The unusual burger is one of a number of restaurant meals usually not available to the public that can be purchased at a very special food event for a limited time.
pancakes (Page 3)
Hona Cafe, the popular pancake eatery from Fukuoka Prefecture in southern Japan, has arrived in Tokyo and is offering Tokyoites a taste of sweet, fluffy heaven!
Join our Japanese writer on a taste-test of dreams. We promise this is the only birthday cake you’ll ever need!
Who knew the seemingly specialized kitchen gadget was so multitalented?
Even if you’re not ordinarily a very artistic person, we bet you get a spark of inspiration when you’ve got a pancake on your plate. Who hasn’t drawn a doodle or sketched a smiley face in maple syrup, or at least initialed their flapjacks with the sticky, tasty condiment?
After all, tasty as they may be, pancakes look pretty dull if you don’t add any decoration…unless you’re dining at this restaurant in Japan where the pancakes come pre-decorated with images of Pikachu, Mario, and dozens of other anime and video game characters.
Although hardly new, Japan has been undergoing something of a boom in pancake consumption in recent years. With several trendy new restaurants opening up around the country, there has also been a significant rise in the popularity of homemade pancakes as well. Yes, with its warm and fluffy texture and mildly sweet flavor it’s certainly hard to turn down a hotcake, isn’t it?
While everyone is having a good time with their pancakes, some researchers and medical professionals would like to remind us all that pancakes and similar flour based foods have the potential to not only make us very ill, but in some cases may lead to death.
But before you go cursing out these wet blankets of science for ruining yet another beloved food with their health warnings, there’s actually an incredibly easy way to not die from eating flapjacks as well.
We thought we knew pancakes, but boy, were we wrong!
Our team prides itself on both seeking out and sampling good food, all in the name of science and hard-hitting journalism. Among our favorite treats are none other than heaping stacks of fluffy, buttery pancakes, which we’ve even adapted to bake in a Japanese rice cooker with epic results.
In other words, we thought we knew pretty much everything there is to know about the delicious comfort food, that is until one of our Japanese writers made an unexpected discovery–there’s a place in Japan that sells pancakes topped with baby anchovies!
We really got our hopes up when we heard that Denny’s Japan is offering an all-you-can-eat pancake buffet. For 999 yen (US$9.40), we were promised a pancake paradise complete with whipped cream, a choice of different ice cream flavors, and free toppings. It sounded almost magical.
It turns out, however, that Denny’s promised land of pancakes is little more than an illusion, as a number of Japanese netizens who rushed to the restaurant to try out the buffet reported leaving feeling utterly disappointed, with some commenting that the sorry excuse for a pancake party left even their kids crying, “I’m still hungry!”
It’s a fact: the world loves pancakes. That’s why we’re sure those of you who live outside of Japan will be jealous to hear that Denny’s Japan is offering an all-you-can-eat pancake deal that includes a variety of fruit, syrup, and ice cream toppings! The only thing better than this pancake buffet is the Japanese word for pancake: pankeiki. How cute is that?!
The humble pancake is a beloved food for both its deliciousness and how easy it is to make. It’s also a highly versatile food, suitable for either a sweet snack with powdered sugar, strawberries and syrup, or a savory dish served with chicken and lettuce.
Now, there appears to be a rumor among pancake aficionados in Japan that with one simple addition to the pancake mix it is possible to boost the flavor level to that of a luxury hotel or restaurant. That ingredient is none other than the typical Japanese seasoning made from fermented soybeans: miso.
We recently found out that you can use a rice cooker to make awesome, gigantic pancakes. Our first reaction was surprise, as we’d honestly never even thought to try. Soon enough, though, our surprise faded and was replaced by something even stronger: hunger.
So we decided to get off the culinary sidelines and whip up a batch for ourselves. Since we were using Japan’s most beloved kitchen appliance, we decided to take another cue from our adopted country and spruce things up a bit by making matcha green tea pancakes.
We’re going to spoil the ending right now and tell you that they taste amazing. Want to make them yourself? Read on and we’ll give you the whole incredibly easy recipe.
Is there anything better than breakfast for dinner? Well, okay, that’s a silly question. Obviously nothing is better than night-time breakfast–pretty much everyone would agree that sitting down to a plate full of pancakes drenched in syrup at 7 pm is simply awesome. And the best thing about breakfast-as-dinner is that it’s easy to make! Pancakes, eggs, bacon–all easy to throw together without much culinary skill needed.
But sometimes even flipping a pancake is just too much work. Thankfully, Roky – a machine that produces pancakes in the shape of popsicles – ensure that you needn’t lift a finger when ignoring basic dietary advice.
Every summer, I try to spend as many days as possible on the beach at Enoshima, and each time I get out of the station and walk towards the sand, I pass a long line of people waiting for a seat at the local pancake restaurant. This isn’t Japan’s only pancake joint with a lengthy wait, either, as you can find similar eateries with comparable lines in Tokyo, too.
