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)
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!
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!
Megan.
Aaaa… I want to eat too!! (>x<) NOW!!
Sakura,
Thanks for the info 😀
Takeaway pork buns… I must try them !
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!
My favourite – I made these a few weeks ago (chinese version). Prefer home made to the ones from convenience stores though…
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♪
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? 😀
The shop is called ‘Conveni 8’..and I think conveni is like how u pronounce convenience stores in japanese?
YL,
Yes! That’s right 😀
We Japanese always make words shorter..
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.
A,
I will try your recipe 😀
Thanks ☆ Looks yummy~~!!
Many Thanks for the guidelines. Regards