Spring is the season of encounters. When we say "encounter," we tend to think of encounters with people, but encountering unknown foods is also a great "encounter. Just as with people, encounters with new foods are also exciting.


As I was parading through the city in search of such encounters, a banner caught my eye. Dancing on it were the words "choripan. It was unfamiliar to me, but it sounded fun. As I approached, I saw that it appeared to be a restaurant. Choripan is a food! Once you know that, you have no choice but to try it. I walked through the door of the restaurant, excited to meet the "choripan" that I had not yet seen!


Mi Choripan, a store specializing in choripan
Mi Choripan is a store with a "Choripan" banner. Mi Choripan is located along Inogashira-dori Avenue, about a five-minute walk from the nearest station, Yoyogi Uehara Station. In addition to the streamers, the colorful roof is a landmark.


Upon entering the restaurant, you will see a seating area on the right and a counter with a kitchen and cash register on the left.


In the open kitchen, sausages are grilled in pans, and the aroma, the sizzling sound, and the charring of the sausages stimulate the appetite from various angles.


■Order the choripan, empanada, and acai orange.
According to the menu, choripan is "Argentina's soul food. It is an Argentine sandwich consisting of extra-thick chorizo sandwiched between two pieces of bread. After gaining a vague understanding of the dish, I ordered it based on the "recommendations" on the menu.


I ordered the "Custom Choripan" (1,100 yen), which can be topped with salsa, green onion mayonnaise, and vegetables of your choice, the "Empanada Queso (cheese)" (450 yen), another unknown menu item, and an "Acai Orange" (450 yen) as a drink. I had no idea what any of these items would taste like, let alone look like, so I ordered them almost as if I were chanting a spell. What kind of encounter awaited us?

Custom Choripan
The "Custom Choripan" is a standard chorizo and bread, but you can add your own toppings at the counter.


In other words, you can put all the toppings you want! My arms are gonna be shaking! I thought I would, but it was my first time to try choripan. To experience the standard taste, I decided to add toppings according to the pop-up "Example of the owner's recommendation" on the side of the counter. Toppings include lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions, green onion mayonnaise, salsa sauce, and "chimichurri sauce," which originated in Argentina.




Even in a standard serving, the choripan is generous in both length and thickness. The savory aroma of the chorizo and bread is irresistible. Put it in a burger bag and voila!


The hot chorizo is coarsely minced and meaty. The chorizo is coarsely minced and full of meaty flavor, with a hint of spice, but it is not spicy. The bread is savory and fluffy, matching the juicy chorizo. The spicy and tart chimichurri sauce rounds out the overall flavor. Add to that the refreshing salsa and creamy scallion mayo, and your mouth is as lively as a colorful restaurant! The toppings have a variety of personalities, but they all complement the chorizo and balance each other out well. This is choripan!

Empanadas (queso)

At first glance, the empanadas look like softly puffed up fried dumplings. They are served with a small bottle of honey, "to taste.


When you put a knife in, it is crispy and you can tell that the crust is a layered pie crust. The cheese is melted inside. When you pour a generous amount of honey on it and bring it to your mouth, the saltiness of the cheese, the sweetness of the honey, and the oiliness of the pie crust come together... it's irresistible! The light, hollowy texture of the dough has a slight sweetness even without the honey. You will want to eat as many as you can, whether as a snack, nibble, or dessert.


Acai Orange

A thick, purple "acai orange".


There is no hint of orange in the color, but when you drink it, you will find a refreshing sourness of orange. The balance of sweetness and tartness is good, and it refreshes the palate, making it a good match for the firm-tasting choripan.

■ Discover the mystery of choripan!

After experiencing the delicious taste, you want to know more about Choripan and the store. We asked the owner, Mr. Nakao, some questions!

From the first encounter with choripan to the opening of the restaurant

Choripan" is a popular dish in Argentina. Why did you start your choripan store?

Engeboku: Please tell us how you first encountered choripan and why you started your restaurant.

Mr. Nakao: "I first had choripan in Argentina when I was traveling around the world on a pre-wedding trip. I wasn't thinking of opening a store at the time, but when I returned to Japan and wanted to do something that would be an extension of my travels, choripan came to mind. Since no one else was doing it in Japan at the time, I decided to open a choripan store as a way to introduce it."

En-Eat: So this is the first choripan store in Japan?

Mr. Nakao: "Yes. After deciding to open a store, I went to Argentina again and trained for three months at a choripan store. I didn't want to make something half-baked, because if there is no other choripan in Japan, ours will be recognized as choripan.


The same local recipe, handmade chorizo

En-ei: Please tell us about your commitment to choripan.

Nakao: "I think it is the fact that we reproduce the local flavor as it is, and that we make all of our chorizo by hand. The recipe, including the chorizo, is the same as the local recipe, and we don't make any changes for the Japanese. However, the quality of the meat is different from that of the local market, so we change the bread accordingly.


En eater: The bread goes well with the chorizo, doesn't it?

Mr. Nakao: "We have a bakery that supplies buns and other items to hamburger shops make bread specifically for choripan. At first, they didn't get the idea that we were talking about choripan and wouldn't take us up on it, but when we brought them some chorizo, they immediately agreed to do it. From the 15 or so samples they made for us, we asked them to make what they thought was the best tasting choripan.


The colorful roofs are inspired by the Boca district in Argentina.

En-ei: The colorful roofs and walls are distinctive.

Nakao: "The colorful roofs and walls are inspired by the Boca district in Buenos Aires. It is a district with colorfully painted exterior walls, and the roof was especially inspired by this district. Argentine customers often say, 'Oh, that's the place.

En-ei: Do you have many Argentine customers?

Nakao: "We often have Argentine customers. There was an Argentine who came to Tokyo from another prefecture to eat our choripan.


Thank you, Mr. Nakao!

I was attracted by the name "choripan" and was able to encounter it. It is spicy, yet surprisingly easy to blend with other people's tastes. I was even led to wonder if I might have some Argentine blood in me.... Encountering new food and a new you. Mi choripan" offered a fresh taste that is perfect for the season of encounters.