I Have Mentioned Before,

that I was young I was always told not to play with my food,

 but times have changed and with the onset of colder weather Japan’s version of a hot pot, nabe (pronounced na-bay) will soon be served in may households, it is a large, simmering pot of meat and vegetables that’s served during the winter, 

 so what better way to a little fun and get creative with one of the ingredients, grated daikon radish?

  enter Masanori Kono, who works at a purikura company and runs a flea market in Nakameguro on weekends,

Kono sculpted the grated radish into the shape of a polar bear, added a bit of seaweed for eyes and nose and plopped him in the centre of his pot, coining his creation “Polar Bear Nabe,” he posted a picture to twitter, which quickly went viral, shocked by its popularity, and surprised that no one had ever thought of this first, Kono decided to publish the recipe on CookPad, He also followed up on his creation with other variants that included panda bears, lambs and other animals soaking in the hot bath, it seems a shame to eat them, but perhaps we should play with our food more often!