Is this epic Japanese tofu burger better than a teriyaki burger?

This chain thinks it’s time for Japan to have a new representative burger, so we put it to the test.

If you’re in Japan and looking for a burger you won’t find anywhere else, the first option you’re likely to find is a teriyaki burger. On the menu at a number of big chains like McDonald’s, teriyaki burgers are filled with a sweet soy sauce that imparts a very distinct Japanese flavour, but having been around for years, it’s about time diners had some more exciting options to choose from.

That’s been the mindset of Japanese fast food chain Freshness Burger, who recently decided to conduct a poll with 113,453 of their customers, asking them to help devise a brand new burger with a Japanese flair. The chain’s mission was even publicised on its website, with a message that reads:

“When it comes to Japan-born hamburgers, the teriyaki burger is famous, even overseas. No hamburger to surpass it has yet appeared. Therefore, as our first challenge to mark the 30th anniversary of our founding, Freshness Burger, which is committed to using domestic ingredients born in Japan, has developed a Japanese burger that can aim for worldwide fame.” 

Whether that means there will be a series of other ‘challenges’ giving us new burgers to mark the chain’s anniversary is yet to be seen, but for now, we’re being blessed with a unique burger you won’t find anywhere else: the Atsuage Tofu Japanese Burger.

▼ Promotional posters for the new menu item appeared at branches from 26 April, when it made its debut nationwide.

Though we’d previously tried a similar-looking burger at Dom Dom two years ago, the mouthwatering promo posters at Freshness Burger suggested this new one might be far greater.

▼ Dom Dom’s burger was previously sold for a limited time at a special branch called “Tree & Tree’s by Dom Dom”, which has since closed down.

We were keen to find out if Freshness Burger’s new offering was good enough to surpass Dom Dom’s 2021 atsuage burger — as well as the nation’s world-famous teriyaki burgers — so we picked one up as part of a set for a taste test.

The burger contains atsuage (thick fried) tofu as its main ingredient, and is available in two varieties — one is garnished with spicy Mentaiko (pollack roe) Mayo, and the other is filled with Kurozu-an (black vinegar), which has a sweet and sour flavour.

▼ We opted for the Mentai Mayo Sauce version.

Priced at 650 yen (US$4.83) on its own, with the regular set of drink and fries costing an additional 500 yen, this burger was substantially cheaper than Dom Dom’s, which cost 990 yen for the burger alone.

▼ Plus, this burger contains a soy patty, which Dom Dom’s didn’t have.

This was a thicc burger, and when we lifted the top bun, we could see that the fried tofu chunks had been topped with a few onion rings, a shiso (perilla) leaf, and drizzled with the mentaiko mayonnaise.

The one thing we couldn’t tear our eyes away from was the deep-fried silken tofu, which looked plump and delicious, and just the right size for eating.

Beneath the tofu chunks, we found the patty had been garnished with a dollop of soy sauce sprinkled with sesame seeds as a secret ingredient.

According to Freshness Burger, this beauty was created after 50 prototypes had been tested. Just by looking at the ingredients used, you can see how original and ingenious this idea was, but…how would it taste?

Upon first bite, our teeth sank through the crispy exterior, with the texture becoming noticeably softer through the bun and down into the fried tofu, creating a tantalisingly varied mouthfeel. The shiso and soy sauce provided a strong Japanese flavour to the mix, with subtle notes of ginger in the background.

It was a fantastic mix of textures and flavours that delivered a very Japanese taste in every mouthful. It was more flavourful than the Dom Dom burger, however, we couldn’t help but think it could be improved with more ginger and perhaps some plainer buns, as these tasted quite sweet.

So is this a burger that surpasses teriyaki? Well, that’s a tough call to make. It is very different to anything else on the market right now, but we’re not sure if it has enough of that teriyaki-like addictiveness to have you going back for more.

Still, coming up with a new burger to surpass the world-famous popularity of a teriyaki burger is a challenging task. It’s a valiant effort, and a burger well worth trying, but given that it’s only on the menu until 30 May, here’s hoping Freshness Burger will be giving us another competitor to rival the teriyaki in their 30th anniversary year!

Related: Freshness Burger
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We open a mysterious package from China, unveil a cheeky surprise

We completely forgot we ordered this…and now wish we hadn’t.

