Hokkaido food

September 21, 2022
September 22, 2022

What to Do in Hokkaido: What You Need to Know before Eating Salmon Roe

Hokkaido is the home of salmon fishing in Japan I’ve been wanting to do fly fishing since I watched the movie “A River Runs Through It.” Unfortunately, I hardly remember any of the content, but the fishing scenes left a strong impression on me. A fishing rod whipping to and fro smoothly, a line describing an arc in the air, etc. It’s beautiful and completely different from what I always do. It’s ordinary bait fishing: just wandering along rivers and casting bait. Why don’t I do fly fishing? That’s because bait fishing is easier and can catch more fish. In the past article, I knowingly quoted Hemingway “When you can’t catch fish, think it gave you time to think about life.” To tell the truth, I hate to get skunked (go home empty-handed). Today, I’m introducing the charm of Hokkaido through the story of fish. Among river fish in Japan, […]

April 8, 2022
September 21, 2022

Where to Visit in Hokkaido: A Hokkaido Restaurant (Soba Noodle)

Do you know Japanese buckwheat noodles “Soba?” I think there are so many kinds of wheat-based foods across the world. What about buckwheat? The most famous food may be gallette originated in Bretagne, France. In Japan, we call buckwheat noodles “Soba,” and it’s very popular. Ramen, Udon, and Soba are the three major Japanese noodles. For your information, Hokkaido is the kindgom of ramen as I wrote before. The former two are made from wheat. The difference between the two is if alkaline brine solution is included or not when noodles are kneaded. Based on my understanding, many Japanese people see Soba noodles more elegant than Ramen and Udon noodles. Yes, that’s true. If you take someone to a Ramen or Udon restaurant for a first date, your date will doubt your nerves. If it’s a Soba restaurant, your date will think you have good taste on the contrary. It’s […]

March 29, 2022
September 21, 2022

Where to Visit in Hokkaido: A Hokkaido Restaurant (Japanese Soup Curry)

Ramen and curry are national dishes for the Japanese people If you can only eat just one food, which would it be, ramen (noodle) or curry? I ‘m sure we all the Japanese people have asked and answered this stupid question at least once in our life. In other words, ramen and curry are the top two popular foods in Japan. As I looked up the number of restaurants, ramen is about 24000; curry about 4700, respectively. I think the above difference in number well expresses the difference in character. Ramen is something to eat out; curry is one of home-cooked meals. In fact, when I was a kid, my mother made it at least two times a month. She always made a lot, and I had to eat it for three days in a row. I’m 100% sure this kind of ordeal still occurs in many Japanese homes. Have […]

March 21, 2022
September 21, 2022

Where to Visit in Hokkaido: A Hokkaido Restaurant (Dairy Sweets)

Hokkaido is No.1 in salmon roe The Japanese people like to eat fish eggs. The roe of salmon and cod (pollack, to be more precise) is the top two. Salmon roe is one of special marine products of Hokkaido. It comes into season in the autumn, and we local people buy and pickle it ourselves. It’s well-known that many tourists come here with the aim of eating salmon roe. In addition, Hokkaido is also a top production area of pollack roe, but it’s little known. Most of the Japanese people believe the home of pickled pollack roe is Kyushu area. It’s located far opposite to Hokkaido, in the southern part of Japan. Of course, most of them are made of pollack roe caught in Hokkaido. Our ex-chairman often lamented over the big loss in local profits, saying it’s a good example of failure in branding. Hokkaido is No.1 in most […]

March 14, 2022
September 21, 2022

Where to Visit in Hokkaido: A Hokkaido Restaurant (Genghis Khan)

It’s not about the emperor of the Mongel Empire Genghis Khan is a barbecue of mutton, lamb, and vegetables. It’s one of Hokkaido specialties. Mutton and lamb are not so generally eaten in Japan. There are many Japanese people who don’t like the smell. It’s very difficult to find a Genghis Khan restaurant outside Hokkaido. In fact, there were not so many even here in Hokkaido when I was a kid, like 30 years ago. Genghis Khan was just one of home-cooked meals at that time. It appeared on the dinner table at least twice a month in my home, not a special treat at all for us. To be honest, I still have a little difficulty paying and eating it outside at a restaurant but must admit there are some good ones. The truth about Genghis Khan, a Hokkaido specialty On the outskirts of Sapporo, the capital city of […]

March 4, 2022
September 24, 2022

Where to Visit in Hokkaido: Hokkaido Ramen Noodle

Ramen is the expression of Japanese people’s local pride The most popular Japanese noodle dish is “Ramen.” These days, Japanese Ramen restaurants open even in Manhattan. For your information, “Ramen Santouka” originates in Asahikawa (our hometown), though their NY shop is located a little outside of Manhattan. I saw on the news that New Yorkers ate it over drinks and chat, like enjoying elegant Italian pasta dinner. It’s totally different from the one I’m writing here about. In Japan, Ramen is a fast food. Some consumer research says the average time to finish Ramen is only 14 minutes. Funnily enough, Ramen is closely related to Japanese people’s local pride. It’s probably because Ramen is reasonably priced and popular especially among the common people. You can see many Japanese people brag about their local Ramen even on the Internet, like I’m doing right now. Hokkaido is the kingdom of Ramen A […]

September 10, 2021
October 4, 2022

Japan Travel Tips: Hokkaido Sweets Are Good for a Gift

Trick-or-treating in Hokkaido Did you know that the history of trick-or-treating at Halloween in North America was not so long? It started about in 1930, while Halloween itself has a long history of more than 2000 years. As you may know that, it’s just recently that Halloween became widely known in Japan. The Halloween parade in Tokyo Disney Land has started since 1997, and the event is said to trigger the boom. I don’t mean to brag, but we, Hokkaido people, are forerunners about trick-or-treating. Although it’s not related to Halloween, trick-or-treating is a summer tradition in Hokkaido since the late 1800s. Even now, in August (at the end of short summer in Hokkaido), you can hear kids singing “Give us candles, give us candles” from somewhere at neighbors’ doors. I don’t know why that is, but we are supposed to say “candles” not “candies.” People moving from the outside […]