15 Foods To Try Out While Bingeing Your Beloved Anime Shows
From global favourites (like burgers) to daily staples (like boiled eggs) to Japanese delicacies (like takoyaki), there are all kinds of anime foods for you to check out!
Preparing for an anime binge session, and want a few anime inspired foods to spice things up?
Feel hungry when the anime characters have a mouth-watering feast, and wish you could also gorge on delish anime foods?
Well then, have I got news for you…Your search is over!
I went out, and did the research, trawling through anime sites and forums to pick the the 15 best foods to try out while bingeing on your favourite anime shows in India!
A word about this list…
As anime originated in Japan, small wonder that most anime food and snacks are Japanese cuisine.
So, while we’ll start off our list of anime snacks with universal favourites like boiled eggs, burgers and ramen, the deeper we dive into the list, the more we’ll encounter Japanese dishes like takoyaki and miso soup.
Don’t be alarmed or disheartened; we’ll hook you up with recipes for every single one of them and you can whip them up yourself; or you can order them from a restaurant that offers Asian cuisine.
Soft boiled eggs
If you’ve seen or heard of the manga Torikos, you’ll know of the soft boiled eggoes, a kind of mango that looks and tastes like soft boiled eggs.
In fact, the name “eggoes” is a combination of “egg” and “mangoes”.
When ripe, soft boiled eggoes yield a nectar that feels and tastes like the yolk in a soft boiled egg.
Now, making soft boiled eggs is no big deal, but if you want a traditionally Japanese flavour, go through this Japan-style soft boiled eggs recipe.
FYI: I’m not sure but I believe boiled eggs make an appearance in the Pokemon games.
Along with those soft boiled eggs, wear an anime shirt india to accompany your anime binge.
Pringles
Miku is a popular character that’s associated with anime. Guess which well-known snack once did a cross-promotion with her?
Yep, your very own Pringles, the less greasy and a lot less crumbly cousin of chips.
Being less greasy and less crumbly, Pringles won’t leave your keyboard and/or remote all oily and there will be far fewer snack debris strewn around your viewing area.
That’s what makes Pringles such an awesome anime snack.
Popcorn
Popcorn is just one of those snacks. You can’t pin down exactly what you like about them, seem to be a mishmash of chips and cakes, but they just work!
Especially if you can get your hand on a few extra flavour/spice sachets that accompany most popcorn packets.
Less oily than most, leave you relatively debris-free, and keep you chewing for hours. A great combo for your anime watch.
Note: They can get between your teeth, so make sure you keep some toothpicks within reach.
Does this Gohan Dragonball tshirt have the same pop as popcorn? You tell us!
Pretzels
On the cheaper side as far as snacks are concerned, low on the calories and high on the flavour (especially salt). See anything you disagree with, so far?
If you do grab a packet of pretzels for your next anime marathon, please do tell us how you did on the pretzel challenge - nibble it from the outside to eat it without breaking it in 2.
You may find yourself getting more interested in the salty snacks than you are in your beloved anime!
Burgers (especially hamburgers)
Finding hamburgers, which is almost an American staple snack, on a list of foods to spice up your anime binge may seem incredible, but it simply represents anime’s global appeal and identity.
Hamburgers make an appearance in multiple much-loved anime shows, including Cowboy Bebop, Dragon Ball GT, Ranma 1/2, and One Piece.
If you want a quintessentially anime burger experience, go for patties like katsu, pork and so on!
Would this Goku printed tshirt match the burst of flavour from a burger? You tell us!
Ramen
Everyone that’s ever been a college student knows what “Ramen” is.
OK, in India Maggi is more famous than Ramen, but I think you get my point.
Ramen appears multiple times in Naruto anime as a quintessential Japanese cuisine.
FYI: Ramen was originally Chinese from where it went to Japan and became a hit; but who cares about food history?
If slurping noodles while watching anime is an experience you haven’t had till now, I suggest you remedy that immediately!
A typical Japanese Ramen is made of noodles, broth and toppings (like vegetables, eggs and pork).
Remember the soft boiled eggs from before? Why not try them out as your anime Ramen topping?
Try on this unisex Itachi Uchiha tshirt to complement your Ramen!
