Say hello to the Big Bomb Onigiri, a beast of a Japanese rice ball

Famous rice-producing region goes big with a huge offering to attract customers.

Japan is well-known for its petite portions and small serving sizes, so when restaurants go big with gigantic portions that seem impossible to finish, it makes our jaws drop to the floor.

Once we manage to pick our jaws up off the floor, though, our next instinct is to open them again, to see how much of the giant offering we can consume, and that’s what happened when we came across a massive onigiri rice ball in Niigata Prefecture.

The “Big Bomb Onigiri“, as it’s called, is being sold at the Yukinto onigiri shop inside the Ponshukan souvenir hall attached to Echigo Yuzawa Station, which is located in a region that’s famous for koshihikari rice production.

The Big Bomb contains a massive four go of koshihikari, which is equivalent to about 600 grams (21.2 ounces) of uncooked rice, and because cooked rice weighs around three times as much as uncooked rice, this onigiri is estimated to weigh in at around 1.8 kilos (four pounds).

▼ At 2,200 yen (US$16.56) this is the biggest and most expensive onigiri we’ve ever seen.

There’s a lot of premium rice involved, and a huge sheet of nori seaweed as well, which covers the mound like one big piece of shiny, beautiful wrapping paper.

Yukinto specialises in big portions, even selling a variety of other rice balls which contain one go of rice each, meaning they weigh in at around 450 grams. To get a sense of just how big this is, regular onigiri usually weigh around 100 grams, so each one of these is more than four times the size of an everyday rice ball.

The “Bomb Onigiri” range in price from 370 yen for a plain, salted rice ball without any seaweed wrap, up to 880 yen for a rice ball with a Salted Salmon Roe filling.

▼ Bomb Onigiri samples in the display case.

Because the Bomb Onigiri are so big, you can choose up to two fillings per rice ball, and each one uses koshihikari rice from Shiozawa, which is said to be the most delicious of all koshhikari rice from the town of Minamiuonuma.

▼ “Koshihikari from Minamiuonuma Shiozawa. Bomb Onigiri.”

▼ You can eat your rice balls in the store, or buy them to-go.

The Big Bomb Onigiri contains four times as much rice as the Bomb Onigiri, so customers can choose up to five types of fillings. The final price of the Big Bomb may vary, depending on the types of filling you choose, and as we added the premium Salted Salmon Roe as one of our choices, we ended up paying an additional 260 yen, bringing the total to 2,460 yen, including tax, for our massive rice ball.

If you’re thinking of buying the Big Bomb, you might want to do it on a day when you’re visiting friends or family, like we were, because the entire thing is designed to be eaten “本日中” (“honjitsuchuu”), within the day of purchase.

After making our purchase, we carried the heavy portion back home for a taste test, and a closer inspection of its impressive dimensions.

▼ It was about 20 centimetres (7.9 inches) across, and 10 centimetres in height.

▼ And the weight? A whopping 1,803 grams!

We had to stop and blink at the scales for a moment because this was a ridiculous weight for a rice ball. Its massive dimensions only made us more keen to cut into it and take a look at its glorious interior, though, and the five fillings we’d chosen had been conveniently circled on the label.

▼ Mochi Soy-braised Pork, Salted Salmon Roe, Grilled Cod Roe, Preserved Kelp, and Salmon.

▼ We also received pickles on the side.

The time had finally come to cut into the belly of the beast, so we dipped a sharp knife into some water to help slice through the grains with ease, and as we sliced through the middle, the contents spilled out like a colourful, tasty waterfall.

We were half expecting the ingredients to be packed away into separate pockets inside the giant mound of rice, but they appeared to be clumped together in the middle. This was the best thing for it, though, as it helped to disperse an even mix of flavours in every slice, and the soy-based flavours allowed the different fillings to blend harmoniously on the palate.

As soon as we got a taste of roe, the juiciness of the pork took over, and immediately after that, the saltiness of the kelp came into play. The different flavours ebbed and flowed with ease, creating a sense of variety that kept the palate so interested it didn’t take long for six of us to finish the giant rice ball on the day we bought it.

After trying the Big Bomb Onigiri, we were full and satisfied, and now we know why so many people stop off at Echigo Yuzawa Station specifically to buy it. It’s a great way to enjoy the best koshihikari rice that the region has to offer, and we highly recommend trying it, along with the amemonaka, another sought-after local specialty from Niigata Prefecture!

Restaurant information
Yukinto / 雪ん洞
Address: Niigata-ken, Minamiuonuma-gun, Yuzawa-cho, Yuzawa 2427−3, Inside JR Echigo Yuzawa Station Ponshukan
新潟県南魚沼郡湯沢町湯沢2427−3 JR越後湯沢駅構内 ぽんしゅ館
Open 9:30 a.m.-6:00 p.m. (last order 6:00 p.m.)

