Chances are you’ve seen the Hokkaido Menkoi Nabe Kuma-chan Onsen. Menkoi means ‘cute’ in Hokkaido dialect, and these cute little bears are made from soup stock. Set them in a pot, and they begin to melt, looking like they’re enjoying a hot spring bath. Once they melt, you can enjoy their delicious flavor! Currently, the only place in Japan to offer this adorable and creative dish is a little shop in Miyamasu-Zaka, Shibuya, which opened in 2021. The shop is full every day, and getting a reservation can take up to a month!

For those unable to visit Japan, you can now purchase these tasty bears online.

Variations Available Online

Grab one of these cute bears and whip up the tastiest and most adorable meal you’ve ever had!

With just a small bit of ingenuity, turn everyday food into something cute using Kaori’s recipe series! With a few simple ideas, an ordinary recipe magically transforms into a cute dish.

For this recipe, you’ll learn how make mini Pompompurin pumpkin tarts! This is a simple recipe you can make with just a blender.

1: Ingredients

12 Tart shells

150g Pumpkin (deseeded, skin taken off and made soft)

50ml Fresh cream (In this recipe I used soy milk)

20-30g Sugar (Depending on the sweetness of the pumpkin)

1 Egg yolk (small egg)

Sliced Chocolate

Tinned yellow peach

2: Steam and make the pumpkin soft in the microwave. Place the softened pumpkin, sugar, fresh cream (or soy milk) and egg yolk into a blender.

3: Blitz until it’s mixed like in the photo above.

4: Pour the mixture from Step 3 into the tart shells and place into a 180℃ preheated oven. Lower the temperature to 140-150℃ and cook for 10-15 minutes. (You don’t want to brown anything, so we cook it on a low heat.)

If it looks like it’s about to start browning, cover with aluminium foil as this will prevent it from burning.

5: Once your cooked tarts have fully cooled down, use a round cutter to make a hat out of chocolate and a tear-drop cutter to make ears out of the yellow peach. The round ball on top of the hat can be made by breaking off some sliced chocolate and rolling it with your fingers.

Finally, drawn on the eyes, nose and mouth with a warmed chocolate pen!

The crunchy tart shells and moist pumpkin paste go pair together wonderfully! And the sourness from the yellow peach is perfect, making is really tasty♡

Kaori invites you into her world of character-themed food dishes in her recipe series!

Please check out her Instagram where she has uploaded many pictures of her character dishes!

“Blue Jean”, a bakery and café located inside Hotel New Hankyu in Osaka, added a new companion to their hugely popular cat bread line on July 1st.

The “Iro Neko Shoku Pan” is a cute bread loaf that comes in the shape of a cat. It costs ￥350 for one bag of 5 slices. The bread is crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. The product is so popular that people line up early outside the shop nearly 30 minutes before it opens to get their paws on one.

A new friend has joined the clowder. Now you can get the well-cooked brown bread version which if you toast smells absolutely divine. You should definitely try packing in as many ingredients as you can for the ultimate sandwich feast.

How can you pass up the opportunity to get bread like this? If you’re around Osaka, be sure to arrive early to Blue Jean to get your fingers into this kawaii cat bread!

Related Article：A cake shop in Kansai that is popular for its cute cat logo “Chat noir”

Related Article：Become a Cute Kitty Cat with the New Cat & Tail Roomwear from “Felissimo Neko-bu”!

To everyone out there who loves cute things and sweet things, we have something for you! There’s lots of places around Tokyo that serve the kind of sweets and treats that make you instantly search for your phone’s camera without even thinking. Check these out below!

1.  NEW NEW YORK CLUB（ニューニューヨーククラブ）／Jiyūgaoka

 This is what we’re talking about. This fresh bagel has the kind of visual impact that requires you to snap a photo. The combination of the sprinkles and multicoloured dough make it super colourful! It’s a dessert sandwich and goes by the name “Rainbow Colour Bagel Cream Cheese Sandwich” (￥600, tax-inclusive). It’s sold in a limited quantity every Saturday from 11:30am, at from 11:00am at the newly opened store in Azabu-Jūban.

