Top Japanese Guilty Pleasure Foods for Spring 2022
Sho Yamamoto
As you may be familiar with, Japan loves their seasons. Every year, there are always new and amazing foods that circulate around social media, and you can see people lining up to get the latest food trend! Springtime brings the much anticipated sakura season, and everyone gets in on limited time flavors! Let’s check out all the best guilty pleasure foods for spring 2022!
Within Japanese cuisine, there are many things you could consider to be comfort foods: onigiri (rice balls), miso soup, Japanese curry, and udon noodles, just to name a few. Most Japanese dishes are relatively healthy to eat, too, while giving you that comforting satisfaction. But what if you’re looking to treat yourself and go on a guilt-free binge?
Springtime in Japan is one of the best times of the year to look for yummy new flavors from Japanese fast food restaurants, konbini (Japanese convenience stores), and other shops because they will usually release new sakura flavor fusions or other limited time flavors, like Starbucks Japan’s sakura 2022 drinks! This spring, bite into one (or more) of these guilty pleasure foods from Krispy Kreme, McDonald’s Japan, and more!
Krispy Kreme
If anyone knows me, you’ll know I am absolutely weak for donuts. I will shamelessly buy donuts if I’m feeling like I want to give myself a little pick-me-up. This spring, Krispy Kreme in Japan has released a spring limited Donuts Around the World series, highlighting four regions with distinct flavors and ingredients.
Tiramisu Italia
From Italy, we have the Tiramisu Italia donut. It takes the original glaze, fills it with mascarpone (like real tiramisu!), has a distinct tiramisu and espresso scent, and is topped with rich white chocolate with espresso and cocoa powder!
Macadamia Chocolate Hawaii
This donut takes inspiration from Hawaii’s popular souvenir, the chocolate covered macadamia nut! It’s a chocolate donut with a macadamia style cream filling, covered in white chocolate, and topped with caramel drizzle and roasted macadamia nuts!
Passion Fruit Brazil
This is a really interesting one, and a great option if you love tropical fruit! With a passion fruit juice and nappage (apricot glaze) blend, white chocolate, and custard dip that is meant to resemble the scent of Brazilian sunshine. It’s topped with a mix of mango, papaya, pineapple, strawberry, and pistachio! Apparently one bite will have you feeling the rhythm of samba!
Muchi Mochi Maple Canada
We have Canada’s iconic maple now on a Krispy Kreme donut, and it’s only in Japan! It’s a subtly sweet donut that has a maple sauce baked into the dough, and it’s decorated with a caramel drizzle with small bits of caramel biscuit to add a crunchy and crisp texture!
All donuts have been available since March 3rd, and you can get them until April 20th, except the Canada donut, which is available until May 8th!
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Mos Burger
Mos Burger can get overshadowed by bigger international rivals like McDonald’s or Burger King, but make no mistake, it’s still on the TokyoTreat team’s list of Japanese fast food chains we love! With a constant rotation of seasonal specials, don’t sleep on Mos Burger!
This spring they’re revitalizing their classic teriyaki sauce and releasing two burgers to include the new sauce. Both are releasing on March 24, 2022, and are sure to be a hit!
First is the Cream Cheese Teriyaki Burger, which has a patty smothered in their new, richer teriyaki sauce, topped with cream cheese with a bed of lettuce. Personally I’ve never had a burger with the combination of cream cheese and teriyaki sauce, but I’m not one to back down for a new twist on a hamburger!
The other one is Mos Burger’s classic Teriyaki Burger that has the new and improved sauce on their patty which is sandwiched between a bed of lettuce!
Bonus: Although it’s not technically food, it’s definitely still worth mentioning! Starting on March 24th, you can take home a Limited Edition Kirby Plate Set! To celebrate Mos Burger’s 50th Anniversary and Kirby’s 30th Anniversary, they’ve collaborated to give one of two Kirby and Mos Burger designed plates when you get a Mos Burger or Mos Chicken and drink set!
McDonald’s
It’s not the world’s most popular fast food restaurant for no reason, and in Japan McDonald’s is always on point with their seasonal releases. This spring, they released a slate of new sandwiches featuring Teritama, which is a combination of teriyaki and tamago (egg)! If Mos Burger has their new teriyaki, McDonald’s couldn’t be out done!
The Teritama series of burgers features a burger patty covered in a teriyaki sauce and a fried egg that you’d see in an Egg McMuffin. For a limited time, you can get a Thick-Cut Spicy Bacon Teritama, a regular Teritama, a Cheese Teritama, and a Teritama McMuffin.
We also got a new dessert that was released on March 23rd called the Sakura Mochi Pie! Just like the name may suggest, it’s a sakura flavored mochi and red bean paste filled pie. It’s definitely spring-ready, and the packaging even has a cherry blossom season motif of an actual sakura mochi!
I was so excited about it that I actually went out to try both the Sakura Mochi Pie (and the Thick-Cut Spicy Bacon Teritama) on release day! The pie was absolutely delicious and I wish it was something they always had on the menu! I will be going back to get it again before they’re gone! I give it a solid 9/10!
The burger was an interesting experience, and I’m not sure I would get it again. It started weird, but it did get better the more I ate it. The spice may have redeemed it at the end, so I will give it a 7/10.
Ministop Mini SOF
Last on this list of the top guilty pleasure foods for spring 2022 is Ministop’s famed soft serve ice cream that’s available in two seasonal flavors: Strawberry Sakura Milk and Kurogoma (Black Sesame). The Strawberry Sakura flavor consists of a Amaou strawberry condensed milk soft serve, topped with whip cream, sakura syrup, and frozen strawberry shavings.
The Kurogoma is a special black sesame flavored ice cream with a fluffy and thick black sesame whip cream! You can get both flavors in either a waffle cone or in a cup. The Kurogoma cup version will include shiratama, which are small mochi-like balls!
If you’re a fan of Japanese food, but need a break to stuff your face on sweets, burgers, and ice cream, then find these yummy guilty pleasure foods! The sakura are nearing full bloom, and it’s time to embrace spring with open arms, and open mouths! Which are you looking to try first? Let us know below!
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