santa642
I came to Kushiro on a casual night. Finally, it seems that spring has arrived in Kushiro, as it is not as cold and shivery at night as before (although the cherry blossoms have not bloomed yet). In this atmosphere, I happened to stumble upon a place that caught my interest, so I decided to check it out. The location is along Aikoku Kitazono Street, a fairly busy street, a few intersections north of the CVS Seikoma Bunen store, and after passing a couple of signalized intersections, you will see it on your right shortly. There is parking space for about 4 cars in front of the store. This area is not usually visited by people other than local residents, so it was surprisingly a residential area.
It was 6:20 PM when I arrived, and there was one customer already inside. There was a sign at the front of the store advertising a renewal sale for pork buns. Upon entering, a friendly female staff warmly greeted me. This place was originally a butcher shop. They offer Hokkaido-produced beef, as well as "Kaiso Pork" raised in the nearby area, but it's not just a plain glass case with meat like a traditional butcher shop. The central space of the store is filled with various frozen pork buns with eye-catching packaging labeling them as a new specialty of Kushiro. The variety has expanded from the classic pork buns, and I couldn't immediately grasp how many types there were. From Marimo buns made with 100% Ezo deer meat from Akanko, to cheese pork buns from a collaboration with a local cheese shop, to ANI-ON! collaboration buns with a Hokkaido FM station Air-G, it's quite impressive. I was curious about many of them, but I ended up purchasing three types of pork buns on sale (I don't like red bean buns).
At the checkout, the staff kindly explained how to heat up the pork buns (Thank you). I heated them up at home right away. The basic method is to microwave them for 3 minutes, and when you hear a "pshh" sound as the air escapes, let them sit for about 10 seconds, and they're ready. I started with the pork bun... delicious! It's packed with Kaiso Pork and the Genghis Khan sauce-based seasoning is a perfect match. This flavor should appeal to everyone. Next was the spicy pork bun with beef. The package described it as spicy as a pizza, but I hardly felt any spiciness. It contained both pork and beef. Lastly, I tried the highly anticipated Char Siu pork bun. I expected the Char Siu, slow-cooked overnight, to be more prominent, but it was disappointingly minimal. It was tender, but lacked juiciness. The first pork bun was great, so I had high expectations for the others, but at this price range, it was just okay. However, it seems they are constantly improving, with updates like new dough, so if they continue to evolve, it might truly become a new specialty that Kushiro can be proud of. Dreams are not meant to be dreamt alone. Thank you for the meal.
*They also have an online shop, so you can order their products online. Please give it a try.