One day, our Japanese-language reporter Masanuki Sunakoma arrived at work to find a strange package addressed to him. It came from China, so he assumed it was yet another low-rated Amazon product he’d decided to gamble on. They can take anywhere from a week to a month to arrive, so he just orders them as he finds them without regard to how long they might take, and he often forgets what he’s ordered by the time it arrives. They’re like mystery gifts from his past self.

On this particular package, the item listed under the “description of contents” section of the customs sticker simply said “Ornaments.” This didn’t help him at all since he frequently orders all kinds of decorative items.

It was pretty mysterious, and kind of exciting, like finding a Christmas present under the tree. He could always just check his Amazon order history, but that’s no fun. He wanted to be surprised.

He reached into the plastic envelope and found a small box, which still offered no hints as to what he’d ordered.

It looked like a ring box, the kind you pop open when proposing to your partner.

Masanuki still couldn’t remember what he’d ordered, but he was fairly certain he hadn’t ordered a ring.

Even though it was just a box, he couldn’t help the pounding of his heart. Suddenly he understood why someone would be excited to be surprised with one of these, why they might even want to cry.

With shaking hands, Masanuki opened the box…

…and heard a sound…

Pffffttt…

And now he wanted to cry for a very different reason.

“Did I really buy this??” he thought, and when he checked his order history, sure enough, there was a “Fart Butt Ring Box, Farts when it opens, Funny prank toy, Fun, practical surprise joke box,” which he’d ordered about a month ago for 1,040 yen (US$7.76).

▼ “Seriously, Past Self??”

Masanuki was so disappointed with himself that he had to make someone else suffer so he could feel better, so he put it on fellow reporter Go Hatori’s desk to await his arrival.

And about 30 minutes later…

Pffftt…

“What? Who put this here? It’s so stupid!”

Takashi Harada, who’d just come in the door, innocently asked, “What is it?”

Pffffftt…

Takashi burst out laughing. Masanuki was able to avenge himself by torturing his two coworkers, which made him feel better.

This had obviously been something he’d ordered as part of his Amazon’s Lowest Rated Products series since it had a rating of a measly 1.6 stars. That seemed about right. Although, one of the reviews had said “It has its own special kind of cuteness,” which Masanuki did not understand at all.

Anyway, if a crudely made farting box is something you’re interested in, feel fry to buy one for yourself here.

Related: Fart Butt Ring Box, Farts when it opens, Funny prank toy, Fun, practical surprise joke box
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Goodbye, Cup Noodle Shio! We try Nissin Cup Noodle’s revitalized new flavor, Negi Shio

Does it meet expectations? We find out!

Those who are Cup Noodle fans may know already: the “Shio” flavor, which had a salt-based broth, is no more. Instead, the popular instant noodle brand has completely remade and rebranded it as “Negi Shio”, which, based on negi meaning “spring onion,” presumably has a more onion-y flavor to it.

Now, we at SoraNews24 love Cup Noodle, so we had to admit this change was a shock. Shio was such a classic flavor…Why fix what wasn’t broken?

The original Cup Noodle Shio had a more Western feel by incorporating the flavor of olive oil, but the new Negi Shio, which was released on February 27 this year, seems to be leaning more towards Japanese flavors with the addition of negi. That’s rather a drastic change. As such, we had to do the responsible thing as reputable journalists and see how the new flavor compares.

According to Nissin’s website, the Shio flavor was originally released in 2003 and had been part of the regular Cup Noodle lineup ever since, which ordinarily would suggest that it was pretty popular and that retiring it was a hard decision for Nissin to make. And yet, the commercial for the new Negi Shio, shared in the tweet below, has a cute little jingle that sings, “Goodbye Unpopular Shio, Nice to meet you Negi Shio!” as Negi Shio dropkicks Shio out of the way, so maybe the decision really wasn’t that hard.

さようなら、今までの「SiO」
よろしくね、新しい「ねぎ塩」#新CM #鶏・ねぎ・炙りでまちがいない#これが塩の新定番 #炙り白謎肉入り pic.twitter.com/o33lN2WGxV

— カップヌードル (@cupnoodle_jp) March 1, 2023

While such brutal treatment of what must have been someone’s favorite Cup Noodle flavor could stir up a bit of controversy, for us it just signals total confidence in the flavor. That made us pretty excited to try it.

