​There are affiliate links throughout this blog post for your convenience, where I can earn a small commission. I never support a product or brand I don't personally use and enjoy, but if you'd like to learn more, you can head to this page!
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It's been a while since we've made an anime recipe! But now that Mugen Train is available on Funimation, I knew I had to whip up Rengoku's bento box.

Demon Slayer (Kimetsu no Yaiba) is one of my favorite anime. Yes, it's newer, but it has some absolutely beautiful animation. I've already made a very simple version of Tanjiro's udon from the anime's first season. But now we're going to set our heart ablaze with this dish from the flame hashira Rengoku!

This recipe is probably not exactly what Rengoku had. This is definitely a tad Americanized, and I wanted to make it vegetarian-friendly since I don't eat beef. However, aesthetically it's similar and the flavor is pretty close to what he would have had in Mugen Train! It's also very easy to whip together.

​The recipe and ingredients list were put together based off of what I could see in the screenshot from the film; I'm not sure if an official recipe exists out there somewhere. Either way, this is a protein-packed meal that is fit for a demon-fighting hashira.

You can use real beef if you are not concerned about making this dish vegetarian.
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• 1 bag of Gardein beef-less meat (you can use the tips or the Szechuan strips without the sauce)
• 1 green onion
• 1/2 small sweet onion
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp red pickled ginger, cut into strips 
• 6 oz tofu
• 1-2 cups of white rice (depending on how much rice you want your food to sit on; I used 0.5 cup per serving since our bento box was smaller, but you can use 1 cup per serving as well)
• 1 tbsp sesame oil 
• 1 tbsp hoisin sauce
• 1 tbsp mirin

• Press tofu to drain water. Set aside if you're wedging it between two heavy objects like I do!
• Hard boil one egg. Cook to your desired yolk texture, though I recommend aiming for 8-10 minutes to replicate the texture of the anime's,
• Cook white rice. Once it's ready, set aside 0.5 cup or 1 cup of rice per bento (depending on how much you made & the size of your bento). 
• Once tofu is pressed, cut into strips or cubes and pan fry with sesame oil until all sides are golden. Add to your bento.
• Cut ginger into strips and add to your bento next to the tofu.
• Cut your green onion stalk into long strips and place on the other side of the tofu.
• Cut sweet onion into strips. Add to a pan with Gardein beef-less meat.
• Add hoisin sauce and mirin to the "beef" and onion mixture. Cook until onions are caramelized and "beef" is fully cooked, about 8-12 minutes. 
• Add 1/2 of the "beef" and onion mixture to the bento. 
• Add the egg once it's ready to the same side as the tofu. 

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Despite being super easy due to being made largely with premade ingredients, this tasted amazing! There was a great balance of light sweetness (from the sweet onion and the mirin) and savory (from the beef). I can definitely understand why Rengoku was chanting, "umai!" when eating this on the train. 

Since it was incredibly simple and delicious, I'm ranking this a 10/10 for both ease of replication and taste. 

Have a food from an anime that you want me to try to recreate? Let me know in the comments below! Plus, follow me on TikTok to see the behind the scenes of how this was made.

There are affiliate links throughout this blog post for your convenience, where I can earn a small commission. I never support a product or brand I don't personally use and enjoy, but if you'd like to learn more, you can head to this page!
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This anime recipe is equal parts protein-packed and comforting! Demon Slayer (aka Kimetsu no Yaiba in Japanese) is one of my favorite anime. Even though it is newer on the scene, it has quickly captured my heart with the lovable characters and absolutely stunning animation. 

In honor of the movie making its way to the United States, I whipped up Tanjiro's udon dish that he orders in the first season of the anime. This udon looked delicious and it absolutely was. The flavor combination here was so wonderful. I took some creative liberty with the broth and focused more on the toppings and plating for screen accuracy. 
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The key to getting your sunny side up egg to cover nearly the entire bowl without the extra yolks? All you have to do is add extra egg whites when you're making it. The toppings rest on top of the soft egg with the help of the thick noodles in the broth beneath it.

