Noodle Up: These 5 Unique Types of Hokkaido Ramen Are Insanely Addictive! | LIVE JAPAN travel guide (2024)

Table of Contents

1. 1. Sapporo Ramen: Soy sauce, salt, or miso?
2. 2. Asahikawa Ramen: Filled with wavy Hokkaido noodles, soy sauce, and lard
3. 3. Hakodate Ramen: Salty and satisfying
4. 4. Kushiro ramen: Mellow soy sauce flavor only available in Kushiro
5. 5. Muroran Curry Ramen: A unique dish famous in the area!
6. Related Hokkaido Ramen Articles
7. Book an unforgettable foodie experience in Hokkaido!

Although there are various tastes, the representative of Sapporo ramen is miso ramen. There are ramen shops everywhere in Sapporo city, and you can enjoy miso ramen in many of them. In many shops where tourists visit, there are many preferred toppings such as corn, butter, crab and scallops.

The taste of Sapporo Ramen is not limited to miso. You may choose your favorite flavoring, customize your toppings, and enjoy. Even when trying these types of Hokkaido ramen with friends you can vary your choices for each person’s taste or for a variety of sampling to be done. So, do not be shy and pick your favorite type of Sapporo Ramen!

The second local Hokkaido ramen variety is Asahikawa ramen. Asahikawa city is known as a spot for tourism. This location gives you the ability to taste the ramen of Asahikawa city and visit the local zoo. Now a distinguished style of ramen known in Sapporo and Tokyo, is even spreading in popularity overseas.

Asahikawa ramen's traditional style is a soup flavored with soy sauce, wavy noodles, and plenty of lard. The base of the soup is known as a double soup as it is a combination of a seafood soup with a stock made from pig bones and chicken bits.

Asahikawa city is a cold district where the temperature may fall to 30 degrees below in the middle of winter and is said that is why this ramen style, which has the lard layered on top, creating a kind of insulating layer meant to keep the ramen from cooling in the cold winter days.

The ingredients are roasted pork fillet, bamboo, and leek. Seaweed and other toppings may vary based on the store. This topping style may be rather simple compared to Sapporo ramen, but there are many stores offering vegetable ramen with a vegetable stir-fry topping.

Increasing your toppings is an option for many stores so be sure to ask if that is your preference. There are many ramen shops in Asahikawa city with many shops forming lines out the door. Many stores offer salt and miso options in addition to the traditional Asahikawa taste.

When traveling in this area you may be unsure which flavor to try out, but for your first experience, be sure to try the traditional Asahikawa Ramen.

Hakodate ramen is another famous Hokkaido ramen variety. It is a ramen widely famous around Hakodate City, a place known for its wonderful night view. The base of Hakodate ramen is salt. Hakodate ramen's classic style uses straight noodles placed inside a clear soup. The soup stock is often made with pig bones, chicken bits, kelp, and vegetables.

This ramen is characterized not by immense flavor, but by its umami. As the ingredients are relatively simple, it is easy to create the elegant taste along with the pork fillet, green onions, bamboo. Depending on the shop, you may also try this dish with dried noodles.

Kushiro ramen is a variety that can be eaten in this port town in eastern Hokkaido. This soup is flavored with soy sauce and uses thin wavy noodles. Since these Hokkaido noodles have a high moisture content, they are soft, elastic, and spread into the soup well.

This type of Hokkaido ramen is also known for never using additives or preservatives in noodles. Because of this the dish must be eaten locally as a trip of any length would cause it to spoil. While people want to take this as a souvenir, this ramen is only available in Kushiro.

The soup is a collaboration of seafood such as bonito, kelp, chicken bits, vegetables, and pork bones. While this double soup approach is similar to Asahikawa ramen, the taste is quite different. We recommended this dish after enjoying some drinks! There are several shops in Kushiro that offer this ramen dish.

Muroran curry ramen is a local ramen that can be eaten at some ramen shops such as Noboribetsu Onsen, Lake Toya, and Chinese restaurants in the southwestern part of Hokkaido, especially Muroran City. As the name suggests, this curry-flavored dish uses noodles with curry flavor that are yellow and wavy like Sapporo ramen. The usually toppings include wakame seaweed with pork fillet and vegetables.

Curry soup is a staple of Muroran curry ramen with the curry paste made from vegetables, fruits, spices, and a pork bone soup. This soup is spicy and incredibly very thick! At first the umami and spiciness may spread softly through your senses followed by an aftertaste of sweetness. While it may be said that the soup appears to be thick like that of curry rice, it is more like ramen soup as it catches in the noodles and is easily slurped up.

So the next time you are exploring Japan's northern island, be sure to keep your eyes and taste buds peeled for these Hokkaido ramen! You're sure to enjoy.

*This information is from the time of this article's publication.
*Prices and options mentioned are subject to change.
*Unless stated otherwise, all prices include tax.