Posted April 8, 2017 by Jonelle Patrick3 Comments Seasonal Goodness

Pink Food Season Arrives In All Its WTF Splendor

It never fails – every time the big cherry things burst into bloom, I see foods that totally make me want to shout “What the pinkity pink?” I’m not talking about food that should be pink (like sakura ice cream) or is only slightly questionably pink (like strawberry lattes), I’m talking about the HELP EEK WHY IS THAT FOOD PINK specialties that appear every cherry blossom season in Japan. Such as…

Lotteria’s famous pink-bunned burger: a deep-fried hockey puck of pink shrimp topped with a non-trivial swadge of tartar sauce, also (supposedly) studded with tiny shrimp far to small to actually see, but which make the sauce suspiciously PINK

Winning in the “how many kinds of pink food can you include in one special,” this sakura-flavored noodle set hits the trifecta with sides of bacon-topped steamed veggies, tuna sashimi, and a pink rice cake wrapped in a pickled cherry leaf

Spaghetti in beet sauce with shrimp? Gee, wonder why I’ve never seen this particular taste combo on any self-respecting restaurant’s menu…

And finally, although this actually is a dessert, it gets ick points for being slices of gooey sweet rice cakes stuck in a bun to (ha ha ha UGH) resemble a hot dog

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The Last Tea Bowl Thief was chosen as an Editor’s Pick for Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense on Amazon

“A fascinating mix of history and mystery.” —Booklist

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Jonelle Patrick writes novels set in Japan, and blogs at Only In Japan and The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had

Jonelle Patrick View All

Writing mystery books set in Tokyo is mostly what I do, but I also blog about the odd stuff I see every day in Japan. I'm a graduate of Stanford University and the Sendagaya Japanese Institute in Tokyo, and a member of the International Thriller Writers, the Mystery Writers of America, and Sisters In Crime. When I'm not in Tokyo, I live in San Francisco. I also host a travel site called The Tokyo Guide I Wish I'd Had, so if you're headed to Japan and want to check out the places I take my friends when they're in town, take a look!

3 thoughts on “Pink Food Season Arrives In All Its WTF Splendor” ›

Yuck! No!

Erm, I kind of like the pink sushi (said the person about to horrify you with today’s sushi post on my one)

Jonelle Patrick says:

May 14, 2017 at 7:12 am

Ahahaha you’re not the first blowback I’ve gotten for slamming the pink sushi rice (><;;) And I'll admit that I actually kind of want to try those sushi donuts you wrote about! (In fact, anybody else who's reading this might want to saunter over to Helen's awesome Not Your Normal Health Blog and read about them too: http://notyournormalhealthblog.com/2017/05/14/sushi-doughnuts-sydney-fish-market/

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