10 foods mentioned in manga that you can actually eat

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10 foods mentioned in manga that you can actually eat

One of the most delicious things about manga is that food rarely feels like background decoration. A steaming bowl of ramen can become a character’s comfort after a difficult day, a bento can say more about a family than a long conversation, and a simple rice ball can turn into a memorable part of a story. Japan even has an entire genre of food-focused manga, known as gurume manga, where cooking, eating and food culture drive the narrative. The good news is that much of what appears on those beautifully illustrated tables is not fantasy food. These are real dishes, many of which can be found in restaurants or Japanese grocery stores, and some are surprisingly easy to make at home. Here are 10 manga foods you can actually eat.

Ramen

Few foods are as closely associated with manga as ramen. Naruto’s love for ramen at Ichiraku is perhaps one of the most recognisable examples, but noodles and ramen appear across countless manga. The real dish is exactly as tempting as it looks: noodles served in a flavourful broth, usually accompanied by toppings such as egg, meat, spring onions, bamboo shoots or seaweed. For an easy version at home, start with instant ramen but add a boiled egg, vegetables, spring onion and leftover chicken.

Onigiri

Those neat triangular rice balls wrapped partly in dark green nori are a staple of Japanese food scenes. Onigiri can be filled with ingredients such as salted salmon, pickled plum or tuna and mayonnaise. They are also one of the foods that viewers have actually tried making after encountering them in Japanese anime and manga. Think of them as Japan’s wonderfully portable answer to a packed lunch.

Dorayaki

If you know Doraemon, you know dorayaki. The character’s obsession with these little treats has made them one of the most recognisable manga foods outside Japan. Dorayaki consists of two soft, round pancake-like cakes sandwiched around sweet red bean paste. The combination sounds simple, but the fluffy pancakes and creamy-sweet filling make them dangerously easy to finish. And yes, you can buy them in Japanese confectionery shops or make them at home.

Okonomiyaki

Okonomiyaki is essentially a savoury Japanese pancake, but calling it simply a pancake does not quite do it justice. A batter is mixed with ingredients such as cabbage, meat or seafood and cooked on a hot griddle before being finished with Japanese mayonnaise, sauce and other toppings. It has appeared in manga including Ranma ½, and its popularity is hardly surprising. It is filling, customisable and designed for eating straight off a hot plate.

Gyoza

The crescent-shaped dumplings known as gyoza appear frequently in Japanese food culture and manga. They are generally filled with minced meat, cabbage and seasonings, then pan-fried so the bottoms become crisp while the tops remain tender. They are the kind of food that looks elaborate in a manga panel but is perfectly ordinary in Japanese restaurants.

Dango

Those little colourful balls threaded onto a skewer are dango, a chewy Japanese sweet made from rice flour. They are often served with sweet sauces or pastes. Manga fans may recognise the word from Sailor Moon, where Usagi is nicknamed “Odango Atama” because of her hairstyle. Unlike many fictional sweets, dango is a real traditional Japanese treat that you can find at Japanese confectionery shops.

Curry rice

Japanese curry may look familiar to an Indian reader, but it is a very different experience from most Indian curries. It is thick, mildly spiced and commonly served over rice, sometimes with a breaded cutlet called katsu. Curry rice is a recurring comfort food in Japanese manga and anime, including everyday family scenes. It has also featured prominently in cooking manga, where recipes are often central to the story.

Omurice

Omurice is exactly the sort of dish manga artists love drawing: a mound of fried rice wrapped in a soft omelette, often topped with ketchup or sauce. It has appeared in cooking manga such as Food Wars!, where elaborate versions are turned into competition dishes. The everyday version is considerably less dramatic and can be made with leftover rice, vegetables, chicken and eggs.

Tamagoyaki

Tamagoyaki is the slightly sweet Japanese rolled omelette frequently seen inside bento boxes. Instead of cooking one flat omelette, several thin layers of seasoned egg are rolled over one another to create a compact rectangular shape. Bento lunches are a recurring feature of manga and anime, making tamagoyaki one of the real foods hiding in plain sight in those lunch boxes.

Mochi

Mochi has become globally popular, but manga has been showcasing the chewy rice cake for decades. Made from glutinous rice, it can be filled with sweet red bean paste, matcha-flavoured fillings, fruit or even ice cream. It features prominently in manga such as Tamako Market, where mochi is part of the family’s traditional shop. Just remember that traditional mochi is chewy and sticky, not cake-like.

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