Morinaga x Famima: We Tried the New Hotcake Bun

Morinaga and Famima have done it again. Every time these two companies shake hands, something unhinged escapes the lab, and this season’s creature is the Hotcake Bun, a collaboration bun that looks like it wandered out of a Sunday breakfast and got lost in the steamed bun section of the convenience store.

This deliciousness, introduced nationwide by FamilyMart and supervised by Morinaga, launched on September 15th and costs a dramatic 176 yen (190 yen including tax). I had to borrow the money from Kai to make this mission possible. Reminder: I am an unemployed cat. My financial situation is fragile. My hunger is not.

I went to buy it as soon as I convinced Kai to sponsor this adventure. And when I opened the bag at home, I actually laughed. It really looks like a hot cake. Credits to the creators, because they did not just flavor it like a hot cake, they committed. The bun is flatter than a normal nikuman, shaped like a pancake that decided to cosplay as a steamed bun. The top is lightly browned, the kind of gentle tan you get when a hot cake sits on a pan for exactly the right amount of time. My brain short circuited for a moment. Is this breakfast? Is this dessert? Is this a prank?

Sitting on the plate, it looked so innocent. So round. So majestically cute. Like some kind of sea sponge chilling on the ocean floor, enjoying the gentle currents, completely unaware that it is, in fact, a bun and I am, in fact, about to eat it. And then the aroma rose up. The first thing that hit me was the buttery smell, not a normal butter smell, but the kind that makes you feel like someone opened a tiny portal to a fantasy bakery. I swear I heard a tiny “konnichiwa” coming out of the bun, as if the aroma itself just greeted me. Very good first impression.

Then I took a bite.

The taste was weirdly complex for something shaped like a tiny breakfast impostor. First comes the gentle sweetness of the anko, a smooth red‑bean paste, with that slight earthiness that makes you feel grounded and responsible, like you are eating something traditional and wholesome. But then the butter flavor rises up from underneath and spreads through your mouth like a snow fairy giving you a gentle rub on the cheeks. I do not know why a snow fairy is involved, but that is the only way my brain can describe it. It is soft, it is melty, it is warm, it is everything at once.

Morinaga x Famima’s Hotcake Bun is chaos in a bun. Breakfast energy, dessert soul, nikuman body. I respect it. I feel spiritually challenged by it. I will absolutely buy it again. No wonder this bun has already sold over seven million units so far. (Not our claim. We did not go counting buns.)

Source: PR TIMES