Anime-inspired food IRL
From hit series such as Food Wars (Shokugeki No Soma), Spirited Away, and Ponyo, we’ve sussed out 10 iconic on-screen anime-inspired dishes that have us salivating and our stomachs rumbling for more.
If cooking isn’t your forte, that’s okay. These anime-inspired recipes are rated on a difficulty scale of 1-10, so even people whose culinary skills are limited to making instant noodles or microwaving frozen food can master some.
1. Tamago Kake Gohan – Silver Spoon
Difficulty level: 1/10
Image adapted from: Fuji TV
Tamago Kake Gohan, also known as “Eggs on Rice”, is exactly what its name suggests. You only need to know how to steam a bowl of rice and crack a raw egg without leaving eggshells behind.
Image adapted from: @theterrafirma and @theterrafirma
Ingredients:
- 1 pasteurised egg
- 1 bowl of rice
- Soy sauce
Serves 1
Steps:
- Prepare a bowl of rice.
- Crack the egg on top of the rice.
- Drizzle with soy sauce.
- Mix well.
2. Ham Noodles – Ponyo
Difficulty level: 2/10
Image adapted from: Toho
Image adapted from: Toho
Fans of Ponyo will remember Ponyo’s obsession with food, especially her love for ham. The umami dish doesn’t have an official name, but it goes by a few monikers – such as ham noodles, Ponyo noodles, and Ponyo ramen. Here’s how you can level up your instant noodles with just 2 ingredients:
Image credit: @koko8419
Ingredients:
- 1 packet of instant noodles
- Water
- 1 slice of cooked ham
- 1 egg
- Green onion
Serves 1
Steps:
- Boil water.
- Transfer the boiling water into a saucepan. Add the egg and add more boiling water until the egg is fully submerged.
- Cover the saucepan with a lid and wait for about 8 minutes. Proceed to Step 5 in the meantime.
- After 8 minutes, retrieve the hard-boiled egg, cut it into half, and set aside.
- Chop green onion into bits.
- Slice the ham into halves. Put both ingredients aside.
- Add instant noodles in a bowl. Pour boiling water over the noodles and cover with a lid. Set aside for 3 minutes.
- After the first minute, separate the noodles and add in ham, hard-boiled egg and green onion. Cover the ramen bowl with a lid again.
- Wait for 2 more minutes and the dish is ready.
3. Calcifer’s Breakfast – Howl’s Moving Castle
Difficulty level: 4/10
Image adapted from: Netflix
Calcifer’s Breakfast from Howl’s Moving Castle is an iconic American breakfast with a supernatural twist – bacon and eggs cooked with the help of a demonic fire called Calcifer. You may not have a magical co-chef, but you can still whip up this hearty breakfast in just 3 steps.
Tip: Add bread, tomatoes and caramelised onions for an even more indulgent breakfast.
Image credit: jeffreyw
Ingredients:
- 3 thickly cut bacon slices
- 6 eggs
Ingredients for add-ons, optional:
- 1 large onion
- Sourdough bread
- 1 tsp of thyme
- 1 tsp salt
- Some slices of tomatoes
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
Serves 3
Steps:
- Heat the frying pan on low heat and fry the bacon until golden brown.
- Move the bacon to a corner of the pan and fry 6 eggs on low heat as well.
- Serve when the eggs are fried to your preferred doneness.
Optional steps:
- Chop and mince the onion.
- Heat the frying pan on medium heat and fry the minced onions till translucent. Add a few slices of tomatoes.
- Season with thyme, salt, and red wine vinegar and fry for 1 minute.
- Serve together with the eggs, bacon, tomatoes, and sourdough bread.
4. Salmon with cream sauce – Porco Rosso
Difficulty level: 4/10
Image credit: Toho
Porco Rosso’s salmon dish doesn’t have an official name, but avid stans of Studio Ghibli have noted that it’s basically a salmon steak with cream-based gravy and baby carrots on the side. While the following recipe isn’t exact, the resulting dish does look very similar to the OG dish spotted in the anime film.