The most distinctive thing about the packaging, beyond the new name and accompanying design, was the fact there was a packet of chiyu, or chicken fat, attached to the lid of the cup, which is meant to give the broth a chargrilled chicken flavor. The oil is the final touch, added after pouring in the hot water and waiting three minutes.

The fragrant scent of chargrilled chicken and green onions hit us hard. We’d expected this, of course, but not for it to be quite so powerful. It felt like an attack on our nostrils. The broth was packed with the umami of chicken, and the sweetness of chiyu helped to mellow out the flavor a bit. Still, it was really salty.

Nevertheless, with the combination of sophisticated ingredients and the addition of plentiful toppings, the quality was really good for instant ramen.

Because of the strength of the spring onion’s scent and flavor, the new Negi Shio won’t appeal to everyone. For those it does appeal to, though, in a tweet that claiming “Cup Noodle Negi Shio is selling like crazy”, Nissin shared a recipe that can make it even more delicious. Well, it’s more like a way to stretch your broth even further, since all you have to do is add white rice to what’s left over when all the noodles are gone.

先日発売してめっちゃ売れている「カップヌードルねぎ塩」。
実は、残りスープにご飯をぶちこんだだけの雑炊が、めちゃくちゃうまいのでやってみてください。 pic.twitter.com/WikaxXOU3S

— カップヌードル (@cupnoodle_jp) April 6, 2023

This turns it into a sort of “zosui”, rice gruel with vegetables and toppings, and it was really delicious. We had to say, before trying it with rice, we were solidly on Team Shio, but this nudged us just far enough over the line to make us a fan of Negi Shio.

In the end, some people will probably hate Cup Noodle Negi Shio’s strong, peculiar flavor, which makes it surprising that Nissin introduced it not as a limited edition flavor but as part of their regular roster. But perhaps we should have expected that. If the Negi Shio flavor is shown to be drop-kicking the old Shio flavor in a commercial released by Nissin, we can assume they weren’t trying to play it safe. In truth, the flavor is aggressive enough that it’s like a dropkick in itself.

And that, my friends, is the real appeal of the new Cup Noodle Negi Shio flavor. It encapsulates the fighting spirit of a company that was ballsy enough to make a breakfast-flavored ramen. There’s no doubt that the Negi Shio has set a new bar for instant noodles–but whether that bar is good or bad is up to you.

Source: Nissin
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Hey, Japanese taxi driver! Thanks for taking us to one of the best rice omelet restaurants in Japan

The Pakkan Omuraisu isn’t just a meal, it’s a performance too!

In our “Hey, Japanese taxi driver” series, we ask Japan’s cabbies to take us to a great local restaurant. Usually, though, we narrow the candidates down a little by asking for their recommendation regarding a type of food that city is famous for, such as seafood in Otaru, takoyaki in Osaka, or bubuzuke in Kyoto.

But in our latest installment we’re headed to Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture. While Okazaki has a cool castle and beautiful riverside park, it’s not really known for any type of food in particular, basically living in the culinary shadow of nearby Nagoya’s miso pork cutlets and tempura shrimp rice balls.

So as we slid into the back seat of a taxi outside Higashi Okazaki Station (pictured above) and asked just “Can you recommend a good restaurant around here?”, we were sort of braced for a long pause and eventual non-answer. To our pleasant surprise, though, not even a full second passed before the driver replied “Sure, Santa.”

To clarify, we weren’t headed to the North Pole, and even now, we’re not quite sure why the restaurant is called Santa (which they write さん太, different from the Christmas Santa’s name in Japanese, サンタ). It took us about 15 minutes to get there, and at first glance we thought it was somebody’s house, until we saw the sing out front and row of people waiting for a table.

Santa specializes in yoshoku (Western-inspired dishes), the taxi driver told us. “Their rice omelets are great,” he recommended. “The ones with cheese are really popular, but the normal version is really delicious too.”

Even through Santa is located in a residential area, the size of the lunch crowd as big enough that the staff told us there’d be a 50-minute wait to get in. Luckily, the actual wait turned out to be closer to be 20 minutes,

Looking at the menu, we spotted the camembert rice omelet the driver had told us about, but we wanted to know what Santa’s baseline rice omelet tastes like, so we opted for the Pakkan Rice Omelet Set, shown here, which the menu promises includes a “Pakkan performance.”