It used to strike me as a little weird. After all, whipping up a stack of pancakes isn’t exactly the most challenging culinary feat. It can get tedious, though, as you settle into a monotonous pattern of plopping batter into the pan, flipping the half-cooked cake, and repeating over and over again.
Or, you could bypass all that by making an entire batch of pancakes all at once in a rice cooker.
MOST POPULAR
Now
7-Eleven Japan releases fukubukuro lucky bags filled with convenience store surprises
Celebrating Good Couple’s Day in Japan…by getting our significant others to dress us
Studio Ghibli releases new range of cardigans for anime fans
Beautiful Totoro bag returns, still requires jumping through an extra hoop to get, still worth it
Hello Kitty isn’t a cat!? We called Sanrio to find out!
Japanese burger chain no longer serves onion rings, but offers intriguing replacement【Taste test】
Japanese mochi tasting flight has roots in samurai dining culture
Forbidden area at Japanese mountaintop shrine opens to the public for first time in 400 years
How to cook miso soup (the right way) in a few simple steps【RocketKitchen】
Japanese job-quitting service contacted by other job-quitting service because employee wants to quit
Weekly
One of Japan’s most beautiful hot spring towns announces new limits on number of day trippers
Ghibli’s Princess Mononoke teams up with Foxfire for outdoor apparel collaboration【Photos】
Berserk T-shirts coming to Uniqlo for launch of new Manga Curation line【Photos】
Kyoto Whopper divides customers at Burger King Japan
Mario Kart Happy Meal toys arrive at McDonald’s Japan, and SoraNews24 has the whole set!【Photos】- Japanese burger chain no longer serves onion rings, but offers intriguing replacement【Taste test】
- Studio Ghibli releases new range of cardigans for anime fans
Taking the Kyoto overnight bus for the first time
Yakuza vending machines coming to real-world Tokyo neighborhood that inspired Like a Dragon games
Starbucks Japan unveils second Holiday Frappuccino for 2024
Monthly
Nintendo’s controller capsule toys are so cool, even the machine you buy them from is awesome【Pics】- One of Japan’s most beautiful hot spring towns announces new limits on number of day trippers
Tokyo Disneyland loses top-attendance crown for Japanese theme parks for second year in a row- Ghibli’s Princess Mononoke teams up with Foxfire for outdoor apparel collaboration【Photos】
Ghibli Park debuts first winter illumination display with Howl’s Moving Castle theme
Pringles releases a limited-edition sweet flavour in Japan
Sanrio and magical girl anime PreCure join forces for new merch line【Photos】- Japanese job-quitting service contacted by other job-quitting service because employee wants to quit
After cancelling Halloween, Tokyo’s Shibuya neighborhood cancels New Year’s Eve too- Berserk T-shirts coming to Uniqlo for launch of new Manga Curation line【Photos】
Yearly
McDonald’s new Happy Meals offer up cute and practical Sanrio lifestyle goods
Foreign tourists on Shinkansen bullet train break suitcase etiquette, angering local passengers
[Deleted] Article written for April Fool’s Day 2018
Japanese government to make first change to romanization spelling rules since the 1950s
Foreigner’s request for help in Tokyo makes us sad for the state of society
Ghibli founders Toshio Suzuki and Hayao Miyazaki contribute to Japanese whisky Totoro label design
Japanese convenience store Family Mart announces abolishment of eat-in spaces
Princesses, fruits, and blacksmiths: Study reveals the 30 most unusual family names in Japan
Life-size vibrating Legend of Zelda Master Sword for sale from Nintendo【Photos】
Studio Ghibli releases free-download board game — Here’s how to play it without reading Japanese
RECOMMENDED STORIES
Japanese burger chain no longer serves onion rings, but offers intriguing replacement【Taste test】
Japanese mochi tasting flight has roots in samurai dining culture
Forbidden area at Japanese mountaintop shrine opens to the public for first time in 400 years
How to cook miso soup (the right way) in a few simple steps【RocketKitchen】
Japanese job-quitting service contacted by other job-quitting service because employee wants to quit
Starbucks Japan reveals new holiday goods for the 2024 festive season
Catch! Noodles and bowls fly through the air at this Japanese ramen restaurant
Naturally brown-haired Osaka student sues government for forcing her to dye her hair black
Japan’s caramel gacha machines offer sweet thrills, but do they deliver?
You can now buy Shinkansen first-class oshibori moist towelettes online, no ticket required
We tried eating a raw “mizu nasu” eggplant, and it tastes like a weird fruit【Taste Test】
Kyoto Whopper divides customers at Burger King Japan
Pokémon Christmas season starting early with adorable new line of fashions and decorations【Pics】
11 different ways to say “father” in Japanese
-