2.DUMBO Doughnuts and Coffee（ダンボドーナツアンドコーヒー）／Azabu-Jūban

This café serves New York style doughnuts and coffee to go with it. If you slide your doughnut on top of your pink takeout coffee cup, then you have yourself one photogenic looking snack! You’ll want a straw to go with it, so be sure to order iced coffee. As for the hearty doughnuts, there are more than 10 to choose from. The price for a doughnut and coffee start at ￥660 (tax included).

3. MELTING IN THE MOUTH（メルティングインザマウス）／Hiroo

This seriously fluffy soft cream looks just like a toy. It’s made using a special method and so ensures its organic nature. And you can order it in either a cup or a cone! This is definitely one to post on your social media.

>>next page　Go to SHIMOKITA!!

With just a small touch, you can turn everyday food into a gorgeous dish worthy to be part of your SNS thread. This is the continuation of Arisa Shirai’s recipe series! With just a few ideas, an ordinary recipe can be shaped up to produce a photogenic masterpiece! Today we will be looking at a recipe that has an intense aesthetic impact — the “Cotton Candy Cocktail”.

■Ingredients (Fills 2 champagne glasses )

・40g Frozen mixed berries

・Soda — appropriate amount

・ 6g — syrup

・Mint leaves — small amount

・ Cotton candy — to your liking

・ 1g sprinkles/sugar toppings

■ How to make

① Add the frozen mixed berries, mint, syrup and soda into a champagne glass

②Use your hands to shred the cotton candy to size and place on top of the glass as a “lid” to the champagne glass.

③ Add toppings to the candy floss to your liking.

Pour soda into the champagne glass through the cotton candy barrier and watch it melt! It’s easy to make and very photogenic too so try it for yourself!

■Arisa Shirai

Visual food creator and researcher of colourful bentos. Arisa Shirai shows how fun it is to make and eat your own homemade food.

Instagram：arigohan

Blog：http://ameblo.jp/arinko0917/

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■Related article：A recipe for photogenic food #15 「Strawberry Cup Parfait.」

■Related article：A recipe for photogenic food #13 “Marshmallow Pops.”

This feature is made possible by Arisa Shirai, a cooking specialist who posts regular photos of her gorgeous food via her social media. She makes every day recipes look photogenic with her small twists.

This recipe shows you how to make a “Strawberry Cup Parfait.”

■Ingredients (serves 2)

・4 slices sandwich bread

・200g fresh cream

・25g sugar

・120g yoghurt

・8 strawberries

■How to Make

①Use a cup to cut circles out of the bread.

②Mix the fresh cream and sugar until they become frothy, then add the yoghurt and mix again

③Thinly slice the strawberries

④Add a piece of the bread you cut out and the remains, then the strawberry slices, and finally the cream you made in step ②. Repeat this until you reach the top, then finish it off by adding some more strawberries to decorate.

Doesn’t it look cute! The yoghurt and cream go perfect together so you can just scoop and lick everything out. It’s worthy of posting a photo of too. Be sure to try making it yourself.

■Arisa Shirai

Visual food creator & charaben researcher.

Arisa Shirai shows how fun it is to make and eat your own homemade food.

Instagram: arigohan

Blog: http://ameblo.jp/arinko0917/ 

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■Related article：A recipe for photogenic food #13 “Marshmallow Pops.”

With just a small touch, you can turn everyday food into a gorgeous dish worthy to be part of your SNS thread. This is the continuation of Arisa Shirai’s recipe series! With just a few ideas, an ordinary recipe can be shaped up to produce a photogenic masterpiece! Today we’ll be looking at a recipe for cute, round sushiー “Prosciutto ribbon sushi”.

■ Ingredients (Serves 4)

・ 4 Dry-cured ham slices

・ 1/5p Radish sprouts or salad cress (Kaiware)

・ 200g Japanese sushi rice

・25cc Sushi rice vinegar

■ How to make:

① Mix the vinegar with the rice.

②Roll and press the rice into a sushi shape.

③ Cut the ham into rectangular pieces

④ Make pleats in the centre of the rectangle and then use a remaining strip of ham to tie the middle to create a ribbon out of the ham.

