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!!

 

4. SWEET TWIST（スイートツイスト）／Shimokitazawa

This cute gelato comes in a cup with a bear illustration on it♡ If you add a topping, it becomes even cuter. The interior of the shop is pink and girly, so it will have you wanting to take a photo and share it online☆ A single gelato is ￥430 (tax-inclusive) and one topping is ￥50 (tax-inclusive).

 

 

5.COFFEE CONE TOKYO（コーヒーコーントーキョー）／Kōenji

This latte in a waffle cone is just adorable! And the latte art looks like a smiley face. Surprise your friends online with this new kind of drink. The price comes in at ￥500 (tax-inclusive). The way to go about it is to drink your latte first and then eat the cone.

 

 

Which one of the 5 shops has you interested? If you're in Tokyo and have a free day, then head on over to one of the locations above and snap some pictures♪

collage：Yuna Yabe
text：Aya Matsuda
edit：Tomoko Yabuta

 

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Related Article：Summer in Japan Means Watermelons—Here’s 5 Refreshing & Cute Japanese Watermelon Desserts!

Related Article：【Tokyo Cafe】Visit the café which has a menu that gives you great impact Vol,6 “Kissa Housekibako”

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.”