By AKI SATO/ Staff Writer
February 4, 2025 at 07:00 JST
A curry bread bun containing smoked scallops (Provided by Co-op Sapporo)
SAPPORO—Amid towering snow and ice sculptures, ambitious curry bun venders will seek to set a new Guinness World Record by selling 10,000 buns in eight hours at the Sapporo Snow Festival on Feb. 8.
Organized by the JA (Japan Agricultural Cooperatives) Group Hokkaido, the Co-op Sapporo supermarket chain and other agricultural entities, the event aims to promote locally sourced ingredients.
The delicious “kare-pan” bread buns are stuffed with curry, covered in breadcrumbs and deep-fried.
A set of two freshly fried buns, one made with smoked scallops and the other with ground beef, will be priced at 500 yen ($3.20), including tax.
Almost all the ingredients, except for a few spices, used in the special buns will be locally sourced from Hokkaido, including the scallops, beef, potatoes, carrots, onions and rice oil.
The recipes were created by chef Nobu Shimokuni, who hails from Asahikawa in the northernmost main island.
“What is grown in Hokkaido tastes best when it is consumed in Hokkaido,” he said.
The buns will be sold at the Odori 8-chome HTB Snow Square venue of the festival from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Feb. 8.
While the organizers hope to sell 10,000 curry buns in eight hours, the current Guinness World Record is held by a bakery in Aichi Prefecture that sold 8,340 in May 2023.
After the Sapporo Snow Festival, which will run from Feb. 4 to 11, the buns will be sold at Co-op Sapporo stores.
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