Hokkaido

[DavidJS]

This post is partially inspired from Anil Osaka topic I'm curious what everyone fave Hokkaido delicacies. Sapporo dishes is often simply and natural with flavors. Nothing fancy like Tokyo 'cityslicker' cuisine.

[torakris]

I don't know too much about Hokkaido cuisine, except they use lots and lots of seafood.

uni

kani

hotate

ikura

etc

yum

yum!

[margaret]

And lots of milk candies! Perhaps not cuisine, but always a treat when friends come to visit from Hokkaido.

Oh, and they also always bring canned kani-miso (crab brains) that everyone goes crazy for.

[torakris]

Oh and how can I forget Hokkaido potatoes, the best in Japan!

[anil]

Sapporo-Ramen ? In NYC there is a restaurant called Sapporo - a kind of like a inexpensive diner. One of their specials is Sapporo-Ramen - Of!Course there is the beer also called Sapporo readily available in most grocery stores in NYC too

[DavidJS]

Off the topic Anil I think Sapparo (restaurant in midtown) ramen is tasty but I prefer Noodles Zen in St.Mark's. How can you beat a hearty meal and step out to blend in with the punk scene. I'll choose Fischer (from France) beer anyday to a Sapporo. Plus Zen offers a tradtional Japanese menu which you have to ask. Don't bother ordering redundant dishes from their english menu. If you wanna make an impression/ or be experimental ask for the shishamo (cold ramen w.out the broth) and burikama teishoku (traditional Japanese fish platter with side dishes). Wash it down with Hokkaido sake if available.

Edited April 20, 2003 by DavidJS (log)

[torakris]

food in Hokkaido:

http://www.global.city.sapporo.jp/conventi...ne/cuisine.html

[smallworld]

Never been to Hokkaido, but I love the seafood. My father-in-law was born in Otaru (a city in Hokkaido) and when we go to Osaka to visit the in-laws they often take us to a restaurant called Otaru, specializing in Hokkaido seafood. I love 'hokke', which is a kind of fish I haven't been able to translate. 'Ruibe' is a kind of sashimi made from thin slices of frozen, so good it melts in your mouth. Grilled salmon, salmon roe and crab are all good too.

Other good Hokkaido stuff:

Miso ramen- topped with butter, corn, and the usual ramen toppings. Or with kimchi!

Ishikari nabe- a miso-based hot-pot with salmon, tofu, chinese cabbage, and a variety of other ingredients. Our version adds daikon, potato, shitake and bean sprouts and is topped with a big pat of butter and seasoned with shichimi.

[torakris]

I too love hokke, I buy it quite a bit because it is large I feel like I am getting more for my money!

I had some miso ramen yesterday, it was quite good!

[torakris]

I am bumping this thread back up as Hokkaido is the first of the prefectures we are looking at in our discussion of meibutsu (local specialities) from all over Japan in this thread:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=49980&st=0

[shinju]

I see that uni is associated with Hokkaido, but I'm curious - is uni really coming from Hokkaido area?

We were there for 1 week several years ago and found that their food is _very_ good, especially seafood. We stayed at several ryokan in Hakodate, Sapporo area and Otaru and enjoyed gorging ourselves. The best was donabe with uni, but skipped on melons - did not think it was worth the price.

I've read recently in Bay Area newspaper (N. CA) that best uni in the world actually comes from Central coast of California and much of it used to get shipped directly to Japan, but now it is becoming available in the US (Japanese grocery stores). Any thoughts on this?

[torakris]

I see that uni is associated with Hokkaido, but I'm curious - is uni really coming from Hokkaido area?

I've read recently in Bay Area newspaper (N. CA) that best uni in the world actually comes from Central coast of California and much of it used to get shipped directly to Japan, but now it is becoming available in the US (Japanese grocery stores). Any thoughts on this?

Yes Hokkaido is definitely famous for its uni, but so are some other parts of Japan and of course there are tons of imports.

When we are talking about meibutsu (local specialties) you have to remember that these are foods that are local to that area, not necessarily the best in the world. They are also often foods that are prepared in a certain way in that area (this is especially true when you are talking about products that can be found all over Japan). And also hundreds of years ago these really were local specialties, in today's world we can have access to almost anything with a couple strokes on a keyboard.

[helenjp]

How about Rokkatei? They make confectionery which is in-between western and traditional styles. All nice, though I don't much care for the potato manju-like item!

Rokkatei site in Japanese

about Rokkatei sweets in English

My husband's favorite tastes of home are squid sashimi, and Hokkaido ham and sausage. He's fond of salmon pickled with Chinese cabbage and cultured rice, too.