“Pakkan” is the Japanese onomatopoeia for something splitting open, but we honestly had no idea what a “Pakkan performance” is, so we were just going to have to wait and see.

When the server brought our omuraisu to the table, it was immaculately beautiful. The egg was smooth and fluffy, without so much as single singed blemish to its golden surface. The rice, too, looked delicious. Really, there was only one problem: in a Japanese rice omelet, the rice is supposed to be inside the egg, so you can get both in the same bite, but Santa serves the egg entirely on top of the rice.

But as we were wondering how we were supposed to eat this unorthodoxly presented dish, our server produced a knife, sliced down the center of the egg, and…

…pakkan!

The tender egg folded back on itself, creating a canary-colored canopy over the rice.

And yes, if you want to cut the egg and do the pakkan procedure yourself, you can.

Next we added the served-on-the-side sauce…

…and it was time to dig in!

As you can probably imagine, the single strongest sensation Santa’s rice omelet gives you is “creamy.” Stupendously creamy. The egg is right at that magical borderline between too soft and too firm, and our taste tester Haruka Takagi loved every bite.

▼ Haruka, in the process of loving one of those bites

The texture is so smooth and satisfying, it almost feels like eating a dish of ice cream. The sauce is amazing too, with meaty notes and a pleasantly mild tartness from the tomato.

Also included in Haruka’s 2,400-yen (US$18) lunch set was a salad, sweet potato croquette, drink, and dessert, which were also excellent.

Santa is the ort of restaurant that we’d never have stumble across on our own, especially since rice omelet’s weren’t even on our gastronomic radar when we arrived in Okazaki. But as we’ve come to learn, oftentimes the best part of asking Japan’s taxi drivers to take you to a good restaurant is when they take you someplace you weren’t expecting.

Restaurant information
Santa / さん太
Address: Aichi-ken, Okazaki-shi, Hanecho Unagi-ike 112-3
住所：愛知県岡崎市羽根町鰻池112ｰ3
Open 11 a.m.-3:30 p.m. (Wednesday-Friday), 11 a.m.-3:30 p.m., 5:30-9 p.m.(Saturday, Sunday, holidays)
Closed Mondays, Tuesdays
Website

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Eel-topped takoyaki is delicious in any season, but here’s why now is the best time to try it

Hint: it’s because you can only buy it at one specific place. 

You’ve heard of takoyaki, octopus pieces in doughy balls of batter grilled on a hot plate, but have you heard of “Unagi Takoyaki?” This version of “octopus balls” is totally unique to Tsukiji Gindaco, a takoyaki chain restaurant, and comes with eel as well as octopus. But if you were to ask our Japanese-language reporter Yuichiro Wasai what it tastes like, he’d be hard-pressed to tell you anything beyond “takoyaki and eel”.

Still, he’d make sure you understand how delicious it is. It may just be “takoyaki and eel”, but with two such solid ingredients, there’s no way it wouldn’t be good. The only problem is that not all Tsukiji Gindaco branches serve it–in fact, it’s a dish exclusive to just one branch.

The official name of the dish is “Unatama Takoyaki“, combining the word for eel (“unagi”) and ball (“tama”), and it comes as a plate of six for 800 yen (US$5.99). It’s made with Tsukiji Gindaco’s signature crispy batter and dressed with takoyaki sauce, green onions, thin-cut omelet strips, kabayaki eel (eel broiled with soy sauce), and shredded seaweed. The eel isn’t baked into the takoyaki, but rather loaded on top.

▼ It’s hard to see, but the end of a piece of eel is poking out here where the red arrow is pointing.

You don’t get a full-length eel filet like you would with an unagi bowl, but it does come with several smaller pieces. Though it isn’t a lot of eel, it’s the perfect amount to balance out the takoyaki and give the dish a sense of unity. Larger sizes would be too much.

As for where Yuichiro found a Tsukiji Gindaco that sells Unatama Takoyaki, it was…

Inside Meiji Jingu baseball stadium, in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward!