Image adapted from: Kristin Lagman
Ingredients:
- 2 to 4 salmon fillets
- 1 packet of baby carrots
- 1 cup of water
- 6 tbsp of butter
- 2 tbsp of brown sugar
- 2 tbsp of fresh lemon juice
- Salt
- Black pepper
- 2 tbsp of all-purpose flour
- 1 cup of milk
Serves 2-3
Steps:
Salmon
- Remove salmon skin and season the salmon with salt and pepper.
- Add 2 tbsp of butter into a saucepan and heat on medium-low. Fry the salmon until both sides turn golden brown.
Cream sauce
- Melt 2 tbsp of butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add chopped garlic and shallots. Stir well until the garlic turns light brown.
- Lower the heat to medium-low and add flour. Mix well until the mixture thickens.
- Add milk while stirring. Mix until the mixture thickens again.
Glazed baby carrots
- Add baby carrots and 1 cup of water until it boils. Poke the carrots with a fork to check if it is soft enough.
- Drain the baby carrots and add 2 tbsp of butter. Add salt and pepper as seasoning.
- Add 2 tbsp of brown sugar. Mix well until the mixture thickens.
- Transfer the salmon onto a plate and pour the cream sauce over it. Place the glazed carrots on the side of the plate.
5. Cream Stew – The Secret World of Arrietty
Difficulty level: 5/10
Image adapted from: Netflix
While The Secret World of Arrietty didn’t show a recipe for this dish on screen, many fans have surmised that it is a classic Japanese cream stew. Made with vegetables and a milk-based roux, this heart-warming stew is best served hot on a cold day. For an even heartier dish, you can add chicken or pork cubes.
Image adapted from: @ahrumiejin
Ingredients:
- ½ a cauliflower
- 1 broccoli
- 1 large carrot
- 3 small potatoes
- 1 small leek
- ¼ cup of flour
- ½ cup of milk
- ⅓ clove of garlic
- 5 cups of water
- Salt
- Pepper
- Finely chopped parsley
Serves 2-3
Steps:
- Chop the carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, and potatoes into small pieces.
- Slice the leek into thin slices.
- Mince the garlic.
- Heat olive oil on medium heat and cook the sliced leeks till it has softened.
- Add about 5 cups of water and 1 tsp of salt.
- When the water has reached a boil, add all of the chopped vegetables. Make sure that the vegetables are fully submerged in water.
- Boil for less than 5 minutes. Pierce with a fork to see if the vegetables are soft enough.
- Remove the vegetables from the pot and set it aside.
- With the remaining water left in the pot, add flour and milk. Whisk until it reaches a thick consistency.
- Boil the mixture while whisking. Add the boiled vegetables and season it with salt and pepper.
- Transfer it to a bowl and garnish with parsley.
6. Pork Katsudon – Yuri!!! on ICE
Difficulty level: 6/10
Image adapted from: TV Asahi
Image adapted from: TV Asahi
Yuri!!! on ICE is a sports anime about Yuri Katsuki, a Japanese figure skater training for the Grand Prix Championship. Pork Katsudon takes on a central role as it represents Yuri’s zest for ice-skating.
Pork Katsudon is also a classic Japanese dish that can be found in Japanese fast-food restaurants.
Image credit: @maechiyan85
Ingredients:
- 1 slice of pork loin
- Salt
- Pepper
- 2 tbsp of fish sauce
- Flour for dusting
- 1 tbsp of water
- ½ cup of panko bread crumbs
- 50 ml of water
- 1 tbsp of soy sauce
- 1 tbsp of mirin
- ¼ of dashi stock
- 1 tsp of sugar
- ⅓ an onion
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup of cooked rice
- Cooked peas (optional)
Serves 1
Steps:
Pork loin
- Make small cuts on the pork loin.
- Season the pork loin with salt and pepper on both sides.
- Coat the pork loin in flour on both sides.
- Whisk 1 egg and 1 tbsp of water and mix well. Coat the floured pork loin with the egg mixture.
- Coat the pork loin with panko bread crumbs and set aside.
- Heat oil in a saucepan or a deep fryer till the oil bubbles. Submerge the pork loin into the oil and fry till golden brown.
- Set the pork loin aside and use paper towels to soak excess oil.