⑤Add the Kaiware sprouts/salad cress to the top of the rice and wrap a remaining strip of ham around the rice. Finally, place the ham ribbon on top.

The sweetness of the rice and the saltiness of the ham are an exquisite match.

Although this sushi may look small and cute, it holds a lot of volume and is surprisingly filling!

■ Arisa Shirai

Visual food creator & Kyaraben researcher Arisa Shirai shows how fun it is to make and eat your own homemade food.

Instagram: arigohan

Blog：http://ameblo.jp/arinko0917/

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■Related article：A recipe for photogenic food #7 「SUSHI CAKE」

■Related Article: A recipe for photogenic food＃3 “Japanese Style Onigiri Pinchos”

This feature is made possible by Arisa Shirai, a cooking specialist who posts regular photos of her gorgeous food via her social media. She makes every day recipes look photogenic with her small twists.

For this recipe, we will take a look at how to make “Marshmallow Pops.” They might be simple, but they look gorgeous, and are a perfect Valentine’s Day gift!

■Ingredients (serves 6)

・6 straws

・6 marshmallows

・50g chocolate

・Your favourite chocolate pens and toppings

■How to Make

①Pierce the marshmallows with your straws

②Dip the marshmallows into the melted chocolate

③Decorate with chocolate pens and toppings to make different designs

If you use giant marshmallows, then one will be enough to fill you up. And all the different ways to decorate them are limitless! You can even finish them off by tying the straw with a ribbon.

■Arisa Shirai

Visual food creator & charaben researcher.

Arisa Shirai shows how fun it is to make and eat your own homemade food.

Instagram: arigohan

Blog: http://ameblo.jp/arinko0917/ 

With just a small touch, you can turn everyday food into a gorgeous dish worthy to be part of your SNS thread. This is the continuation of Arisa Shirai’s recipe series! With just a few ideas, an ordinary recipe can be shaped up to produce a photogenic masterpiece! Today we’ll be looking at a recipe for “Japanese-style Avocado Gratin”. This recipe is as simple as putting the ingredients together and grilling!

■ Ingredients (Serves 2 people)

・ 1 Avocado

・ 1 Egg

• Powdered cheese　—　to your taste
• 20g Cheese
• 20g Bacon

・ 1/3 teaspoon olive oil

・ Soy sauce — to your taste

・ Salt — to your taste

・ Pepper — to your taste

■ How to make:

① Cut the avocado into two equal halves then scoop out the insides of each avocado half using a small, round measuring spoon. Make sure that you scoop out round balls of avocado and save these for later. Do not throw away the skin of the avocado.

② Pour the egg, soy sauce, salt and pepper into the avocado skin and mix.

③ Add the cheese, bacon, round balls of avocado (from step ①), powdered cheese, salt, pepper and olive oil to the avocado skin.

➃ Grill in a toaster oven for 7 minutes (Wrap in aluminium foil when the top turns golden brown).

And you’re done!

The bacon and cheese combination is perfection. Enjoy your hot and creamy avocado dish!

■ Arisa Shirai

Visual food creator & researcher of colourful bentos. Arisa Shirai shows how fun it is to make and eat your own homemade food.
Instagram: arigohan

Instagram：arigohan

Blog：http://ameblo.jp/arinko0917/

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■Related article：A recipe for photogenic food #7 「SUSHI CAKE」

■Related article：A recipe for photogenic food #6 “Potato salads parfait”

With just a sprinkle of inspiration, create gorgeous dishes worthy to upload on your SNS stream! Welcome to Arisa Shirai’s recipe series! With just a few ideas, turn ordinary food into a beautiful photogenic dish!


Today, we will be looking at a recipe for “Kohaku-tou”. Literally translating to “amber sugar”. These traditional Japanese sweets sparkle like jewels.

■Ingredients

・Powdered agar —　3g

・ Sugar — 140g

・ Water — 150ml

・Your favourite fruit sauce, liqueur or syrup—　1tbsp

（I will be demonstrating today’s recipe using a teaspoon of the following: strawberry syrup, blueberry syrup and Blue Hawaii.)

