[Sumire Head Office in Sapporo] Rich Taste Miso Broth Ramen

Sumire

Sumire (すみれ) is a popular ramen restraunt based in Nakanoshima, Toyohira ward, Sapporo city. Sumire corp. runs it, and Mr. Nobuyoshi Muranaka (村中 伸宜) is a company president. Mrs. Akiko Muranaka (村中 明子), his mother, established Sumire (純連) in 1964. The head office is in the Sapporo, and branch ramen restraunts open a business in the Sapporo and Yokohama. The Sumire is well-known as a long-established ramen restraunt of Sapporo Miso Broth Ramen. A lot of ramen restraunts are affected by the Sumire, and a lots of pupils also appear in crowds. It is also famous that an owner of Saimi (彩味), a famous ramen restraunt, trained his cooking skill at the Sumire.

I have known the Sumire for a long time, but I have never visited. I often confused "Junren (純連)" and "Sumire (すみれ)", but now I know about the Junren and the Sumire. Mr. Noriyoshi Muranaka (村中 教愛), her eldest son, and Mr. Nobuyoshi, her third son, have successed his mother taste of ramen, the founder of the Sumire, and Mr. Noriyoshi has established Junren (純連) since 1987, and Mr. Nobuyoshi has established the Sumire (すみれ) since 1989. Collectively, ramen restraunts carried on the the taste of Mrs. Akiko's ramen are called Junsumi style (純すみ系), and ramen restraunts inspired by her ramen taste spread over the Japan.

Because the head office along a loop road is under a bridge, vistiors can not reach to it directly, so they should arrive at the head office by a side road. The building looks new, and the appearance and the interior decoration are fresh. Counter seats and table seats are provided, so I guess that even family customers enjoy meals. Inside walls are covered with cards for autographs, so I guess that visitors are overwhelmed on that situation.

SAPPORO

Sapporo (札幌) that about 1,960,000 people live is the largest city in Hokkaido. Although there are various theories, its origin of the name is "Dry Big River (乾いた大きな川)" in Ainu language. A population of the Sapporo is the 4th largest city after Yokohama, Osaka and Nagoya in japan, and the population accounts for 36 % of Hokkaido's population! So the Sapporo has been flourished as the center of the Hokkaido. The area of the Sapporo is 1,121.26 km2, and is about as big as Hong Kong, and is the 7th largest city in the Hokkaido. The Sapporo is also famous as a tourist city, and about 15 million people come. As for a climate, it is hot that temperature rises to nearly 25 degrees in a summer, but it is easy to live without moisture. I always feel a little cool. It is cold that temperature falls to nearly -10 degrees in a winter, and amount of snowfall sometimes has more than 1 m. Read More

Ramen of Hokkaido

Ramen is a noodle soup dish topped with ingredients. It is said that Chinese noodles is the root of the ramen, and there are various theories, for example, Mr. Mistukuni Tokugawa (徳川光圀 * Mitokomon (水戸黄門)) ate the ramen in 1697 for the first time in Japan or the first ramen was that Keitaimen noodles (経帯麺) served in 1488 was written in Biryueken Diary (蔭涼軒日録). Noodle soup dishes were spread out in Japan because Nanking noodles (南京そば) was served in various China Towns, Japan. In Hakodate with a China Town, Yowaken (養和軒) served the Nanking noodles in 1884. In Sapporo, it is a root of Sapporo Ramen that a noodle soup dish was cooked by Mr. Wang Wen Zai (王 文彩), a chief chef of Takeya Shokudo (竹家食堂), in 1922. Houran (芳蘭), a branch of the Takeya Shokudo, opened a business in 1933 in Asahikawa. Asahikawa Ramen, Sapporo Ramen and Hakodate Ramen called the 3 Major Ramen in Hokkaido were born. But current ramen do not succeed to the taste of those ramen. Read More

Miso Broth Ramen

I visited here around 13:00 on a weekday. Timing might make customers change, so a few csutomers enjoyed their meals at the building. I sat at a counter seat, and read a menu, and I ordered Miso Broth Ramen (味噌ラーメン). The price was JPY 870. While waiting for the ramen, a lot of customers came one after another. I was thinking of visiting here more later, so I was happy to visit around 13:00.

About 15 minutes later, the ramen was served. Chopped roasted pork fillets, fried bean sprouts and ground meats, bamboo shoots and green oinons were on noodles. I ate a sip of soup immediately. It tasted rich salty-sweet, and was fatty. It also tasted a little ginger. The soup was tasty! I wonder that the ginger uses to warm body in cold Hokkaido, and suppose that the ginger becomes a symbol of Junsumi style family group.

The noodles were egg noodles made by Morizumi Noodles Factory (森住製麺), and were length of about 20 cm. Those went well with the soup. Finally I drunk up the soup, and letters of "Thank You" were written on the bottom of the ramen bowl. Thanks for the tasty ramen, too! When I went out the ramen restraunt, 3 groups of customers lined up. I was lucky. By the way, in case of taking a pee after eating egg noodles, people are sometimes surprised by too yellow pee, and the reason is yellow food color contaning vitamin B2. That is a common story of the egg noodles.

Miso Ramen and Atmosphere of Ramen Restaurant Can Be Watched on Youtube

Movie of Miso Ramen

List of Accommodations

Refer to following websites for the accommodations in the Toyohira ward. You can get information regarding online reviews and photos.

TOYOHIRA WARD

Premier Hotel Tsubaki Sapporo(プレミアホテル-TSUBAKI-札幌)	HP	Booking	Jalan	Rakuten
Sapporo International Youth Hostel(札幌国際ユースホステル)	HP	Booking	Jalan	Rakuten
UCHI Living Stay TOYOHIRA(UCHI Living Stay TOYOHIRA)	HP	Booking	Jalan	Rakuten
Sapporo Guesthouse Nariya(札幌ゲストハウス 成屋)	HP	Booking	Jalan	Rakuten
SAKURA34(SAKURA34)	HP	Booking	Jalan	Rakuten
Pension Setsurin(ペンション 雪輪)	HP	Booking	Jalan	Rakuten
Terrace Toyohira(Terrace Toyohira)	HP	Booking	Jalan	Rakuten
Sejour Toyohirakoen(セジュール 豊平公園)	HP	Booking	Jalan	Rakuten
Marutomi Ryokan(丸富旅館)	HP	Booking	Jalan	Rakuten
Hotel SULATA Sapporo(ホテルSULATA札幌)	HP	Booking	Jalan	Rakuten