Pokemon Sleep’s sleep-promoting eats step into the real world with Japanese nutritionist recipes

4 days ago 11

The title of "Pokemon Sleep" is simultaneously highly accurate and slightly misleading. Part video game and part wellness app, "Pokemon Sleep" wants to promote healthy sleep habits, which is why players are given a Snorlax, the sleepiest Pokemon species to take care of. But even Snorlax doesn’t sleep for 24 hours a day, and during its waking moments it makes friends with other Pocket Monsters and eats meals that you prepare for it.

Now there’s a way to bring the dishes of "Pokemon Sleep" to your own real-world table, thanks to a partnership between the game, the makers of Japanese nutrition planning app Asken, and the University of Tsukuba. Research conducted by the group determined that insufficient intakes of protein, carbohydrates, and fiber can all negatively impact your quality of sleep, and so they’ve developed real-world recipes for dishes from "Pokemon Sleep" to give you the balanced diet necessary for a good night’s sleep.

Four in-game dishes were selected, starting with the above-pictured Dream Eater Butter Curry. To make the rice, you’ll need…

● Rice: 180 milliliters

● Turmeric powder: 1/2 teaspoon

● Salted butter : 10 grams

…and to make the roux and toppings the ingredients are…

● Skinless chicken thigh: 180 grams chopped into bite-sized pieces

● Yogurt: 100 grams

● Grated ginger: 1 teaspoon

● Grated garlic: 1/2 teaspoon

● Curry powder: 2 tablespoons

● Onion: 100 grams, minced

● Carrots: 40 grams, chopped

● Potatoes: 150 grams, chopped

● Salted butter: 15 grams

● Milk: 4 tablespoons

● 2 pieces of dark chocolate (6 grams), one piece to be minced as decoration

● Boiled sliced canned tomatoes: 400 grams

● Water: 50 milliliters

● Chicken soup stock: 1 teaspoon

● Salt: 1/2 teaspoon

● Pepper: A small amount

● Milk: 1 teaspoon

● Baby leaf: 10 grams

● Cherry tomato: 1/4 slice

Those amounts are enough for two servings, and once you’ve got them all assembled, here’s what you need to do:

1. Soak the rice, then add the turmeric and butter and cook them together in a rice cooker.

2. Place the chicken ginger, garlic, and curry powder in a plastic bag and let sit for 20 minutes.

3. Put 15 grams of butter in a pot and heat with a medium flame, then add the onions and cook until tender. Add the carrots and potatoes and cook until they are completely coated with oil.

4. Mix the tomatoes, water, chicken stock, salt, and pepper into the pot. Once the mixture comes to a boil cover and simmer on low heat for 15 minutes. Turn off heat and add dark chocolate, stirring until it melts in. Cook again on low heat for roughly 20 minutes to reduce amount of liquid. Stir in 4 tablespoons milk.

5. Place finished turmeric rice and curry on plate. Artfully add baby leaf, cherry tomato, milk, and dark chocolate.

In addition to being rich in sleep-promoting protein and carbohydrates, Asken says the Dream Eater Butter Curry’s tomatoes serve as a source of potassium which helps with sodium excretion, adding another healthy aspect to the meal.

Asken also has recipes for Pokemon Sleep’s Limber Corn Stew…