Stomachs on legs are proud to present

More on donuts. Browsing Mari Kanazawa's
blog, I found a link to these delicious-looking baked donuts
. I'm not sure what the texture would be like - without the frying, would it taste like a donut? - but they do look beguiling. And they come in both Kinako and Coco flavour.

Anyway, looking at Mari's links to the new Krispy Kreme franchise in Japan, I remembered the tofu donut I had at Mister Donut somewhere on the highway between Osaka and Wakayama back in '99 (see photos above and below). That was the best goddamn donut ever.

Plus, cold oolong tea is excellent with a chewy, dense, not-too-sweet tofu donut. But I'll admit that I sometimes have strange taste when it comes to such things.





According to Wikipedia, Mister Donut was founded in '56 in the States but eventually was swallowed by its competitor Dunkin Donuts. Now there are few stores left in North America, but since '83 Mister Donut's Japanese franchise
has grown to close to 10,000 stores. The donuts are less sweet than regular Krisy Kreme or Dunkin Donuts, and one has the option of choosing donuts in mochi-style (inspired by the glutinous rice cakes). (Chewy and/or sticky are my favourite textures, along with crumbly..not so keen on krispy or krunchie or 'old fashioned'). Mr. Donut also has franchises in the Phillipines, Taiwan and El Salvador - wonder if they have the set menu of dim sum & steamed bun on offer there too? At the moment the Mister Donut site has a promotion for a line of 'crispy sticks', tropical choco-coconut with mango sauce or spicy churo with cheese and basil. Beautiful. Just try to blank out the memory of the recent chemical-in-buns scandal.