- Cut the pork loin into slices.
Sauce
- Slice the onion thinly.
- Add soy sauce, sugar, mirin, and dashi stock into a pan on medium heat. Mix well till everything is dissolved.
- Add sliced onion and lower the heat to a simmer. Cook for 5 minutes or till the onion is translucent.
- Crack an egg and whisk it in a bowl.
- Place the pork loin atop the onion and pour the beaten egg in.
- Cover the pan with a lid for less than 1 minute.
- Add cooked peas and serve it with a bowl of rice. (Optional)
7. Furikake Rice – Food Wars
Difficulty level: 7/10
Image adapted from: Netflix
Furikake Rice first made its debut in episode 2 of Food Wars. Although it is only made of rice, scrambled eggs, chicken, and green onions, this simple dish relies on a secret ingredient to make it special: gelatin cubes. This recipe is a tad difficult if you have little cooking experience, but it gets easier after you’ve prepared the chicken broth.
Image adapted from: Feast of Fiction
Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp of sesame oil
- 7-8 chicken wings
- 2 tsp of bonito or fish soup stock
- 5-6 cups of water for the broth, and ½ cup of water for the gelatin
- 2 tsp of grated ginger
- 1 tbsp of sugar
- 3 tbsp of light soy sauce
- 1/4 cup of sake
- 2 tbsp of gelatin
- 4 eggs
- 2 green onions
- 1 cup of white rice
Serves 1-2
Steps:
Broth and chicken wings
- Heat the pan and add in sesame oil. Once heated, fry the chicken wings till it’s golden brown on both sides. Keep the sesame oil and set the chicken wings aside.
- Pour water and soup stock into a pot till the mixture boils. Add the cooked chicken wings and cook it in medium to low heat.
- Add ginger, soy sauce, sugar, and sake into the sesame oil in a pan. Mix well.
- Transfer everything into the simmering broth for 20 minutes. Remove the layer of scum, if there’s any.
- Remove the chicken wings from the pot and set aside.
Gelatin
- Mix gelatin and half a cup of water together, then add into the broth. Mix again.
- Prepare a tray and coat it with butter. Add the broth and wrap it with cling film before putting it into a fridge for 2 hours.
- The end-product is a solidified broth. Slice it into small cubes.
Scrambled eggs
- Add eggs into a bowl and whisk it.
- Prepare a pan on low heat and pour in the whisked eggs.
- Continue whisking the eggs on the heated pan until it has semi-solidified.
Furikake Rice
- Slice green onions into fine bits.
- Prepare a bowl of rice and add scrambled eggs until it covers the rice.
- Debone the chicken wings and add it onto your rice, or place it separately on another plate.
- Sprinkle the gelatin cubes and watch it melt over the eggs and rice.
8. Chaliapin Steak Don – Food Wars
Difficulty level: 7/10
Image adapted from: Netflix
Chaliapin Steak Don appeared in a cooking showdown during episode 7 of Food Wars. A talented chef, Soma, surprises the panel of judges with an addictive meat-based dish made from cheap ingredients. If you’ve recently transcended from “newbie” to “being able to cook”, beef up your cooking skills with this Japanese-inspired steak.
Image adapted from: @antoinely
Ingredients:
- 1 beef sirloin
- 1 onion
- Salt
- Pepper
- 1 tbsp of potato starch
- 1 bowl of rice
- Umeboshi (pickled plum) paste
- ¼ cup of red wine
- 2 tbsp of soy sauce
- 10g of unsalted butter
Serves 1
Steps:
Marinating the beef
- Chop and mince the onion.
- For a tender texture, pound the beef on both sides with a kitchen mallet until it turns flat.
- Wrap the tenderised beef with minced onion on both sides. Cover it with cling wrap and set aside for 30 to 45 minutes.
- Remove the minced onion from the beef. Season the beef with salt and pepper. Keep the minced onion for later.
- Add a small amount of cooking oil and fry the steak to your preferred doneness.
Caramelised minced onion
- Set aside the cooked steak and add butter into the same pan until it melts.
- Add red wine, soy sauce, and potato starch to the melted butter. Mix well. Once done, set the red wine mixture aside.
