Panda Buns: showing no mercy

Japan has never had a shortage of cute animal shaped food, but I always seem to forget to take a photo before munching on an adorably shaped ear. Last Friday, I managed to hold off my baser instincts for the 5 seconds it took to snap a photo of two bear shaped buns before they met their demise.

I spotted this rainbow panda bun at the local convenience store.

It’s supposed to be a Pirameki Panda, a character from a Japanese TV show. Looking at the colors, I expected the filling to be something sweet, like strawberry milk or red bean paste. I was a little surprised when I took a bite and realized it was a normal pork nikuman filling. I started with the yellow light bulb first, before taking out an eye, heh. ;D

Next, I went to Mister Donut for my next victim snack.

Though Mister Donut is doing a promotion with Rilakkuma right now, this is not a Rilakkuma donut. It’s a bear shaped raised yeast donut filled with whipped cream, and topped  with a caramel flavored faux chocolate coating. It is definately not my favorite donut (golden chocolate all the way!), as I’m not really a fan of filled donuts, or fake chocolate.  Just goes to show that sometimes cuteness can outweigh taste when it comes to my better judgement. >_<;;

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Korea: Hotteok: Completely worth the burnt tongue

Hotteok is a crispy pan fried pastry filled with a mix of brown sugar, peanuts, sesame seeds and cinnamon that turns into a molten syrup as it is is cooked on a open griddle. Usually they are served just as they are, pinched between a small sheet of thin cardboard, and eaten very carefully to avoid wasting any of the escaping sugary filling.

This is a “healthy” hotteok. Well, as healthy as any sugar filled fried snack can be 🙂
The filling includes green tea and black sesame, and is topped with ground soybeans, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and ground peanuts. Yum! I couldn’t wait for it to cool down, and bit into it while it was still steaming, and managed to singe my tongue.
You know what you are eating is good when you continue chewing through the pain 😀 The doughy outside reminds me of elephant ears or you tiao.
The paper cup definitely helps catch any runaway syrup, and the sweet sugar and nuts are perfect with the mellow crunch of the chewy outside. Just let it cool off a bit before biting in, but I won’t judge if you can’t wait. I didn’t 😉

hotteok stall @ Insadong, Seoul, South Korea

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