[Yuki]

How about Rokkatei? They make confectionery which is in-between western and traditional styles. All nice, though I don't much care for the potato manju-like item!

Rokkatei site in Japanese

about Rokkatei sweets in English

My husband's favorite tastes of home are squid sashimi, and Hokkaido ham and sausage. He's fond of salmon pickled with Chinese cabbage and cultured rice, too.

Popular gifts from Hokkaido to Hong Kong

Royce Chocolate

Rokkatei's Chocolate coated dried fruit

Shiroi Koibito (this is probably the most popular one)

[Hiroyuki]

Ishikari nabe is a specialty of Hokkaido.

My family sometimes make Ishikari nabe-like hot pot. We don't have a recipe, though; we just put salmon slices, potatoes, and other vegetables such as carrots and hakusai, and add miso.

I did a google search and found a recipe for Ishikari nabe:

http://www.kevinryan.com/student/projects/...shikarinabe.htm

Do you have any other good recipe?

[AmyDaniel]

Thank you, Hiroyuki!

[smallworld]

Also, a few weeks ago at a place on 13th St. and 7th Ave. (Miyagi), I had a rather expensive bowl of noodles called ishikarinabe ($16!!). It was expensive, I think, primarily because of the amount of seafood in it. It was good, though - does anyone have a recipe for this dish?

Amy

Interesting that it was served as a noodle dish.

I love ishikari-nabe, and my favourite part is the ending. Like most nabe, the broth leftover at the end has become richly flavoured from simmering all the ingredients, and makes an excellent base for ojiya (a rice dish) or udon noodles. But with ishikari-nabe, ramen noodles are served. Which makes it similiar to Sapporo ramen.

I'm curious to know if your noodle dish came with all the seafood and noodles together, or were the noodles added at the end?

Amy (yup, me too)

[AmyDaniel]

Everything was served all together, like a standard bowl of noodles in soup. It would've been cool to have had it nabe-style, but it was good nevertheless.

Amy

[Kiem Hwa]

Popular gifts from Hokkaido to Hong Kong

Shiroi Koibito (this is probably the most popular one)

←

My MIL's friend just returned from Hokkaido with loads of Omiyage for us, including....

Shiroi-Koibito! Oishi!!!

Box Lid:

Inside:

Also some Namachoco Yukimochi: Chocolate powder-coated Mochi, filled with chocolate

Shiso-maki Ume:

Some type of flavored Rakkyo:

[torakris]

those chocolate mochi thing look incredible, how were they?

[Kiem Hwa]

those chocolate mochi thing look incredible, how were they?

←

They were pretty yummy.... They were soft and had a really good chocolate flavor, the inside is kind of like a creamy chocolate filling. On the package, it says "Bitter Brandy", so i don't know if there is Brandy inside the chocolate?

[melonpan]

has anyone ever had haskap?

jam, wine, dressing?

i wish i could taste them!

someone is working on <a href="http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/nafex/2005-February/010972.html">bringing tasty blue honeyberries to the u.s.</a>... otherwise, apparently, id have to go to saskatchewan or siberia or hokkaido. not a bad reason to go, though.

[torakris]

has anyone ever had haskap?

jam, wine, dressing?

i wish i could taste them!

someone is working on <a href="http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/nafex/2005-February/010972.html">bringing tasty blue honeyberries to the u.s.</a>...  otherwise, apparently, id have to go to saskatchewan or siberia or hokkaido.  not a bad reason to go, though.

←

I had never heard of haskap, I don't think I have ever seen them in this area....

this site lists a wide variety of products and pictures

[Ohba]

I just brought back two jars of haskappu jam from my last trip to Hokkaido. They're still unopened, so I don't know how they taste.

Someone gave me a very fine Hokkaido-made raw milk camembert a year or two back. I can tell you, it was a revelation for anyone who's had Japanese cheese before. I think it's available at Chitose airport, but I don't recall the exact name of it.

[torakris]

I just brought back two jars of haskappu jam from my last trip to Hokkaido. They're still unopened, so I don't know how they taste.

Someone gave me a very fine Hokkaido-made raw milk camembert a year or two back. I can tell you, it was a revelation for anyone who's had Japanese cheese before. I think it's available at Chitose airport, but I don't recall the exact name of it.

←

well open them up and let us know!!

I have had some really good Hokkaido camembert here in the Tokyo area. The Japanese don't make much decent cheese, but they do love their camembert and they do it well.