A curry
Just like Ramen, curry is historically not Japanese cuisine, but it’s become very popular in Japan.
Sebastian from Black Butler is said to prefer black curry buns.
For a Japanese curry experience, make it sweeter than your traditional Indian curry and with a thicker consistency…and couple it with rice.
Miso soup
Miso (a fermented bean paste) dissolved in dashi (a Japanese soup stock) gives you miso soup, a well-known Japanese comfort food. You can flavour it further by adding toppings like tofu and kelp.
Companies like Marukome would produce anime commercials to showcase miso soup products.
Here a traditional Japanese miso soup recipe if you want to MIY (Make It Yourself). Or you can look online for miso soup paste.
Takoyaki
It’s the perfect anime dish for seafood buffs.
In Assassination Classroom, Korosensei makes takoyaki with an octopus that Karma had killed.
And as you would expect, the base ingredient of the dish is octopus fillings, with deep fried flour-batter for the balls, and green onions & pickled ginger to taste.
You can MIY (here’s a recipe to follow) or you can order from a restaurant.
Apropos of nothing, here’s an Naruto Ninetail Unisex t-shirt to accompany your takoyaki meal.
Taiyaki
Here’s the deal with taiyaki: almost every romantic anime will feature a perky little girl enjoying taiyaki.
And here’s another fact: although it looks like a deep friend seafood snack, it’s actually a fish-shaped pancake made of waffle batter and filled with something sweet like chocolate.
Here a recipe that you can use if you’re going the MIY route. Otherwise, search for it on your preferred food delivery service.
Onigiri
Onigiri is basically a rice ball, wrapped in seaweed and filled with fruit (like plums), jelly or meat.
It’s been featured in a lot of anime shows.
Fun fact: When the dish was featured on Pokemon, the English dubbing translated it into “sandwich” which the international audience would be more familiar with.
However, that became a controversy in Japan as the Japanese felt the translation mis-characterized the nature of the dish and so the dubbing had to be changed.
Here’s a slightly Indianized recipe you may wanna explore.
Omurice
Looking for a couples’ anime dish? Here it is: omurice!
It gets better: preparing omurice is a cinch compared with some of the other foods that we’ve discussed!
Omurice, which was featured in The Garden of Words as a great dish to have with your significant other in an intimate setting, is simply fried rice with a topping of scrambled eggs and ketchup.
Grab this recipe, put on your apron and start cooking!
Parfait
Kyouko from Working!! LOVES parfait…and you will too, if you’ve got a taste for ice cream, sweets, fruits and crunchy toppings.
‘Cos those are what go into making the perfect parfait!
Parfait is originally European, but it’s gained a lot of traction in Japan (once you follow this NDTV Foods recipe and make one for yourself, you’ll see why).
Katsudon
Katsudon is essentially pork cutlets, with eggs and rice and a helping of fresh veggies.
Featured prominently on Yuri!!! on Ice. In the show, Yuri has to eat one every time he wins a challenge but he keeps breaking the rule.
Will you follow Yuri?
This flamboyant Namikaze shirt should go brilliantly with the show and the food!
Pocky
Invented by Yoshiaki Koma, pocky is a Japanese sweet snack (a chocolate-coated biscuit with added flavouring) with a huge USP - it’s not very filling, so you can gorge on the stuff with your friends without feeling bloated like is typical with candies.
No wonder Yomi and Kagura from Ga-Rei Zero regularly share a box of the stuff between themselves!
Ordering pocky: You can order it for yourself online. Search for “pocky” and you’ll get multiple results, for various flavours (like chocolate, strawberry, coconut & brown sugar))..
Dishes to rev up your anime binge - a final word
As you can see, the list of anime foods is quite long and diverse. Although many of the items are from Japanese cuisine (like Katsudon and Onigiri), some continental dishes (like parfait and omurice) and quite a few global favourites like burgers and curries have also made the cut!
As you’d expect, seeing how the anime appeal has spread from Japanese shores to all around the world!
BTW, if you’re unsure where to catch your favourite anime shows, here are the top 15 sites to watch anime in India.
Coming up…Which are India’s most-watched anime shows? Stay tuned for our post on the most popular anime show in India, and you can compare them to the shows that you love the best!