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Line of Japanese-smelling watches sold through Japan Post Office

Wear your love of a certain Japanese scent on your sleeve.

The middle of summer in Japan certainly isn’t known for its great smells, and if you find yourself in the wrong place at the wrong time, it can get downright horrendous at times. It would certainly be nice to carry around a small whiff of more temperate times and places wherever you go.

That’s the idea behind watchmaker Maruzeki’s new line called Kaoru. The timepieces come in seven base color schemes, each with a rubber band that’s infused with one of seven quintessentially Japanese fragrances.

The Sakura watch has an elegant floral scent that gives a sense of the bursting of life that occurs in the cherry blossoms of spring, while the Matcha watch is a more refined and mature smell with a bitter tinge reminiscent of a relaxing cup of green tea or even some matcha ice cream.

A sharp pine-like scent can be found in the Hinoki (Japanese cypress) watch. It’s a relaxing smell that some say can keep insects at bay. There’s probably no bug-repelling benefit with the Tsubaki watch, though, whose inviting floral aroma of the Japanese camellia is incredibly appealing. The Yuzu watch has an invigorating citrus smell to lift your spirits with a sweet and sour aroma often used to make baths more refreshing.

The Waboku watch smells like a type of ink block used in Japanese calligraphy, and can have a very nostalgic effect on people who went to school here. The Jinko (Incense) watch contains the complex but pleasing smell of burning agarwood as incense, giving an almost transcendent feeling of being in a temple or shrine.

Sure beats a pile of garbage on the street corner on a scorching summer day, doesn’t it?

In addition to some personal relief during hot and hectic days, these watches can make excellent souvenirs for those who want to take a piece of Japan with them or great gifts to people in other countries where they can’t easily experience some of these aromas. That’s probably why Maruzeki has teamed up with Japan Post, where Kaoru watches can also be purchased, and packages them in an eye-pleasing gift-like box.

The basic watches cost 3,200 yen (US$24) each, but variations with special faces are also available for a range of additional prices such as a maneki neko for 3,600 yen ($27) or Doraemon for 4,400 yen ($33).

▼ Reflect on spiritual matters with this combination of a sunrise over a wave swept scene of Mt. Fuji complemented by the smell of burning incense.

▼　Wear a bit of Japanese spring everywhere you go by watching a maiko stroll through a scattering of cherry blossoms in Kyoto, and smell it too!

▼ The sophistication of Tokyo can be captured in this colorful look at its skyline while enjoying the keen smell of hinoki wood.

▼ The Osaka watch is, perhaps appropriately, a chaotic mishmash symbols like takoyaki, Tsutenkaku tower, and various phrases in Osakan dialect. This one is scented as waboku ink, because why not?

Bear in mind that these combinations of fragrances and face designs are not fixed and may change depending on when or where you purchase the watch from. For example the Maruzeki website is now offering Tokyo watches with a yuzu scent and a maiko watch that smells like tsubaki flowers.

Regardless of the watch style, the timekeeping mechanisms were all crafted by Seiko Epson, and all other parts from the rubber to the aromas were made in Japan, making these watches about as Japanese as you can get. So, get one yourself either through the Maruzeki or Japan Post online shops and arm yourself against the fish markets and sweaty packed trains of summer.

Source: PR Times, Maruzeki, Japan Post
Images: PR Times
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Anti-ramen stain T-shirt eliminates the one and only bad thing about eating ramen【Video】

Because ramen belongs in your belly, not on your shirt.

Ramen fans will tell you that there’s never a bad time for a bowl of noodles, but that’s not entirely true. Sure, it’s great for lunch or dinner, on a hot summer day or a cold winter night, but there’s one time when you really do want to avoid ramen: when you’re wearing a white shirt.

That’s because ramen, in keeping with Japanese culinary customs, is meant to be slurped, but if you do it with too much momentum, you’ll get broth splashing onto your clothing and likely leaving a stain on any lightly colored fabric.

Unless, that is, you’re wearing this T-shirt.

The garment is the latest creation from Japanese apparel company Zorich, which calls it, quite straightforwardly, the Ramen T-shirt. In the demonstration video, we see a man eating a bowl of ramen with the level of gusto that situation customarily instills, but when he comes out of his food coma, his shirt is splattered with broth stains.

Ordinarily, such discoloration would require a lot of detergent and scrubbing to get out, and even then there’d be no guarantee it could be entirely removed. But the man calmly grabs a glass of water, pours a little of it on his shirt, flicks off the moisture with a napkin, and…

…it’s back to being as pure white as it was before he started eating!