Udon noodles, if you've never had them, are the ultimate comfort noodle. They're thick, a little chewy, and absolutely wonderful in a hot soup. They're also great stir-fried for a yakiudon style dish! This dish would also be great with soba noodles, but the thickness of the noodle does help support the egg when plating.
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• 0.5 cup roast chicken breast (optional) 
• 4 cups cooked udon noodles

Broth:

• 4 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 2 tbsp miso paste
• 2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
• 0.5 cup sweet onion 
• 1 tsp minced ginger

Toppings:

• 1 egg  + 0.25 cup liquid egg whites
• 2 green onions, sliced
• Nori sheets, thinly sliced (I recommend using snack-sized sheets so you can just quickly cut them with scissors and save a little time!) to taste
• 1 tsp wasabi paste or avocado 

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• Let all broth ingredients simmer in a pot. I recommend using a slow cooker if you have one and letting it sit for at least 5 hours. I find that the longer it sits, the more flavorful it is.
• Cook udon noodles. Add 1 cup of noodles into four bowls.
• Add broth over noodles then add roast chicken.
• Cook your egg sunny-side up. To enlarge the egg to look more like the anime, you can add 0.25 cup liquid egg whites to surround the existing egg. 
• Add the cooked egg to the udon. Top with wasabi paste (or avocado if you don't like wasabi), sliced green onion, and sliced nori. 
• Serve immediately and enjoy!

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This dish was so tasty and the flavor profiles all really complemented each other. It was super filling and definitely had a good deal of protein thanks to the egg and chicken combo. I rate it a 10/10 for flavor.

I'd definitely make this again! It was super simple to make, too. If you don't want to roast your own chicken, you can buy Perdue chicken pre-made in your grocery store. They're in the refrigerated section, usually near bacon and deli meats. This gets a 10/10 for ease of recreation, too!

​Have a food from an anime that you want me to try to recreate? Let me know in the comments below! Plus, follow me on TikTok to see the behind the scenes of how this was made.
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We're making a Naruto recipe today that has me a bit nervous, but also excited... the Curry of Life! The Curry of Life makes its appearance in Episode 153. Rock Lee loves the Curry of Life, and this curry is even known to revive people from unconsciousness or heal them from the brink of death due to its extreme spiciness. 

​What we'll be doing is adding our spicy element after we've already made our curry, so that way we can have some not-spicy-curry available in case it's too much. Then, you get to customize your heat levels each time.
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There are affiliate links throughout this blog post for your convenience, where I can earn a small commission. I never support a product or brand I don't personally use and enjoy, but if you'd like to learn more, you can head to this page!
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If you've been following along for a little while now, you've probably seen some of my anime recipes on here. One of my favorite shows is Osomatsu-san, and one of the characters runs his own oden stand. My friend Liz introduced me to the show and challenged me to make some oden that Chibita, the oden vendor, would be proud of.

Oden is a Japanese seafood stew. It's a hot pot style dish that is pretty customizable at oden stalls and was super delicious. We ended up making a run to our local Asian market to grab some of these ingredients, but I'll share some things you can also find on Amazon in case your local Asian market doesn't have those or if you need to make it yourself.

I've also made imoni that was featured in Osomatsu-san, so if you want a non-seafood stew, check that out!
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Oden typically contains the following ingredients:

• Konnyaku cake (yam cake)
  • You will likely need to shop at an Asian market for this. They are typically grey blocks and jelly-like.
• Fish cakes
  • You will likely need to shop at an Asian market for this. Look for fresh or frozen packages labeled "oden kit" or "seafood combo"
• Mochi kinchaku (a fried tofu pouch stuffed with plain mochi)
  • You will likely need to shop at an Asian market for this
  • See below for how to make your own
• Boiled eggs
• Carrots, sliced
• Nishime kombu (dried seaweed)
  • You will likely need to shop at an Asian market for this
• Konjac noodles, wrapped
  • You can get these at Asian markets or on Amazon here
  • Please note that a lot of dieters like to use konjac noodles as a substitute for other noodles because it is low in calories. However, it is also very high in fiber. I recommend small quantities of this item if you include it in your oden, especially if you have never had it before!
• Daikon radish, sliced
  • You should be able to get this at nearly any grocery store but an Asian market will almost definitely have it
• Dashi broth with soy sauce and mirin

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If you can't find the tofu pouches anywhere, then you can do the following to make your own aburaage:

• Thinly slice a block of tofu and press it to drain the water.
• Once pressed, deep fry the tofu slices, turning them over frequently so the inside can get puffy. The outside of your tofu should look sort of bubbly as it fries.
• Once you're done frying your tofu, slice down the middle. You may need to also slice a bit inside to create the pocket.
• Prepare kirimochi and stuff it into the tofu pocket. We used this exact kirimochi and microwaved it for 4 minutes per the package instructions. Some of it came out almost burnt, so I'd recommend starting at 2-3 minutes and then monitoring in increments.
• Weave a toothpick through the top to create a pouch shape with the tofu.

To help me make the oden with the ingredients I did have, I turned to multiple YouTube videos from cooking bloggers to make sure I was doing this right. Even though I couldn't get my hands on konnyaku anywhere, this was still delicious without it thanks to their help and guidance!

