Food pr0n - Hokkaido Chapter

Hokkaido boasts some of the harshest weather in Japan, but it's probably due to this that the local produce is some of the best I've ever tasted. Hokkaido is renowned for kombu (kelp), crab and other exotic seafood, but is perhaps best known for its virtual monopoly on the nation's dairy industry. I reckon it's probably because the cows have to put on extra fat to deal with the cold, so it rubs off on their milk as well. It's probably the richness of the milk that allows producers to market dairy goods from Hokkaido at a premium in supermarkets. It's well worth it, though.

Not too long ago, The Ishiya Chocolate Factory had a run of bad press because it falsified expiry dates on its immensely popular Shiroi Koibito white chocolate sandwich cookies. It has since bounced back spectacularly from the incident, following a rash of resignations from top staff and complete transparency in its efforts to clean up its operations. So popular are its langue du chat cookies that stores have signs on the ready to tell customers they've run out for the day. O.o

The other cookie in the pic is from a rival confectionary, Kitakaro, which makes a similar chocolate sandwich but with a different base, much like the wafers that are traditionally served with American sundaes. Both cookies have their merits; the Shiroi Koibito ones appealing to those who like their cookies on the soft and delicate side, while those who like intense chocolate flavours and crispier cookies will probably prefer the Hamanasu no Koi ones from Kitakaro. Personally, I tend towards the latter, since the chocolate filling seems to taste better. Kitakaro also makes baum kuchen, a tyre shaped sponge cake made up of many thin layers of batter repeatedly baked on a three-foot long pole and cut up into sections. Couldn't figure out how they were made until I saw it in the shop. ^^

Winter is crab season in Hokkaido, and I couldn't pass up a chance to try some when I saw stalls selling grilled local crabs at the snow festival. Slightly pricey at ¥900 for a couple of legs and a claw, but the guys were really nice and even supplied a pair of scissors to aid in extracting the tasty meat.

It was a bit drier than I expected, but the flavour was really intense, even in the legs. I'm accustomed to eating mud crabs back in Singapore, where the meat in the claw is abundant and succulent, but the stuff I had in Sapporo really beats it in taste. I also happened on scallops grilled in their shells over a charcoal fire with a bit of soy sauce, but had no room after eating a bunch of other stuff just before. I somewhat regret not making the effort to indulge in more seafood while I was there, since there was just so much on offer. Advertising for the stuff might need a bit of a brush up though, as can be seen in this little bit of hilarity. Click on the picture for a bigger version.

It's this epidemic of corporate downsizing, I tells ya!

One of the major culinary specialties of Sapporo is ramen. The Susukino district in the city is like a virtual Chinatown, dotted with ramen joints offering bowls of steaming noodle soup, often made to closely guarded secret recipes. I stepped into a random looking place and ordered their tonkotsu shoyu ramen, and was treated to smooth, firm noodles in a rich and fortifying broth. Aw, yum.

Chinese food in Sapporo doesn't stop at noodles though. I also visited a shop that specializes in gyoza, both fried and boiled. Imported frozen gyoza have been the subject of a massive product recall after several food poisoning cases in Japan, but I reckoned that since this shop makes them on site, they'd be right. I ordered both the suigyoza (boiled) and chanchangyoza (fried - think Lego gyoza), served with miso or soy and toasted Japanese mixed pepper, and decided that I'm firmly in the fried camp as far as dumplings are concerned.


Nothing beats home made stuff though.

Someone recommended that I try the sea urchin rice while I was Otaru. I'm not usually a big fan of sea urchin since the stuff I've tried reeked of eye-watering ammonia, but I was assured that the sea urchin in Otaru was totally different. Being the scaredy cat I am, I found a conveyor belt sushi place that served a combination of sea urchin, salmon roe and skillfully sliced squid, which they called the Yume-don (Dream Bowl), just in case the sea urchin was too strong on its own.

It was really like a dream, I tell you what. I had expected a noseful, but there was no hint of ammonia at all, just a silky, pleasantly fishy sweetness. The strongly flavoured salmon roe (one of my favourites) and the mild but juicy squid made for a refreshingly varied lunch, plus I was allowed to keep the pair of chopsticks in the picture as a souvenir of my visit. Guess they're really starting to take the eco-revolution seriously in this country. Bring your own chopsticks to a restaurant and save some trees!

I reckon I've only just scratched the surface of all the good food you can get in Hokkaido. If I ever visit again (and I'm pretty sure of it), I'll have to try all that summer food, including the famous Yubari melon (yes, as in Gogo Yubari from Kill Bill), and lavender flavoured soft serve. I can't wait. :P