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special-k — Wed, 02 May 2012 00:52:07 -0800

How to assemble a happy kitchen hamburger

Blog post with pictures.

By: Blazecock Pileon

Blazecock Pileon — Wed, 02 May 2012 01:02:22 -0800

How many calories do you burn making one, I wonder?

By: WaylandSmith

WaylandSmith — Wed, 02 May 2012 01:02:48 -0800

Each step of the process was about the same for me (except maybe the ketchup & cola): "Wait, that can't be... no it isn't... NO!!" It must be some sort of odd demographic of hipsters in Japan that collects this stuff for some sort of odd social currency, right? Or at least some sort of novelty, like buying astronaut toothpaste? I just find it hard to believe that people would purchase that for the sake of it being food.

By: Mizu

Mizu — Wed, 02 May 2012 01:08:54 -0800

Wasn't there a post very similar to this about a set of mini sushi candy, with very similar video documentation?? Argh I can't find it! Is it the same person? (These are fascinating, although I can't imagine that it was actually, as the video description says, "delicious".)

By: Mizu

Mizu — Wed, 02 May 2012 01:11:57 -0800

Wayland Smith, I would purchase it for the sake of being magic science funtimes! In fact, as soon as I can manage to get myself back to Tokyo I'm totally going in search of these things. Beautiful miniature food as little collectibles is a Thing in Japan, and while I got a few sets of them, I never got into hoarding them the way some people do. The idea of these, which are edible, is just perfect. It's got everything. Cool Japanese thing! Science! Snacks! Tininess!

By: three blind mice

three blind mice — Wed, 02 May 2012 01:41:05 -0800

How many calories do you burn making one, I wonder? I didn't get that far, BP, but I can tell you from clicking on the first link that the new Volvo V-60 hybrid can drive up to 1000km without refueling.

By: Mike D

Mike D — Wed, 02 May 2012 01:54:58 -0800

For the record, of the cheery little highlights noted in the summation: ★ Les hamburgers en poudre. ★ les japonais inventent le premier hamburger en poudre. ★ Water & Powder turns into tiny fast food. not one of them instils in me the least bit of desire to try this even out of morbid curiosity. My suspicion is that the "poudre / powder" is either dessicated seaweed or carigeenan moss and the "delicious" is imparted by artificial ingredients that are about as attached to a "hamburger", "cheese", "cola" "ketchup" and "french fries" as they are to the dust pounded out of a chalkboard eraser. But then, where I am it's 5 am and what woke me up was a pounding head cold instead of the satisfaction of a good night's sleep, so it could be that.

By: BiggerJ

BiggerJ — Wed, 02 May 2012 03:30:22 -0800

For those who cannot or will not go to the Land of Utterly Alien Cultural Norms, you can buy it here. However, shipping will be delayed due to GOlden Week.

By: rachaelfaith

rachaelfaith — Wed, 02 May 2012 04:38:26 -0800

Wasn't there a post very similar to this about a set of mini sushi candy, with very similar video documentation?? Argh I can't find it! Is it the same person? Yep, that'd be RRCherryPie on Youtube, and here's the MeFi post by nickyskye about the sushi kit and a few others. Here is the sushi video that's very popular. They do a ton of these kits, some edible (the Popin Cookin series) and some inedible (the Konapun kits). I was actually watching a ton of them last night because I find them oddly relaxing.

By: Flood

Flood — Wed, 02 May 2012 04:47:32 -0800

Wait, can you eat it? Is it like a clay toy - or is it food?

By: lucidium

lucidium — Wed, 02 May 2012 05:06:53 -0800

I just remembered that I used to do this as a kid, but with the actual food. I'd make a tiny version of the meal I was eating, carving little bits of roast beef and arranging it with chunks of potato, or constructing a miniature full English in a corner of my plate. I never knew why it was so fun.

By: The White Hat

The White Hat — Wed, 02 May 2012 05:12:26 -0800

This is basically how McDonald's does it, too.

By: GoingToShopping

GoingToShopping — Wed, 02 May 2012 05:30:11 -0800

I've always suspected there was something nefarious about venture capitalists. Now I know what. They are enablers of things such as this.

By: Diablevert

Diablevert — Wed, 02 May 2012 06:51:38 -0800

Did anyone else read that HP Lovecraft novella where the evil sourcerer resurrects all these famous minds of the past by reducing their corpses to their "essential salts"? Because this.

By: theatro

theatro — Wed, 02 May 2012 07:00:43 -0800

I really bliss out watching these videos... it reminds me of the films Mister Rogers would show in Picture Picture, going to some factory or workshop or other to see Things Being Made. I don't think I'd buy one of the candy kits for myself, but I love watching other people use them, embodying qualities I don't generally feel confident in myself (organization, deftness, patience, neatness, an eye for fine detail, excellent cuticles). And the lack of a soundtrack is ideal...just the crinkle of a wrapper and teeny-tiny stirring noises. Not to mention how much I love Things That Look Like Other Things. Especially edible things. At the county fair in my old town, I'd spend a lot of time gazing raptly at, like, cakes made to look like bowls of spaghetti and meatballs. Add that to the pleasures of A Kit, in which everything you need is nested right in there (this corner snips off to become a calibrated cup! This rectangle is where you measure your nori!), and my eyes start to roll back in my head. (In the good way.)

By: littlesq

littlesq — Wed, 02 May 2012 07:04:53 -0800

I think what's fascinating for me is that they figured out the correct chemical combinations to get the food to look the proper way. I guess food production in general fascinates me... Like how the heck did people figure out how to make bread or using eggs for baking? Fascinating.

By: XQUZYPHYR

XQUZYPHYR — Wed, 02 May 2012 07:09:24 -0800

I assembled two bookshelves from IKEA that I got on clearance specifically because they were missing their instruction manuals and assembly equipment and it was less complicated than this looks.

By: muddgirl

muddgirl — Wed, 02 May 2012 07:12:25 -0800

Clearly Americans are losing the food science arms race.

By: Saxon Kane

Saxon Kane — Wed, 02 May 2012 07:28:17 -0800

So, when do they put in the little bomb that you have to defuse by flipping 5 switches in the order indicated by a musical pattern?

By: Lord_Pall

Lord_Pall — Wed, 02 May 2012 07:42:15 -0800

How do i get one of these kits?

By: Lord_Pall

Lord_Pall — Wed, 02 May 2012 07:43:32 -0800

Nm, found em at a bunch of places. How bad could these be? I'm going to see if I can eat all of them in one sitting

By: Kronos_to_Earth

Kronos_to_Earth — Wed, 02 May 2012 07:47:59 -0800

Yes, this made me happy.

By: notme

notme — Wed, 02 May 2012 07:57:17 -0800

Watching this made me very slightly hungry.

By: sotonohito

sotonohito — Wed, 02 May 2012 08:16:20 -0800

So, while I'm utterly certain that the video description is lying and that the end result tastes absolutley nothing like real cola, fries, burger, etc, I must admit that I've got a fascination with fake food in general and I **REALLY** want to try this. And, on searching, I see that JList does have it available. So I'm going to expend $6, plus shipping and handling, and find out whether it actually tastes even remotely like the food it mimics.

By: Dr. Wu

Dr. Wu — Wed, 02 May 2012 09:08:51 -0800

That video was completely mesmerizing.

By: crunchland

crunchland — Wed, 02 May 2012 10:12:50 -0800

WHAT NO PICKLE?

By: mcrandello

mcrandello — Wed, 02 May 2012 14:05:49 -0800

Crunchland: some agar, acetic acid powder, dill weed all mixed up with water and something like this to get the thing sliced up just so. YUMMO.