​But here are some great videos you can watch for inspiration as you build your own oden dish. These are from Just One Cookbook, Kimono Mom, and ochikeron.
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Oden was a labor of love since there were a lot of moving pieces, so it wasn't the easiest anime food to replicate. However, it was completely worth it. The flavor was delicious and we both really enjoyed this. We'll definitely be making more trips to our local Asian grocery store to see if we can keep finding more of the ingredients when they're in stock!

It was a hearty dish that was packed with veggies and protein, so it was very filling without feeling heavy in your stomach.

Have a food from an anime that you want me to try to recreate? Let me know in the comments below! Plus, follow me on TikTok to see the behind the scenes of how this was made.

There are affiliate links throughout this blog post for your convenience, where I can earn a small commission. I never support a product or brand I don't personally use and enjoy, but if you'd like to learn more, you can head to this page!
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Now that I have agar agar powder in my pantry after making Tsuyu Asui-inspired jelly, I wanted to try another famous jelly recipe from anime: coffee jelly! Coffee jelly got its start in the UK, but is now common in Japan's convenience stores and restaurants. 

This dessert makes an appearance in The Disastrous Life of Saiki K, an anime about a teenager with psychic superpowers. Kusuo Saiki, the titular character, is a big fan of coffee jelly. Given I have quite the caffeine addiction myself, I was excited to give this a try!
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​Coffee jelly is sometimes served as cubes inside a sweet cream (almost resembling an iced coffee beverage), but we'll be making ours to look as close to the show's as possible, which looks more like a ramekin-sized block of jelly with whipped cream. Since agar agar powder is vegan, to keep this a plant-based recipe, we'll be using a nondairy whipped cream.

​I'm using Reddi Whip's almond milk variant, but if you prefer the coconut milk whipped cream or another vegan whipped cream then that works too. 

• 2-3 tsp instant coffee (depending on how strong you want it)
• 6 oz water in a mug
• 1.5 cups water to boil
• 2 tsp agar agar  aka kanten powder 
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract or Jordan's Skinny Syrups Vanilla
• 1 tbsp sweetener (I'm using Stevia to keep this low calorie, but you can absolutely use real sugar)
  • The Stevia I use is Whole Earth, which is plant-based & suitable for vegans! If you are trying to keep this dish vegan, just be aware that some refined sugars get their color from a process that involves bone char.  
• Whipped cream (non-dairy to keep this dish vegan); I like to use about 4 tbsp per serving

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• Add agar agar powder, sweetener, vanilla, and 1.5 cup water to a pot and whisk together. Do this before the water has started to boil to prevent clumping.
• While you wait for the water to heat up, prepare your instant coffee with instant coffee and 6 oz water. Add to the pot.
• Once your water is at a rolling boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 3 minutes.
• Fill ramekins (mine filled 5 ramekins total, but this may vary depending on the size of yours) or other container with mixture and let sit in the fridge.
• Optional: When ready to serve, remove from ramekin and present on a plate or in a glass.
• Serve with whipped cream.

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Including the whipped cream, if you use stevia, each of the five ramekins contains...

If you're following Weight Watchers, this recipe is super low in SmartPoints! This is only 1 SmartPoint on all myWW plans.
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I'm a huge fan of coffee and often drink it black. So that being said, I thought this was sweet but not too sweet! The flavor profile reminded me a lot of a more dressed up iced coffee drink, and the jelly texture is great for this warmer spring weather we've been having in Florida. I'd rate it a 9/10, and will give it a 10/10 next time when I make the coffee a bit stronger.

For ease of replication, definitely a 10/10. Agar agar is super easy to work with, even more so than standard gelatin in my opinion.

Have a food from an anime that you want me to try to recreate? Let me know in the comments below! Plus, follow me on TikTok to see the behind the scenes of how this was made.
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• Japanese Fruit Jelly with a Froppy Twist
• How To Drink Black Coffee and Actually Like It
• Ichiraku Ramen Recipe from Naruto

After My Hero Academia Week, I received a request from TikTok user cookie_.demon._ to make Tsuyu Asui's favorite food! Tsuyu Asui - aka Froppy - is my favorite student in My Hero Academia so I was really excited to get this request.

Tsuyu's favorite food is jelly, which is really fitting since her Quirk (aka superpower for those of you unfamiliar with the show) is that she's part-frog!

Since Tsuyu is Japanese, we'll be making a Japanese fruit jelly, which is a bit different than your standard Jell-O. But since her costume and character design is heavily centered around the color green, we'll be giving this a little bit of a twist that breaks away from the traditional way of making the dessert. Don't worry, it's super easy and won't impact the taste.
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​If you're trying to eat in a calorie deficit like me or if you're concerned about your sugar intake for dietary reasons, I'll include some easy swaps you can make to keep the sugar content low.