▼ A second demonstration video, which specifies that this is tonkotsu (pork stock) ramen, shows the stains being removed with a wet napkin, so pouring water directly on the shirt doesn’t look to be absolutely necessary.

▼ “The coming of the savior of ramen-loving people!”
The splash-repelling Ramen T-shirt Broth splashes, the arch-enemy of ramen-lovers”

Ziorich hasn’t yet revealed the science behind the Ramen T-shirt, nor has it mentioned pricing or availability. The company has both a standard online shop, specializing in men(s suits and dress shirts, but it also occasionally debuts designs through Japanese crowdfunding site Makuake, where its most recent offerings were a nipple and armpit sweat-concealing undershirt and a T-shirt with a contoured midsection for a slimmer appearance. Both of those campaigns easily met their funding goals, so it’s likely we’ll be seeing the Ramen T-shirt as well in the not too distant future.

Source: YouTube/ZIORICH via IT Media, Makuake
Images: YouTube/ZIORICH
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Newest branch of Japan’s oldest burger chain serves up some crazy huge sandwiches in Ginza

Dom Dom Burger goes big as it comes to Tokyo’s fanciest neighborhood.

Dom Dom Burger is Japan’s oldest hamburger chain, but also its most frequently forgotten. That probably has something to do with the fact that even though it was founded all the way back in 1963, there are fewer than 30 Dom Dom Burger branches nationwide, and even when they are in big cities, they’re often not in the busiest parts of them.

So it was a big deal recently when Dom Dom Burger opened a new branch in Ginza, the swankiest of swanky Tokyo neighborhoods, right in the middle of the capital.

This new location also gets a slightly new name, Dom Dom Burger Plus. If you’re wondering what the deal is with “Grill Swiss” on the bottom right corner of the awning, that’s the name of the restaurant that used to be on the first floor of the building but has now relocated to the second, becoming Dom Dom’s upstairs neighbor.

The irony of Dom Dom Burger being so often forgotten is that they make some very impressive burgers, like the monstrously delicious Marugoto (“Whole”) Crab Burger.

▼ Which we tried at Dom Dom’s Asakusa branch a while back

As an upscale branch, Dom Dom Plus has a range of all-wagyu beef burgers on its menu, as well as the Marugoto Crab…

…but on this day, Mr. Sato decided to try another oversized seafood sandwich, the humbly named Fish Burger…which still manages to look shocking!

The slice of fried fish doesn’t so much stick out from the bun as much as the bread serves as a partial covering to hold onto the exact center. Really, there’s more fish outside the bun than inside it.

Not that Mr. Sato would ever complain about a colossal burger, of course. The sandwich’s size did present a bit of a problem, though, because he knew he wouldn’t have the throat capacity to just pick it up and cram it into his mouth. Thankfully, Dom Dom Plus serves the Fish Burger with a fork, so Mr. Sato could start by using the silverware to eat the extending sections.

The fish used is walleye pollock, a kind of cod, and it was flavorful and tender, with a perfectly satisfying crispness to the breading.

Anticipating that customers will be eating part of the fish on its own, the restaurant also supplies you with tartar sauce and, on the day Mr. Sato visited, a mantai mayo sauce made with mentaiko (spicy cod roe).

▼ “Mentai mayo goes well with anything and everything.” – Mr. Sato

Finally, Mr. Sato had eaten enough for the burger to be something he could eat with his hands, and it was time to taste test its true potential…

…and it did not disappoint, with the added flavor and texture of the pillowy soft buns and shredded cabbage joining with the fish for a sublimely scrumptious eating experience.

In keeping with its upscale environment, Dom Dom Plus’ sandwiches are in the 1,000 yen (US$7.25) and up range, but lunch specials, like the one that Mr. Sato got, can be as cheap as 890 yen, making the place an affordable luxury. So it’s definitely someplace Mr. Sato hopes to eat at again soon, especially since, in keeping with the fanciness of the neighborhood, Dom Dom Plus has an extensive wine list.

And there’s something even more intriguing. Remember Grill Swiss, the restaurant upstairs from Dom Dom Burger Plus? Rumor has it that Grill Swiss was the first restaurant in Japan to serve katsu curry, and so Dom Dom Plus has an exclusive menu item you can’t get at any other branch: the Katsu Curry Burger, produced in partnership with Grill Swiss

That’s going to have to wait for another day, though, because right now Mr. Sato is very, very full from that Fish Burger.