- Add 2 tbsp of butter and minced onions into the same pan on medium heat. Add the red wine mixture and salt and pepper for seasoning. Cook until the minced onions turn brown.
Chaliapin Steak Don
- Mix rice with umeboshi paste.
- Cut the beef into slices and put it on top of the bowl of rice.
- Garnish it with caramelised onion.
9. Gotcha Pork Roast – Food Wars
Difficulty level: 7/10
Image adapted from: Netflix
Gotcha Roast Pork is another highly raved anime dish spotted in Food Wars. Wrapped with bacon and baked with a faint scent of rosemary, this potato-based creation sets the benchmark high as the first dish of the anime series.
Image adapted from: Kitchen Waifu
Ingredients:
- 3 russet potatoes
- ¾ cup of king oyster mushrooms
- ¾ cup of onion
- 2 packs of thick-cut bacon
- 2 to 4 sprigs of fresh rosemary
- Watercress
- Salt
- Pepper
- Baker’s twine
- Sweet sake soy sauce
- ½ cup of red cooking wine
- 2 tbsp butter
Serves 3-4
Steps:
Fake roast pork
- Peel and cut the potatoes into cubes. Steam for 10 to 12 minutes until the potatoes are soft.
- Mash the potatoes and set aside.
- Chop both the onion and king oyster mushroom finely.
- Heat the saucepan on medium heat and fry the minced onions and king oyster mushrooms with olive oil. Cook until golden brown and set aside.
- Mix the mashed potatoes, fried minced onions, and king oyster mushrooms. Mash it to form a huge oval loaf.
- Wrap the mashed mixture with strips of bacon. Tie it with baker’s twine so that it won’t fall apart.
- Add parsley on top of the bacon.
- Heat the oven to 148°C and bake for 35 to 45 minutes until the bacon is golden brown.
Sauce
- Add wine, soy sauce, and butter into a frying pan on medium heat until it bubbles. Remove from heat.
- Once the bacon is ready, cut the baker’s twine and pour the wine sauce all over it. Add watercress as a garnish.
10. Steamed Red Bean Bun – Spirited Away
Difficulty level: 8/10
Image adapted from: Netflix
The Steamed Red Bean Bun was sighted in the best-animated film of all time – Spirited Away. Chihiro, the protagonist, munched on a mega-sized red bean steamed bun as she gazed into the night. While it’s much easier to buy it from a supermarket, making this pastry from scratch can be pretty fun and satisfying.
Image adapted from: @y.and.co
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of red beans
- 5 cups of water
- 3/4 cup of granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 4 cups of flour
- 1 teaspoon of granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon of instant yeast
Serves 3-4
Steps:
- Wash the red beans thoroughly before transferring into a cooker.
- Add in 3 cups of water and cook for 1 hour.
- Add sugar and vanilla extract into the rice cooker. Keep stirring until the water is fully absorbed by the red beans. This might take up to 1 hour.
- Set aside and wait for it to cool down.
- Mix flour, 2 cups of lukewarm water, and yeast in an electric mixer until it forms a smooth dough.
- Knead for 10 minutes.
- Place the dough into a bowl and cover with cling wrap. Wait for an hour until the dough has risen to twice of its original size.
- Add the cooled red bean compote into a blender. Blend until smooth.
- Add more flour on the surface of the dough and knead the dough into balls bigger than your palms.
- Flatten each ball and place some red bean paste into the middle of the dough. Slowly stretch and seal the dough around the red bean paste.
- Leave the dough under a wet towel for 10 minutes.
- Add parchment paper into a steamer and place the buns inside. Steam for about 12 minutes.
- Turn off the heat for 1-2 minutes and the steamed buns are ready.
Easy anime recipes
If you, like many others, have long conquered every anime show launched, take a step further by fulfilling your anime dining fantasies – turning food on-screen into home-cooked dishes. Whether you’re a budding chef or putting the kitchen to good use for the first time, you’ll be impressed by how easy these Japanese recipes are to follow.
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Cover image adapted from (clockwise from left): @_hir533, Studio Ghibli and Studio Ghibli