Last year, I wrote about 551 Horai as mainly as a warning of not to eat it in the Shinkansen.
And while I wrote about the experience, I wanted to write more about the actual food.
Located in Kyoto and Osaka is 551 Horai, a famous location to purchase steamed pork dumplings. Many claim it’s as good as the ones in China and others who say it’s the most delicious dumplings they have ever tried.
There are stores where you can purchase these at 551 Horai restaurants or those that are cold and must be cooked.
The dumplings feature pork and onions and they sell about 150,000 of the butaman per day.
The dumplings are fluffy on the outside and the pork meat is juicy inside and they are quite huge.
They also come with karashi (Japanese mustard), which you should give it a try with it. You may enjoy it!
Just remember that if you are planning to bring it with you on the Shinkansen, ask for a bag and they will put a protective covering over the food/box, so the smell of Butaman doesn’t fill up the Shinkansen.
The first thing to know is that there is always a line of people. The good news is that the line doesn’t take that long to wait. About 5-10 minutes at the most.
You don’t have to buy the expensive sets but you can buy them in pieces. Butaman (pork bun) is two for Y380, four for Y760, six for Y1140 and ten for Y1900. There is Ebi Shumai dumpling (shrimp), Pork Shumai dumpling, 551 Chimaki (551’s Zongzi Steamed Rice Ball) , Yaki Gyoza (potstickers), etc. Prices are on the poster at the bottom.
Yes, 10 pieces of gyoza for Y340 and 15 pieces for Y510, that’s awesome! Of course, being a foodie, I had to try each one.
While the main display case shows cases, there are also smaller boxes which one can’t request. So, if you didn’t want ten pieces, you can get five.
I must again must emphasize, if you are buying some and planning to take it on the Shinkansen, ask for the bag/covering.
In Japan, there is a saying called “豚まんテロ” (pork bun terrorism), it’s considered very bad manners to eat a 551 horai steamed pork bun on the Shinkansen because the smell permeates throughout the whole section.
Each that I have tried are delicious. Best to eat fresh but they still retain their taste even hours after riding on the shinkansen.
551 Horai can be found in Kyoto and Osaka. I visit the 551 Horai location at Kyoto Station.
