Ah, good morning, friend.

I gather you were able to rest well? I was concerned I had kept you up too long with last night’s tale of the Five-Tower Pagoda of Hamburger. Let’s see then…I’ve already told you of my voyage across the golden lake of curry, yes? In that case, let us pass this fine morning with the story of one of my more recent encounters, the largest gyōza in Nippon.

This titan of a dumpling is formally known as the Jumbo Gyōza and is said to slumber in the Chinese restaurant Kagurazaka Hanten located in Iidabashi, Tokyo. According to the owner, this Jumbo Gyōza is equivalent in size to one hundred normal gyōza, and is said to be the biggest in the country available for regular purchase.

Not used to thinking in figures of gyōza, I had a difficult time imagining exactly what one hundred would look like and I quickly demanded that the owner rouse the beast—a challenger had arrived.

I was humbled by what arrived at my table: weighing in at 5.5 lbs, the behemoth of beef, garlic and mixed vegetables was big enough to look like someone had wrapped a baby in a towel and grilled it.

Unsure of what else to do, I took knife in hand and jammed it into the doughy skin of the monster. The thickness must have been several times that of pizza crust, undoubtedly tempered that way to prevent the densely-packed innards from bursting forth.

As I cut through the dough a pool of juices began to accumulate on the plate. I couldn’t resist any longer: managing to grasp both dough and filling in my chopsticks, I took my first bite. While the taste was something that couldn’t quite be called gyōza, the mixture of meat, garlic and vegetables was perfectly balanced and absolutely delicious.

The restaurant owner informed me that although the Jumbo Gyōza was created with the desire to “fill the customer’s stomach,” so far only one customer has succeeded in clearing the place in a single sitting.

The Jumbo Gyōza runs a tab of 9,600 yen ($120) and those wishing to try it are required to make an advanced reservation.

Photos and Video: RocketNews24