Also, this dish is accidentally vegetarian! If you get a plant-based food coloring (you can get this at Whole Foods) then this will even be vegan-friendly. 
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• Optional (for the Froppy twist!): Green food coloring
• Fruit of choice (I recommend strawberry slices, kiwi slices, or berries!)
• Agar agar aka kanten powder (this is different from Jell-O because its clear, flavorless, and it doesn't melt at room temp like Jell-O can!)
• To taste: sugar or Stevia 
• Water
• Optional: flavored syrup or fruit juice for flavor

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See instructions for ratio of water and agar agar.
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• Dissolve agar agar into water. If using 1 cup of water, start with 1 tsp agar agar.
• Bring water to boil after dissolving agar agar to prevent clumping. Once your water is at a rolling boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 3 minutes.
•  Add sweetener and one or two drops of food coloring. Stir until well-blended.
• Take off heat and pour half of the agar agar mixture into a mold
  • If you don't have a square mold for Jell-O, you can use a brownie pan
  • If you have ice cube trays or specific Jell-O molds, that works too!
• Let cool in the fridge or at room temp for a few minutes while you cut your fruit into slices. Mine only took about 3 minutes in the fridge to reach the next stage.
• Once your jelly has just begun to set (it shouldn't be completely set yet), add fruit slices, then top with the remaining half.
  • If it's completely set, then the top layer won't be able to bind with the bottom. Make sure your jelly is still really soft, but has started to form.
• Let set in the fridge until the jelly has completely set. Use a knife to cut around the fruit and then serve. 

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There are affiliate links throughout this blog post for your convenience, where I can earn a small commission. I never support a product or brand I don't personally use and enjoy, but if you'd like to learn more, you can head to this page!
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My Hero Academia week may be over, but there are still plenty of recipes from the show to be made! TikTok user @tiredbones21 requested that we make takoyaki, which is featured in this show. I love takoyaki but have never made it myself, so I'll be sharing this beginner-friendly way to make takoyaki at home. Takoyaki is, simply put, a fried dough ball stuffed with grilled octopus. 
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​This is featured in My Hero Academia with Fat Gum’s introduction, since takoyaki is a classic Osaka street food and that’s where he lives. It’s also where Amajiki got his tentacles from when he converted his food for his Quirk, Manifest.

Takoyaki is actually featured in a bunch of different anime. My first exposure to it was Cardcaptor Sakura as a kid!

​Everything you need, you can get on Amazon. You can order a takoyaki maker if you want to make more at a time, but I wanted to give this a try before I committed to a larger kitchen appliance (especially since we don't have much room in our small galley kitchen). So, I ordered this small cake pop maker that the reviews said work great for takoyaki as well. Plus, with the cake pop maker, I don't have to turn the takoyaki over since it functions similarly to a waffle iron.

Measurements are for about 3 servings, or 25 pieces of takoyaki

• 4 oz. Otafuku takoyaki kit (this comes with the takoyaki sauce and takoyaki flour)
• 1 Green onion 
• 4 oz. octopus, grilled and chopped
• 12 oz. Water
• 2 Eggs
• 2 tbsp Pickled ginger 
• Bonito flakes to taste
• 2 tbsp mayonnaise (preferably Japanese kewpie mayo, but you can use regular mayo) 
  • ​If you're following Weight Watchers or are on a calorie deficit, you can use a light mayo instead

Instructions taken from the Otafuku takoyaki kit bag. The maker I used is nonstick, so I just used a bit of cooking spray, but you may need to use oil if your maker is not non-stick. 

1. Grill and chop octopus tentacles and set aside.
2. In a bowl, mix the takoyaki flour, water, and two eggs.
3. Fill your takoyaki maker with batter about halfway. Evenly distribute fillings (except bonito flakes) in each hole, then fill to the brim with more batter.
4. If you are using a traditional takoyaki maker (not the cake pop maker I bought), once the takoyaki is cooked halfway, flip them halfway with a toothpick.
5. Once your takoyaki is golden brown, top with the takoyaki sauce, mayo, and bonito flakes and enjoy!

These aren’t the easiest to make without a proper takoyaki maker, but the cake pop maker did the trick. I’d rate this a 8/10 for ease of replication but only because it took a while with the cake pop maker. Some of them also deflated fairly quickly. If we had a larger takoyaki maker, it’d have been a breeze.

