to kill and prepare meat then you shouldn’t eat it.” Personally, I wouldn’t care to chop down a tree and painstakingly make individual sheets of paper, either, but I’m still happy to use the stuff on a daily basis, but even if it makes me a wimp, or immoral, I’m still happy to eat meat so long as I don’t have to get my hands dirty. So long as there are no eyes looking up at me from the plate, and preferably nothing that screams “I used to be alive, you know!”, I’m happy to tuck in.
So when I came across ITMedia writer Wataru Kato’s first-hand experience of eating a whole, roasted rodent, it was with both a curious mind and a slightly churning stomach that I read on, wondering whether, were I presented with the same dish, I could bring myself to eat it, let alone sit with it staring back at me.
The rodent in question is a specially bred Peruvian guinea pig, quite far removed from the kind of creature you might spot scuttling down a dark alley or up a drain pipe.
Nevertheless, we recommend tackling this particular story after you’ve finished your next meal.
Hold on to your lunch…
【Once upon a time, nobody read RocketNews24 because it was really really bad. RocketRevival is a weekly corner that takes a look at some of our more passable articles from that bygone era that still hold valuable lessons today.】
Over the past ten years or so, sushi has become one of the most popular dishes in the world and has mainstreamed the consumption of raw fish in countries that previously wouldn’t think of sticking a fork in a salmon without grilling it first. While some people may still feel apprehensive when trying sushi for the first time, it usually only takes one bite of faith and you’re hooked.
On a trip to Thailand, however, one of our reporters found a seafood dish so raw that even the most sushi-loving Japanese might think twice before sticking it between their chopsticks.
As the summer cools back down to a comfortable autumn, the cockroach index has slid to a 1 across much of Japan. But before they go to sleep in many parts of the world, it looks like our little black friends are squirming their way into the headlines to give us something to remember them by.
We’ve all probably heard the tale of Edward Archbold who mysteriously died after winning a cockroach eating contest in the USA. However, in China, roaches making quite a stir – by getting stirred into the food.
Stereotypes; you have to love them.
Americans all own guns; every Brit has bad teeth; Asians make bad drivers; Koreans all eat Kimchi.
Usually stereotypes are utter nonsense- none of my American friends have ever held a real gun, let alone own one; a Japanese friend of mine once piloted my car along possibly the narrowest mountain road known to man when I was too freaked out to do it myself; and, as far as I can tell, my teeth are not in need of any urgent dental work.
But with 18kg (40lbs) of kimchi consumed per person in Korea each year, there might just be a grain of truth to that last stereotype.
So when news broke earlier today that Korea now imports more of its own national dish than it makes, it’s understandable that there were a few raised eyebrows… Read More
About half of the milk in Japan is produced in the beautiful and vast countryside of Hokkaido, the largest of Japan’s 47 prefectures and northernmost of Japan’s four main islands. As such, cows have become a symbol of the prefecture. Walk into any souvenir shop in the prefecture and you’re bound to find a few locally-produced snacks with bovine-inspired packaging.
On a recent trip to Hokkaido, one of our reporters came across one such snack that was a little less run-of-the-mill than your usual butter cookies: “Cow Poop?” chocolate mochi.
Japanese anime production studio Khara wants to make sure you’re excited for the upcoming Evangelion: 3.0 movie and they’re proving their sincerity by serving you the Third Angel Sachiel’s head on a platter.
Japan’s newest Shinkansen has no seats…or passengers [Video]
Foreigners accounting for over 80 percent of off-course skiers needing rescue in Japan’s Hokkaido
Sanrio changes Hello Kitty lead designer for first time in 46 years
Starbucks Japan unveils new sakura Frappuccino for cherry blossom season 2026
Testing Japan’s fluffy mayonnaise pancake cooking hack【SoraKitchen】
Man in Japan takes four parakeets hostage in attempt to force woman to meet with him
Studio Ghibli adds new anime character badges to its streetwear shop in Japan
Angry Japanese mayor wants off-season Mt. Fuji hikers to pay costs of their rescue operations
Cherry blossom sake rice beer arriving in Japan well ahead of cherry blossom season, but how?
A look back on 40 years of Japanese schools banning stuffJapan’s newest Shinkansen has no seats…or passengers [Video]Foreigners accounting for over 80 percent of off-course skiers needing rescue in Japan’s Hokkaido
Is China’s don’t-go-to-Japan warning affecting the lines at a popular Tokyo gyukatsu restaurant?
Three beautiful places to see Japan’s plum blossoms after starting your day in downtown Tokyo
Downloads of 39-year-old Guns N’ Roses song increase 12,166 percent thanks to GundamA look back on 40 years of Japanese schools banning stuff
New Family Mart cinema opens inside Japanese airport
Take a trip to Japan’s Dododo Land, the most irritating place on Earth
Man arrested in Japan after leaving car in coin parking lot for six years, racking up three-million-yen bill
Huge Evangelion Unit-01 head appearing in lights in Japan to celebrate anime’s 30th anniversary
Starbucks Japan releases new drinkware and goods for Valentine’s DayJapan’s newest Shinkansen has no seats…or passengers [Video]Foreigners accounting for over 80 percent of off-course skiers needing rescue in Japan’s Hokkaido
Japan releases first official sakura cherry blossom forecast for 2026
Archfiend Hello Kitty appears as Sanrio launches new team-up with Yu-Gi-Oh【Pics】
China’s don’t-go-to-Japan warning looks to be affecting tourist crowds on MiyajimaIs China’s don’t-go-to-Japan warning affecting the lines at a popular Tokyo gyukatsu restaurant?
Studio Ghibli releases new “komorebi” plush toys from Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away
Yokai are descending upon Tokyo this spring in the latest immersive art experience
Japan’s Naruto theme park now offering real-world version of Minato’s kunai ninja weapon
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 TokyoStarbucks 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
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】Japan’s newest Shinkansen has no seats…or passengers [Video]
No more using real katana for tourism activities, Japan’s National Police Agency says
Starbucks Japan reveals new sakura drinkware collection, inspired by evening cherry blossoms
Man in Japan takes four parakeets hostage in attempt to force woman to meet with him
Studio Ghibli adds new anime character badges to its streetwear shop in Japan
Angry Japanese mayor wants off-season Mt. Fuji hikers to pay costs of their rescue operations
Cherry blossom sake rice beer arriving in Japan well ahead of cherry blossom season, but how?
A look back on 40 years of Japanese schools banning stuff
Haku is…Chihiro’s dead brother? Studio Ghibli fans blown away by Spirited Away theory
Japan’s 10 best Ferris wheels for beautiful views, as chosen by travelers【Survey】
Is a snow day the perfect day to beat the crowds at a popular ramen restaurant? [Experiment]
Godzilla-shaped ice cream on sale in Tokyo near the sight his most adorable rampage
Japan’s permanent Pokémon theme park zone announces grand opening date, ticket sale start
Ghost in the Sheel goes traditional with Japanese porcelain Tachikoma robots, only 50 to be made
Senkoji: The Japanese temple that’s more like a theme park to heaven and hell
Japan Travel: Explore a hidden cave on a tiny monorail roller coaster thrill ride in Nara
Where’s the very best seat to sit in on Japan’s Shinkansen? Our expert has an answer