Top 5 Anime Recipes

Everyone likes food. You should be very suspicious of someone who says they don’t like to eat. I’m just sayin. A good meal is magic. And I know for a fact that I’m not the only blogger with an interest in cooking.

I have always wanted to have some sort of anime cookbook. In fact, if you guys know of an anime cookbook I could buy right now – let me know. I’ve looked into it and the closest I could find was the Manga Cookbook (which is a great start). I’ve always wanted a cookbook with recipes specifically from my favourite shows but that may be a touch too niche. Again, if any of you create one, you have a customer already lined up.

In the meantime, I propose trying to satiate my craving with this top 5 anime recipes. These are chosen from the food I would most like to taste so your mileage may vary.

Hiroshima okonomiyaki

Okonomiyaki is a staple food we often see in Japanese animation. It’s almost a communal experience as groups of friends can go together at a restaurant and cook it for themselves to their exact liking on tables that double as hotplates. This is great because I can then easily leave the meat out. It’s a fun twist on grabbing a bite with friends. I saw it most recently in Tsurune and I was really jealous at not having been invited.

The specific Hiroshima style is fired and uses the less doughy Osaka batter and adds fried egg as a topping and yakisoba noodles as a base. I say go big or go home! Is your mouth watering yet?

How about now?

Onigiri

Onigiri is another classic and one of my all-time comfort foods. I have spent countless hours trying to shape those little rice balls into little pandas or kitties. I first came across the concept a long time ago, reading the Fruit Baskets manga (anyone else kinda psyched about the reboot?), and then was reminded of their magical powers in One Piece.

Onigiri are another highly adaptable food. At the base it’s really just a ball of sticky rice which you can flavor any way you want and even add a little center for extra kick. I often use avocado and Japanese mayo as a filling, but mushrooms are great too.

Quick tip, I have found it easiest to take a sheet of cling wrap and spoon the rice on there before shaping it. This is really the best way I found to ensure the rice keeps it shape and doesn’t stick to anything and come undone before I’m finished.

https://pickledplum.com/how-to-make-onigiri/

Chazuke

Those of you who have known my blog for a while may recall that I originally wanted to do a recipe in anime blog because of Bungo Stray Dogs. More precisely, because of the Chazuke so lovingly described in the first episodes. To this day, I’ve never eaten an “official” version cooked by someone ho knows what it should taste like.

Chazuke is essentially rice in a tea broth. Already let me just say yum right then and there. On that base, you can pretty much throw on any leftovers to create what amounts to a distinctly Japanese stew like concoction. I am very happy with the at home versions I’ve done but they do take a bit of cooking time. If anyone else has tried this recipe out, let me know. I’m curious how it turned out.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/food-dining/2018/04/30/recipe-chazuke-japanese-rice-soup-uses-green-tea-broth-with-soy-and-vinegar-for-depth/4qKxet8QiIhsIL3RiNMklN/story.html

Omurice

Omurice… If it isn’t obvious by know, I really like rice and I really like eggs. I’m slowly working egg yolks out of my diet but I’m not there yet. Omurice is possibly the most recognizable Japanese anime dish thanks to all those adorable ketchup designs which are an absolute must if you do this at home.

I can’t really pin down a single anime for this one. I see it all the time and it makes me hungry every time. I remember playing through the No Thank You visual novel and actually interrupting naughty scenes just to go cook some up. Guys, if you ever want to cheer someone up after a hard day (especially in the winter as this is pretty hardy), cook them some omurice and don’t skimp on the ketchup hearts!

https://norecipes.com/omurice-recipe/

Takoyaki

Sadly I no longer eat Takoyaki but octopus was my all time favourite food for a long time. I miss it so much! We’ve all seen those little balls of friend dough and octopus meat. They are in just about every festival episode of every show you’ve ever seen. Whether it’s endless eight or nozaki-kun, haganai… just all of them really.

Sadly, Takoyaki is not that easy to make, unless you have the appropriate hardware and even then, it takes a bit of practice. However, Mako and I believe it’s well worth it!

Fluffy fluffy eggs

For reason I can only imagine are too genius for most of us to fully grasp, episode 6 of Touken Ranbu turned into a hilarious slapstick musical where the pretty pretty boys were attempting to cook a meal for “master”. This show is brilliant. There’s a reprise of the premise with a rivalry twist in episode 5 of the second season. It started out ambitiously with the swords attempting very extravagant dishes but after a series of failures, they settle on fluffy fluffy eggs.

Another simple egg dish and one I had never heard of before. Essentially, the idea is to whip egg whites up, fold in the yolks and then poach/steam them in a broth of your choice. The result is something like an extremely light and tender omelette or egg cloud, very delicately flavoured by the broth. I’ve done this using only egg whites and it becomes like a soft flavourful meringue.

This really is the perfect dish when you’re sick. Warm and incredibly easy to digest. Chock full of protein but very light. In fact, I’m going to go cook one up right now!

There you have it, my current top 5 (plus one) anime recipes. I admit, they lack a bit in diversity but what can I say. I likes what I likes. Do you have a favourite anime recipe? Let me know. I’d love to try it (or a vegetarian version of it).