This article intends to publish on “Goodfood”. It is a website belongs to Australia. Combining features of introducing creative food, drink, leading a health and an enjoyable life, and encouraging original receipt. So it is a perfect platform to publish this article. There is some cook-lovers search receipt via this website. Firstly, the target readers are people who love to cook, to share, and to create. These features match with my article purpose. Secondly, the tone of pieces is using the first person to tell readers a story or teach a lesson. The most important part is the website of “Goodfood”is willing to post something new to lead the trend.
Do you feel like you need some good-mood food? If so, there is a wonderful way for you to make it happen. I don’t know have you ever heard of Anime Food recently. It is a concept in Japanese animations and cartoons, and it only exists in anime. It could be an anime character’s favourite food or drinks. Such as Naruto favourites Reman, Doraemon favorites Dorayaki or Omelette made by Soma Yukihira. All of these foods are representative for a special meaning to its fans. So, the celebrity effect makes anime food get popular among the followers. They are willing to recreate food by their own in the real world. So they send the work to the Internet.
Now, this phenomenon gets popular via social media platforms, such as Instagram, Twitter, and Weibo in China. More and more people are not animation fan but are engaged in the activity. Most importantly, they continuously to post their works on the Internet. Due to there is a broad range of participants. Then I think the “Geek cultural” becomes fashion is absorbing and worth to dig out more information.
A creator of Anime Food
I know, it is quite rude to seem “cooking anime food” as a part of “geek cultural”. But I am not saying that it is strange, what I want to say is “Geek cultural” is the sign of popularity. I interviewed a blogger called Onion-Chopping-Ninja, I get to know him via Instagram. He is a Japanese and a big fan of animations and enjoys cooking food from anime book or anime movies. All of his blogs is teaching people how to recreate anime food with real ingredients. Based on his receipt, he earns a high number of follower on his website (onionchoppingninja.tumblr.com/).
“At the beginning of blogging, most of my fans either OTAKU or Cosplayer,” he said confidently. “Why you so sure? Are you discover the information from their picture or username?” I asked.
“Well, just the opposite. Now it is the method for me to distinguish my fans’ attribute. You know only OTAKU and Cosplayer will use animation name as their username. Other people are ordinary,” he laughed and said, “the thing of cooking anime food was a thing that only a few people know. The common among the followers was the interest of Japanese animation but now is not the same. People start to follow this trend and treat it as a fashion. It gets popular”
“Then you must be a huge fan of it; you are the trend leader! ” I said surprisingly. He smiled happily and replied, “Yes, I’m the super fan of Japanese animation, and I used to be a cosplayer too.” In fact, this is the most thing that surprises me.
“Since cosplay is too expensive for me, I’ll just eat anime food,” Mr.Onion-Chopping-Ninja explained. “By the way, when cooking anime food, I feelings like I am the hero or hero’s pal. It is another moment for me to close the character”. He said with excitement, and I could feel his passion while he is talking.
Mr.Onion-Chopping-Ninja said it is a wonderful and peaceful place for him to get rid of reality. In that world, he could be powerful, or be strong with an open heart. “I hope animation gets popular, and people could love it. It is a place full of possibilities, and it could be your emotional support as well. The trend of cooking anime food is ずい がお(super good)”. There is a group of people in the United States, they opened a Maid cafe in 2016, and they share the same belief.
I can understand why Mr. Onion-Chopping-Ninja and fans are willing to recreate the anime food. But I just wondering does it have such an immense charm for ordinary people? So I told my friend Haily about the event and showed her pictures and receipt. Her reaction made me very surprised too.
She is not an Otaku and not familiar with animation, but she is really into this, and can not wait to exercise following the receipt. So on a windy Sunday, She began to challenge in our small kitchen. In the process of cooking anime food. I ask her, what factor drives you to want to cook something that does not exist? She stopped cutting the carrot and answered, “maybe the factor of unrealistic”.
“If it is only in the animation not exist in real world, it could be a sense of achievement for me, so I would love to try. You know how much I love to cook”. That is true; our tiny kitchen is full of kitchenware and all kinds of spices. Haily often watches cooking video via Youtube while she is cooking. “And I always wonder the taste of food in cartoons, like the cartoon of《Tom and Jerry》, I want to eat the steak, I bet it is delicious”, she said while playing gestures.
It is reasonable, when I was a kid, I also curious the taste of Tom’s milk, whether it is sweet or original flavour. After a long conversation, Haily finally did it. She learned Roasted Pork from Mr.Onion-Chopping-Ninja. The recreate food is Roasted Pork, and its appearance is similar to the original one. (Shokugeki no Soma)
After tasting the Roasted Pork, I have to approval that non-existent food is delicious. I may have felt a similar favour, but its appearance makes me have another mood while I am eating it. It allows me to feel like I am one of the characters in the animation of Shokugeki no Soma. I bet it could be the major reason why those animation fans are willing to try. Just like Mr Onion-Chopping-Ninja said, “it is an amazing way to close with animation characters, feels like you exist in that world.” Finally, I suddenly remembered his analogy. “Recreate and eat anime food is like you are eating spinach, you are both Popeye and Olive”.
For me, I would like to learn as well, because it not only allow me to refresh my mood but also is a good way to show off cooking skill via social media platforms. It is win-win.
Roasted Pork is a dish that worth to taste, you will not be disappointed. Here is the receipt.
How to make Roasted Pork at home
INGREDIENTS:
750g Potato
6 Brown Button Mushrooms
2 small Onion
12 Slice Bacon
1tbsp Cooking Sake
15g Unsalted Butter
Olive Oil
Rosemary
Salt
Black Pepper
Red Wine
Soy Sauce
Japanese MIRIN
cooking string
Method:
- Peel and cut potato into chunk then steam for 10–15 mins
- Cut onion and mushroom then cook.
- Mix sauteed mushroom, onion and cook potato then mash and season it.
- Shape potato then wrap with bacon, tie it with cooking string, and preheat oven.
- Sprinkle some rosemary on top and then put in over for approx 25 mins at 180'C.
- For the sauce, reduce wine until half then put soy sauce, cooking sake and butter. reduced until slightly thick
- Take out the meat and let it rest and pour sauce on the meat to give extra color and taste.
- Blanch choy sum for garnish. In clean plate, assemble and it is ready to be serve.
(Gif form: the 3 episode of “Shokugeki no Soma”)
