Nikuman (Japanese Char Siu Pow)

Posted July 29th, 2010 in Food 13 Comments »

Another winter food I miss is nikuman!

“Niku” means “meat”, and “man” is short word for “manju”.  It’s like a Japanese version of char siu pow, but it tastes different from those you see at yam char restaurants.

Nikuman is a popular winter fast food in Japan and you can buy them at many places during winter including convenience stores: Lawson, Seven Eleven, Family Mart, Cercle K, etc etc….  I love nikuman!  We just call nikuman, but there are several types in different flavors, including “pizza-man”, “an-man” and “curry-man”.  (sounds like character names in cartoon :p )  Different shops sell different flavors.

The good thing about buying nikuman from convenience stores is that you can buy it ANYTIME during winter, as convenience stores open 24 hours.  Whenever you feel like it, you can just grab the hot juicy nikuman and eat straight away.  And, the price is also the good part.  One nikuman costs around 100 yen ~ 150 yen.  Very cheap yet delicious snack. 😀

I just miss the juicy nikuman…. (><)  My favorite is the standard nikuman (different shop = different taste, and some shop use different pork meat such as black pork and try to stand out from others) …

Oh, when I went to China town in Yokohama, I had the most delicious nikuman from a stall.  It was huge, and the meat was very very tender.  “551 Horai” is also famous for its nikuman.  This shop is originally from Osaka.  (website)

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13 Comments on “Nikuman (Japanese Char Siu Pow)”

  1. 1 Megan said at 11:53 am on July 29th, 2010:

    I LOVE these too, Ume. We had them a lot when we were in Japan in winter, especially at NISS in Niseko. I would rather sit inside eating them than go outside into the snow!

  2. 2 Sakura said at 1:11 pm on July 29th, 2010:

    Dragon Express (Chinese take aways) in Kewdale (4 Wright St?) has some nice home made pork buns. They are the salty variety, not the sweet BBQ buns you get from DIM SUM places.. Just steam it or microwave it for few minutes, and they are ready to eat!

  3. 3 umepontarou said at 1:21 pm on July 29th, 2010:

    Megan.

    Aaaa… I want to eat too!! (>x<) NOW!!

  4. 4 umepontarou said at 1:23 pm on July 29th, 2010:

    Sakura,

    Thanks for the info 😀
    Takeaway pork buns… I must try them !

  5. 5 YL said at 4:07 pm on July 29th, 2010:

    They have nikuman in the japanese grocery store here! Its the same concept as your display picture too. They also sell homemade onigiri and mochi. Maybe I should try the nikuman one day!

  6. 6 A said at 4:58 am on July 30th, 2010:

    My favourite – I made these a few weeks ago (chinese version). Prefer home made to the ones from convenience stores though…

  7. 7 umepontarou said at 9:45 am on July 30th, 2010:

    YL,

    WOW, I knew there are much more things in Sydney than Perth! 😀
    What’s the name of the shop??
    Homemade mochi and onigiri…. ummm sounds good♪

  8. 8 umepontarou said at 9:47 am on July 30th, 2010:

    A,

    You made char siu pow! Of course it will taste better if it’s handmade!
    According to Sakura, one of Umeboss visitor, she said there are different version of char siu pow: sweet and salty. Which one did you make? 😀

  9. 9 YL said at 4:12 pm on July 30th, 2010:

    The shop is called ‘Conveni 8’..and I think conveni is like how u pronounce convenience stores in japanese?

  10. 10 umepontarou said at 7:23 pm on July 30th, 2010:

    YL,

    Yes! That’s right 😀
    We Japanese always make words shorter..

  11. 11 A said at 8:37 pm on July 30th, 2010:

    Yep – recipe is on my blog if you want to try. It’s very easy.

    I made roast pork – classic chinese version. It’s sweet and salty, but probably more sweet. Bit different from Nikuman.

  12. 12 umepontarou said at 9:06 pm on July 31st, 2010:

    A,

    I will try your recipe 😀
    Thanks ☆ Looks yummy~~!!

  13. 13 jasmineofreeman said at 12:39 am on April 20th, 2011:

    Many Thanks for the guidelines. Regards

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