JCC E-Magazine November 2023

Hokkaido has branded itself as a food paradise, and that includes its capital city, Sapporo. Among the various dishes, soup curry is recognised as Sapporo’s soul food. Curry is usually thick and has a roux base. However, in contrast, soup curry has a thin and light texture. Thus, it is more comparable to a soup dish, and is usually filled with chunks of vegetables and meat and served with rice.

Sapporo has always had a soup culture, with an array of soup and hotpot dishes. Examples include ishikari nabe (miso hotpot with salmon and vegetables), and sanpejiru (salted salmon soup). Thus, it seems self-explanatory as to why soup curry was easily welcomed. Soup curry is commonly believed to have originated in the 1970s as a medicinal curry, which was served as a staff meal at a café called Ajanta. More than 30 spices were used, and it was intended to be nutritious and aid digestion. It was not long before customers started to request for the inclusion of ingredients such as chicken and vegetables, and eventually it was improved to become the soup curry that we know today.

The local dish only became more popular in the 2000s. Numerous café-style establishments opened around 2000, and this was followed by many coupon magazines listing curry soup restaurants in 2005. This led to a soup curry boom, with a peak in search volume for the keywords "soup curry" in 2005. It is enjoyed not only during the cold winter season, but also during the hot summer when people may become heat exhausted.

Unlike the typical Japanese curry where all the ingredients are simmered together in curry roux, the ingredients for soup curry are actually cooked separately. The broth is usually made with 20 to 30 traditional Chinese medicinal spices, though the combination can differ from store to store, allowing each store to offer their own unique version. The same goes for the type of meat and vegetables in the soup curry. Typically, ingredients may include green pepper, eggplant, pumpkin, chicken, shrimp, scallops and more. For soup curry specialty stores, customers are free to customise such as choosing their level of spiciness or the amount of rice. Given Asians’ love for spice, it is no wonder that soup curry has become popular among foreign tourists as well.

Today, there are more than 200 stores serving soup curry in Sapporo. If you ever visit Hokkaido’s capital city, you can be sure to find a soup curry catered to your tastebuds.

Ishikari nabe © photoAC

Resources

“Sapporo, Hokkaido’s Culinary Hub”. 2007. Web Japan. https://web-japan.org/trends/07_food/jfd070831.html.

“Why You Need to Try Sapporo Soup Curry: All About The Iconic Food of Japan’s North”. 2021. LIVE JAPAN. https://livejapan.com/en/in-hokkaido/in-pref-hokkaido/in-sapporo_chitose/article-a1000434/.

“Soup curry”. 2023. Food in Japan. Accessed 17 October. https://foodinjapan.org/hokkaido/soup-curry/.

Mitsui, Yuri. 2019. “Sapporo gains worldwide fame as home of delicious ‘soup curry’”. Nikkei Asia. https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Food-Beverage/Sapporo-gains-worldwide-fame-as-home-of-delicious-soup-curry.

“Soup Curry: The Soul Food of the North”. 2023. Hokkaido Official Tourism Site. Accessed 17 October. https://en.visit-hokkaido.jp/destinations/soup-curry-the-soul-food-of-the-north.

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