The future is already here. We just don’t know it because the instructions are in Japanese!!!

I’m talking about the culinary wonder that is Kracie’s Popin’Cookin’ and Happy Kitchen Sets. You might not have heard of them (I certainly haven’t), but it’s amazing.

Since I don’t think I can do the products justice, watch this 6-minute video for some context first. (There’s no narration or background music, which might be awkward for some of you.)

This video demonstrates how you can make a mini yet full Okosama lunch (child’s meal) with ONLY POWDER AND WATER. Yes, powder –a plain, white powder.

If before we were only dreaming of nutritional food made of dreams and inflatable packets, the Japanese brand Kracie has already, apparently, been there and done that.

It looks like french fries and chicken rice. It tastes like french fries and chicken rice. For all intents and purposes, those are french fries and chicken rice.

I cannot.

I mean, your stomach won’t get full with these little pieces, but isn’t it just so interesting? And fun to look at? And probably to make? Help.

And the aesthetic, experiential and gustatory value is off-the-charts.

The one above is the first demo video I ever watched (also awkwardly without any voiceover/sound). It’s eel over rice.

The rice, for goodness’ sake, looks like rice. And the fact that you can taste eel with only a couple of bucks and a few minutes of effort is also unbelievable.

Of course, as any curious human being, I wanted to know what it’s made of.

A sample list of ingredients include:

Sugar, Dextrin, Vegetable Oil, Lactose (Milk), Starch, Corn Syrup, Reduced Mizuame Sweetener, Gelatin, Fermented Milk, Concentrated Yoghurt (Milk), Milk Protein, Glucose, Processed Starch, Acidulant, Calcium Carbonate, Flavouring, Gelling Agent (Sodium Alginate), Sorbitol, Natural Colouring (Caramel, Vegetable …

So far, all of these things aren’t particularly bad. There’s flavouring, which is probably the secret to the success. I don’t know how it gets inflated, but if you do please let me know.

And they’re probably all not the ingredients you’d expect from an actual piece of chicken breast, but they seem to be run-of-the-mill.

Is it healthy? Some products need to be microwaved or fridged (like the hamburger patty and buns in the video below), and some don’t. I honestly can’t tell.

As one wise Youtube commenter said, “it’s all healthy in moderation.”

I’m just honestly so floored and entertained by this concept. As someone who’s not a chemist, this kind of food technology seems so ingenious. The company’s touting it as a fun DIY. But for something that retails at around 3USD, it’s simply a marvel.

xxx

The featured image is from this website. That’s the popular Popin Cookin Candy Sushi Set. It looks like sushi… but it’s not.

I swear, the Japanese are in a whole other dimension. -A