The taste, though? Excellent! The fillings I selected were based off of what I’ve had at two separate Japanese restaurants here in Orlando, and these tasted really similar to the ones we had there. 10/10 on taste!
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If making 25 takoyaki pieces, each ball contains approximately...

• 40 calories
• 1 g fat
• 15.7 mg cholesterol
• 140 mg sodium
• 5 g carbs
• 0.1 g fiber
• 5 g sugar
• 2 g protein

​Have a food from an anime that you want me to try to recreate? Let me know in the comments below! Plus, follow me on TikTok to see the behind the scenes of how this was made.
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• All recipes from My Hero Academia Week
• How to make "Brock's Jelly Donuts" aka Onigiri from Pokemon
• Gotcha Roast Pork from Food Wars with vegan alternatives

Jujutsu Kaisen is one of my favorite anime out there, and it's still only on its first season. It takes some of my favorite classic shonen tropes and presents them with well-written characters, great animation, and a great balance of humor with serious moments.

We've already made Itadori Yuji's ginger chicken meatball recipe from the show, but today we're making a forbidden food from the show...

That's right! We're making Sukuna's fingers. Spoiler alert if you haven't sarted the show yet, but Itadori ate Sukuna's finger to save his friends despite the odds of it hurting him being high. So today, we're going to craft our own with hot dogs, honey glazed almonds, and bacon. This is fun to make for when you watch the show on Friday nights or to save for Halloween to creep out your friends.

There are affiliate links throughout this blog post for your convenience, where I can earn a small commission. I never support a product or brand I don't personally use and enjoy, but if you'd like to learn more, you can head to this page!
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I can’t believe Pokémon’s 25th anniversary is this year! I grew up with the series, so I knew I had to make an anime recipe for one of the shows that defined my childhood.

A weird thing I never questioned as a kid was why they called the rice balls in Pokémon “donuts” and “sandwiches.” They weren’t sandwiches or donuts - they were onigiri! This was an attempt to localize the subtitles for American audiences, but understandably was meme'd since it doesn't make much sense.

I’m making two kinds of onigiri today: some stuffed with tuna, and some with umeboshi (aka Japanese pickled plum). You can also use salmon as a filling, if you like!

• 2 cans tuna
• 4 tbsp mayonnaise (preferably Japanese kewpie mayo, but you can use regular mayo) 
  • ​If you're following Weight Watchers or are on a calorie deficit, you can use a light mayo instead
• 1 tbsp sriracha
• 2 cups uncooked sushi rice
  • ​​If you're following myWW Purple, you can use brown sushi rice
• 6 pieces umeboshi
• 12 pieces of snack-sized Nori 

• Before you begin, check if your umeboshi have pits! Remove them if so.
• Once your rice is cooked and has cooled, wet your hands or use a paper towel to scoop rice into your hands. I used a 1/3 measuring cup to scoop it out so the rice was evenly distributed.
• With your thumb, create a slight indent in the middle.
• Add either umeboshi or tuna to the indent.
• Use your hands to wrap the filling with rice and form into a triangular shape.
• Add nori to the rice ball and serve. You should have enough to make about 12-14 rice balls. ​

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Need help assembling your rice balls? Check out this video from Tokyo Kitchen!
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I love onigiri, but I've only ever made it with tuna before. This was my first time trying umeboshi and I enjoyed it! It was slightly sweet and pretty salty, so it tasted really nice in the rice. Anthony thought the umeboshi was a little too salty for his liking, but otherwise was had a tasty flavor.  

Have a food from an anime that you want me to try to recreate? Let me know in the comments below! Plus, follow me on TikTok to see the behind the scenes of how this was made.
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There are affiliate links throughout this blog post for your convenience, where I can earn a small commission. I never support a product or brand I don't personally use and enjoy, but if you'd like to learn more, you can head to this page!

​It's the final day of My Hero Academia week! I've had so much fun creating recipes for these characters and we're wrapping it up with something more simple: a burger for Denki Kaminari. 

According to the information cards on each student featured in the episodes, Denki's favorite food is a hamburger. But everyone knows how to make those and that seemed a little boring... but I saw this pre-seasoned ground chicken at Publix that happened to be BOGO and I knew it would be perfect for a burger in honor of Denki. It's a Thai-style ground chicken, meaning it's got garlic, shallots, ginger, and soy sauce worked in... and get this: the brand name is Mighty Spark. It was destined for our Denki-inspired dish, given he's got an electricity Quirk! 

To lean in to these flavors, I'll be topping this burger with some Japanese mayonnaise and some okonomiyaki sauce (I'll show you how I make mine below, or you can buy your own on Amazon) instead of your standard ketchup or mustard.