Mister Donut Hot Pon de Ring (product information)

Image courtesy of Mister Donut.

I have to admit that, to my somewhat warped sense of humor, "hot pon de ring" sounds like some new sort of group sex activity. Unfortunately, it's just a type of warm donut that the venerable Misdo is offering for the time being. If you believe their PR, their chefs labored long and hard with furrowed brows to figure out a way to best work this complex combination of chewy rice-flour-based donut and warmth. They promise that the sticky texture of the donuts is like mochi (pounded rice cake).

The flavors on offer are kinako (yum, yum), honey, caramel honey, and caramel macchiato. "Honey" in Japan tends not to mean honey flavor so much as glazed, though it does tend to have more of a honey tone to it than pure sugar.

You can see by the picture that they're sold in special boxes to allow to grip a warm, sticky donut without getting your hands dirty. They're also offering up a "present" of Snoopy donut cases if you spend 800 yen ($7.63). The cases are designed to allow you to warm your donut neatly in the microwave.