The ultimate in kawaii cookware — Mickey and friends turn themselves into adorable pots

Here in Japan, we love hot pots, or nabe, especially during the cold winter months. Nabe can be cooked using a wide range of ingredients, from delicate seafood like pufferfish (fugu) to succulent wagyu beef, and they’re often served with plenty of vegetables too, so the dishes are filling and relatively healthy as well.

Now, these hot pots are usually all about savoring the various ingredients, but a reporter from our sister site Pouch found some nabe pots that are so adorable that just looking at them is bound to put a smile on your face. Yes, our favorite friends from Disney have turned themselves into pots for our dining and viewing pleasure. Even if you’re not a die-hard Disney fan, these pots are guaranteed to add some extra fun to your meal.

The first thing about these pots that catches your eye has to be the cute ears sticking out of the lid. The Minnie Mouse version even comes with a darling pink ribbon. And the ears don’t get hot even when you heat the pot, so you can use them to hold the lid with your bare hands — cute and functional.

Each of these earthen pots are handcrafted using a traditional pottery technique known as Tokoname, from the city of Tokoname in Aichi Prefecture, so the pots are definitely not just all cute design, but genuine craft products. Way to go, Disney.

The pots come in two sizes, a larger pot (size 9) that cooks for 4-5 people, and a smaller pot (size 6) that’s perfect for when you want to enjoy nabe by yourself. The smaller pot is small enough to fit in a microwave, so you can also put it to good use for cooking dishes other than hot pots as well.

The larger pot also comes in a Winnie-the-Pooh version. The yellow lid certainly looks cheery enough to brighten your day.

And if you can’t use earthen cookware because you have an induction cooktop, there’s also a enameled porcelain pot that can be used instead.

You can also buy Mickey and Minnie spoons and a small round saucer on which to place the otama, the ladle used to serve the hot pot ingredients and soup. Table settings don’t come much cuter than this.

And what do people who have actually purchased the pot think? Based on customer reviews, they generally seem to be quite happy, with many of them commenting that they made excellent gifts. One of them even commented that the attractive pot even looks like a part of the decor in the kitchen. Okay, so we admit, they’re cute enough that we could stare at them for a long, long time!

The pots are available from several online shopping sites such as Rakuten and Ponpare Mall, at a price of about 7,000 yen for the larger pot and 4,000 yen for the smaller one. It seems our reporter from Pouch is seriously considering buying one of these, and we really can’t blame her, since having a hot nabe with these pots has got to be a lot of fun. Well, we certainly hope she enjoys the magical Disney hot pot experience!

Sources: Rakuten, Ponpare Mall

Read more stories from RocketNews24. -- Cat-paw marshmallows strike again — and they’re as cute and popular as ever! -- “Whirlpool Pot” Uses Good ‘ol Fashioned Science to Keep Pasta From Sticking to the Bottom -- Soft and tasty cat paws win our hearts — no, they’re not marshmallows, they’re fishcakes!

© RocketNews24