Yes, this baseball stadium food stall is the only Tsukiji Gindaco where you can buy Unatama Takoyaki (just like the Jingu Stadium branch of Freshness Burger was the only place you could get the Home Run Burger).

Now’s the best time to try it, too, in the temperate months of April and May. With baseball season starting up, what better time to enjoy takoyaki with a side of eel than while supporting your favorite team at a game on a cool spring day? The sun usually isn’t as strong, and the temperature is generally neither too hot nor too cold. It makes for the perfect weather–and the perfect setting–to make your ordinary Unatama Takoyaki taste five times better.

▼ They also have other unique takoyaki dishes, like the Green Onion & Mayonnaise loved by Tokyo Swallows player Naomichi Nishiura (called “Negi Mayo Nishiura-jan”) and the Luxurious Spicy Cod Roe Cheese (called the “Zeitaku Cheese Mentaiko”) based on Swallows infielder Hideki Nagaoka.

If you’re interested, definitely give it a taste. With Golden Week coming up, it might be the perfect opportunity!

Restaurant information
Tsukiji Gindaco (Tokyo Stadium Branch) / 築地銀だこ（TOKYO STADIUM店）
Address: Tokyo-to Shinjuku-ku Kasumigaoka-machi 3-1 Meiji Jingu Stadium Outfield Area (near Gate 1)
東京都新宿区霞ヶ丘町3-1明治神宮野球場 外野エリア（1GATE付近）

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Idol supergroup AKB48 abolishes team system, team sayonara concerts to be held this summer

Dissolution of teams marks end of 18-year era for Japan’s biggest idol singer group.

On Saturday, Japanese idol singer supergroup AKB48 held the first of its Spring Concert 2023 performances at Pia Arena MM in Yokohama. As the first concert by the group in roughly three years to allow full cheering from fans in attendance and a total of three dozen songs performed, there was plenty for fans in attendance to be excited about, but there was also a big surprise, as an announcement was made that all of the AKB48 “teams” are being abolished.

Because of the huge size of AKB48, which has a total of 85 members, the group is subdivided into five teams: Team A, Team K, Team B, Team 4, and Team 8. While AKB48 also performs together as a whole, the teams each have their own segments within the group’s concerts, individual promotional events, image colors, and even captains.

But during the April 29 concert, Team A captain Mion Mukaichi, who also holds the position of “General Manager” of AKB48, told the crowd that the team system is being done away with.

▼ Mion Kukaichi

#AKB春コン 当日！！！！！
3年分の想いを今日のコールに乗せて、思いっきり叫んでください

＼好きだ〜〜〜〜〜！／ pic.twitter.com/tdqAybyssU

— 向井地 美音 (@mionnn_48) April 29, 2023

The team system has been part of AKB48’s structure since the group’s debut in 2005, so this marks a major change in how the idols will perform and operate. In addressing the fans, Mukaichi said she was sad to see the system ending, but added “I think this is good timing for AKB to be united as a whole and kick things up a notch.” Former Team B captain Yuki Kashiwagi, who joined AKB48 in 2006 and at 31 years old is its oldest member, added “Everyone will keep doing their best as members of AKB. I hope people will cheer for and support the group as a whole.”

▼ Yuki Kashiwagi

#うたコン
ありがとうございました

今日の制服はどうでしたかーっ？
ぱっと見、さすがに1番大人っぽい
デザインでした！！！笑
安定のお腹出しにハイウエスト pic.twitter.com/XKoXV4lvfV

— 柏木由紀 (@Yukiriiiin__K) April 25, 2023

Of the five teams, Team 8 (whose members all concurrently hold positions with other teams as well) is the first to cease operations, with the second day of the Spring Concert 2023 on April 30 its last team event. The remaining four teams, A,K, B, and 4, will be disbanded this fall, with each holding “sayonara concerts” between August 4 and 6.

On the bright side, the dissolution of the teams doesn’t mean their members are being dismissed, as they’ll remain members of AKB48. And in a crowd-pleasing move, the number of on-stage performers at the permanent AKB48 Theater in Tokyo’s Akihabara neighborhood is being doubled, from 8 to 16, as pandemic protocols are scaled back. Still, for fans who were devoted to not just AKB48, but to a particular team, this is the end of an era.

Source: Daily via Hachima Kiko, San Sports
Top image: Pakutaso
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