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‘Ohmu-raisu’ The Punny Food Trend on Twitter Inspired by Studio Ghibli

One bad dad joke has created a terrifying new version of Japanese omelet rice.

By 3 min read

There’s a new trend on Twitter that involves making food inspired by Ghibli monsters, and it all started from one clever father and his groan-worthy dad joke.

Twitter user @fabian0318’s children asked him to make a Ghibli-inspired meal for them and, being a dad, he used the opportunity to make a bad joke. Using the beloved Japanese comfort food of omuraisu (omelet filled with rice) and inspired by the gigantic mutant insect monsters called Ohmu from the very first Studio Ghibli movie Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, @fabian0318 served four Ohmu-shaped omuraisu, or as the punchline goes: “Ohmu-raisu.”

The tweet reads:

“Kids: Daddy! Prepare a Ghibli meal for us!
Me: Roger that!
(Ta-da!)
Kids: Daddy, this is wrong. Not this, but like the spaghetti of Cagliostro… or the toast of Laputa…”

The tweet — also featured in our Tweet of the Week series— proves that context is king when it comes to asking dads to do something. If you’re not specific, they will try to make a meal of it inserting a dad joke wherever they can.

Gourmet goosebumps

Still, it seems that the Twitterverse loves a good pun and after he shared his creation, other people began trying their hand at making a monstrous Ghibli meal, too.

@10tmax04 shared her version of “Ohmu-raisu” above, in which she added spinach to the egg omelet to make it look even more like the real deal.

“If you mix spinach puree in with the eggs, it looks more like Ohmu ( ・ᴗ・ ),” she tweeted. In a reply, another Twitter user @suger_310 said, “It looks so lifelike… I’m getting goosebumps.”

Feeling inspired by the original, this restaurant chef whipped up an Ohmu-themed curry udon, which sadly did not get the backing from his boss.

The tweet reads:

“Me: ‘Boss! I tried re-creating the Ghibli food that I saw on Twitter! It’s Ghibli Curry Udon! We gotta put it on the menu!!

Boss: ‘No. It looks like squid and it’s gross.’

Me: ‘Whaaaa-!!!’”

There was also a mother who chimed in after her son asked if she’d heard about the trend, to which she responded, “Oh yeah, that thing I made for you five years ago?” and then posted her original “Ohmu-raisu” and a bonus Castle in the Sky-style broccoli.

She tweeted:

“Son: ‘Did you hear about Ghibli food?’
Me: ‘You mean what I made for you years ago?’
Son: ‘Wh-what? No, not that!’

*I made this 5 years ago at the height of his teenage rebellious years: Ohmu-raisu and Castle in the Sky-style broccoli.”

Others hopping on the trend posted their attempts at recreating the dish, but the results looked more like something out of an episode of Nailed It! Ghibli Edition.

With a long way to go to perfecting his cooking skills, @ajakaty tweeted:

“I tried making that trendy ‘Ghibli food’… and failed miserably…
━Σ(ll゚ω゚(ll゚д゚ll)゚∀゚ll)━ン!!!
‘(For this challenge…) it’s too soon …!’”

Finally, proving that nothing and nobody is safe from this trend, even famous Studio Ghibli’s founder Hayao Miyazaki has been made into a bento, complete with sardines for hair and seaweed for glasses.

User @gtx373x tweeted, “My friends and I had a Ghibli-themed bento showdown at work. In the midst of all the Totoro and No-face bentos, one person made a ‘Hayao’ one and it makes me laugh to this day.” 

Keen to try cooking up a Ghibli-inspired meal? Don’t forget to snap a photo and tag us #gaijinpot.

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