Restaurant information
Dom Dom Burger Plus / ドムドムハンバーガープラス
Address: Tokyo-to, Chuo-ku, Ginza 3-5-16
東京都中央区銀座3-5-16
Open 11 a.m.-3 p.m., 5 p.m.-11 p.m. (weekdays), 10:30 a.m.-9 p.m. (weekends)
Website

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Waiter, there’re 100 crickets in my soup! We try make-it-yourself Cricket Ramen【Taste Test】

Why settle for just one cricket when you can eat one hundred?

Like it or not, entomophagy (the practice of eating insects) is becoming more and more mainstream. Not only are they a good source of protein, but introducing insects into your diet is environmentally friendly, as bugs require less land, water and food than other animals we eat. And while in the past edible insects were limited to specialty stores, these days it’s much easier to chow down on some creepy crawlies.

Back in 2020 we reported on entomophagy specialist company Antcicada’s cricket ramen — insect ramen that you could make yourself at home. And after checking silkworm cakes and scorpion skewers off of our ‘to-eat’ list, we’ve finally got around to ordering some cricket ramen to try ourselves.

Taste-testing duties this time fell to our reporter Kouhey. Kouhey is a self-professed natto maniac, and logically speaking, someone who enjoys the notoriously pungent smell and intimidating texture of those fermented soybeans should be able to handle something as simple as a cricket.

The kit included two servings of cricket ramen and cost 2,200 yen (US$16). There are supposedly a hundred crickets contained within each serving of ramen, so Kouhey braced himself as he started inspecting the contents. Would the lifeless eyes of a hoard of crickets be staring up at him from inside?

Thankfully no, as most of the crickets had been ground down into a powder and used to make the noodles and broth.

The noodles, helpfully labeled as ‘cricket noodles’, had cricket powder as the second ingredient used in making them, right after flour.

The cricket broth featured two kinds of Japanese crickets, but there were also more traditional ramen toppings inside the frozen bag of broth, like chashu pork and bamboo shoots. Looking at it like this, you’d have no way of knowing the cricket broth was any different to a more run-of-the-mill ramen broth.

The final ingredient was a bit more cricket-like though, due to the fact that it was literally a whole cricket, deep-fried, added as the final garnish.

Ingredient inspection done and dusted, it was time to start making some cricket ramen. It seemed pretty straightforward. First, heat up the cricket broth…

… boil the cricket noodles…

… pop them in a bowl…

… add the seasoning (also made from crickets, naturally)…

… and add the deep fried cricket as the final touch.

Ta-da! A bowl of delicious cricket ramen, ready to eat!

Kouhey decided to take things slow, and started off with the cricket noodles first, made with ground cricket powder. How would they taste?

According to Kouhey, they tasted very good. The noodles were the perfect slippery texture and tasted great. Looking closely, he could see some dark specs in the noodles, which he assumed were pieces of cricket.

▼ The bamboo shoots also went down well, with Kouhey calling them “thick and chewy”

▼ The chashu pork was delicious too.

So far, Kouhey had nothing negative to say about his bowl of cricket ramen — in fact, it tasted way better than most home ramen kits he’s tried before, even ones without crickets!

While the cricket ramen was delicious, Kouhey was yet to sample on the star of the dish, the figurehead of the 100 crickets used to make this meal…

▼ The deep-fried cricket!

He tentatively put the cricket in his mouth, bit down and…

…

…

…

… ate it with no issues whatsoever. What’s more, it was actually quite delicious, with Kouhey comparing the taste and texture to that of sakura shrimp tempura. In fact, it tasted so good that he wished that he could have a couple more crickets to put on top of his ramen, but so many critters in his bowl would probably look pretty unappetising, no matter how good they might have tasted.

Before he realised, he’d devoured his ramen and was left with only the cricket broth. Luckily, the kit came with suggestions on how to use up your leftover broth, and so Kouhey decided to make ‘cricket cheese risotto‘.

He mixed in some rice and black pepper with his broth.

Next, he added some Parmesan cheese.

And that was it! Cheesy, cricket-y risotto, ready to eat! It looked more like a rice soup than risotto, but as long as it tasted good, who cares?

And taste good it did! The cricket taste went very well with the Parmesan cheese. The kit also recommended using mitsuba leaves as well, so there are a multiple options for you to pick and choose from.

Kouhey hadn’t expected to have enjoyed cricket ramen this much, but after polishing off the risotto he decided that this was definitely the best ramen he’d ever made at home, knocking his homemade natto ramen into second place.

You can order your own bowl of cricket ramen from Antcicada’s website here. If you’re new to the world of entomophagy and the idea of eating a whole cricket makes you a little squeamish, you can choose to remove the deep-fried cricket topping from your order if you wish. Alternatively, you can go to the other extreme and dump a whole bag of crickets on top of your meal, like our reporter Masami did.

Related: Anticada
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