Ok that's a pretty stupid question, but in the scene where Chihiro's parents start eating all those foods there's a basket with some kind of translucent dough. Her father eats one of those and look really juicy.
Is this based on a real Japanese food cause everytime I watch this scene it makes me hungry, especially this particular dish.
I always wondered that too, and was disappointed to see nobody has answered your question.
But after googling your topic title, I quickly found this:
http://en.rocketnews24.com/2014/11/26/a-ghibli-mystery-solved-the-iden tity-of-exotic-looking-food-in-spirited-away-revealed/
Can't say I'm 100% confident that's correct. The examples in the photos don't look much like what he eats in the movie...
It's ba-wan, a taiwanese dumpling made from rice, corn starch, and sweet potato starch, filled with meat, mushrooms, and bamboo shoots. Cooking gives it the translucent appearance, and it's usually served with a savory sauce. Pretty much all the food shown in this scene is Asian 'party food', and even when it's not enchanted, it's pretty hard to resist!
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