・Tupperware

■How to make

① Pour the water, sugar and powdered agar into a pan on medium heat. When the mixture starts to form strings, start to mix thoroughly.

② Add the syrups to your Tupperware container.

③ Pour the mixture in the pan into the Tupperware container from a spoon and mix well. Once mixed, smooth out the surface of the mixture and leave to set at room temperature for more than 2 hours.

④ Once the sweets are fully hardened, remove the block from the container and using a kitchen knife, cut the block at an angle to create uneven cuts, enhancing the jewel-like texture of the sweets.

⑤ Leave the sweets in a ventilated environment for more than two days to dry the sweets, enhancing the crunchy texture. You can also eat them before drying them.

A mild and sweet taste, crunchy on the outside, yet soft on the inside — a wonderful combination! Switch the syrups for juice or alcohol for new fun flavours!

Shiseido Parlour in Ginza are selling a limited edition “Valentine Parfait”. Not only can you enjoy the wonderful texture, but the decoration is divine and colourful ー pink, white, marble chocolate, and lots of hearts. This parfait is a hearty serving rich with chocolate!

A range of berries, heart-shaped chocolate and strawberries to fill you with hearts. Enjoy the marvellous mix of flavours including chocolate sorbet, chocolate ice cream, mascarpone cream, espresso sauce, caramel flavoured jelly, banana sauté and walnuts. You can experience the ultimate taste of this parfait with the vanilla ice cream that is made using a recipe created on day one of the business. Add some framboise sauce for a little kick, making the parfait perfect for adults to enjoy a mild sweet taste combined with diverse food texture!

■Information

Shiseido Parlour, Ginza (main parlour) Salon de Café

Address　Tokyo Ginza Shiseido Building (3^rd floor), Ginza, 8-8-3, Chuo-ku, Tokyo

Contact number:　03-5537-6231（Reservation is not possible）

Opening times:　Tuesday ～ Saturday　11：30 ～ 21：00（Last orders: 20:30）

Sundays/National holidays 11:30～20:00（Last order: 19:30）

Regular closing days:　Mondays ＜Except Mondays that are national holidays＞

URL　http://parlour.shiseido.co.jp?rt_pr=pl129

■ Related article: Invite that special someone to the new love-themed “Hello Kitty Café” in Osaka!

■ Related article: Cat Pastry Chef’s beautiful sweet treats available at this Cat-themed Tearoom!

This feature is made possible by Arisa Shirai, a coking specialist who posts regular photos of her gorgeous food via her social media. She makes every day recipes look photogenic with her small twists.

Today, Arisa introduces her recipe for her beautiful “Flower Jelly”. It’s such an elegant dessert that when you make it for yourself, you’ll involuntarily want to take photos of it!

■Ingredients (to make 4)

・4 egg shells

・5g powdered gelatin (prepare by soaking in 1 tablespoon of water)

・40ml white wine

・120ml water

・30g sugar

・Edible flowers (to taste)

■How to Make

①Bring a pot of water to the boil and add the sugar, gelatin and white wine in this order. Mix each ingredient as you add them and then remove the pot from the heat.

②Break the top of the eggs with a spoon. Remove the egg whites and yolk and wash the shell out with water.

③Place the shells in cups, or something similar, to keep them upright. Add the edible flowers into the shells (place the petals facedown inside the egg shells for the best end result).

④Place the mixture you made in step ① into the egg shells and allow to cool for 4+ hours in the refrigerator.

⑤Once the mixture has set, break the egg shells and serve them on a plate. And you’re done!

This recipe is a perfectly hospitality treat too!

And if you substitute the wine for juice, then children can enjoy these delicious flower jellies too.

■Arisa Shirai

Visual food creator & charaben researcher. Arisa Shirai shows how fun it is to make and eat your own homemade food.
Instagram: arigohan
Blog: http://ameblo.jp/arinko0917/ 

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■ Related article: A recipe for photogenic food #4 “Cheese Fondue & Veggie Boquet”

■ Related article: A recipe for photogenic food #5 “Snowman Fromage”

■ Related article: A recipe for photogenic food #6 “Potato salads parfait”

■ Related article: A recipe for photogenic food #7 「SUSHI CAKE」