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[Seichan in Sapporo] Tasty Ramen with Beautiful and Clear Soup for Over 70 Years

September 9th, 2014

CONTENTS

Seichan
- SAPPORO
- Ramen of Hokkaido
Old Style Salt Broth Ramen

Seichan

Aji-no-Seichan (味の清ちゃん) is a long-established ramen restraunt in Misono, Toyohira ward, Sapporo city, and is near Subway Toho Line Misono Station and Tsukisamu Park. They started a business as a ramen stall in 1942. An over 90 years old woman and her son run it, and it is famous for a popular ramen restraunt of Sapporo Ramen. The Seichan was featured on Genius! Shimura Zoo (天才！志村どうぶつ園), a popular Japanese TV program. In the long history, ecutive chefs of famous hotels came to savor their ramen.

The ramen restraunt is on the 1st floor of an apartment. If a shop curtain is not hung on the entrance, visitors do not notice that the building is a ramen restraunt. It is not large, and the interior decoration is nostalgic. A good old atmosphere of the Showa period is felt. Counter seats, table seats and small separate Japanese style rooms are provided, so I guess that even family customers enjoy meals. But the ramen restraunt is crowded with customers in busy time. I heard that they serve only 30 ramen a day, so they sometimes close early.

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. Article is here

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. Article is here

Old Style Salt Broth Ramen

I visited here around 14:00 on a weekday. There was no other customer, and there was only me. The very kind elderly woman welcomed me, and we had a nice chat. I asked her about ramen restraunt's recommendation, so she replied me "All menus, so you would choose ramne as you like". I did not know which to choose, but I finally ordered Old Style Salt Broth Ramen (昔ラーメンの塩味). The price was JPY 800.

About 5 minutes later, the ramen was served. Roasted pork fillets, spinach, bamboo shoots, boiled eggs, a kamaboko with a spiral whirlpool-like pattern, a Japanese dry baked wheat gluten, green onions, dried lavers were on noodles. The Japanese dry baked wheat gluten, the sliced boiled eggs and a way of topping made me feel the old style. Fulled clear soup also caught my eyes.

I ate a sip of soup immediately. It tasted too much salty, but I did not feel salt with umami of the soup. It was tasty! As she said, the most important thing of the ramen was "soup", and the soup was beautifull and tasty. The whitish curly noodles made by Ichiyanagi Noodles Factory (一柳製麺) went well with the soup, too.

She said "When I lived in Kuriyama town around 1940, I learned a way of cooking ramen from a chef came from a hotel of the Sapporo. He said smooth and clear soup was like salad oil. The transparency was important". So she throws away the soup if the soup is muddy even a little. She has been cooked the soup for over 70 years, so she always has a hard time trying to make the soup on her toes at night. I think that to succeed the taste of traditional Sapporo ramen via the Kuriyama is amazing. Thanks for the tasty ramen!

Old Style Salt Broth Ramen and Atmosphere of Ramen Restaurant Can Be Watched on Youtube

Movie of Old Style Salt Broth Ramen

Parking lot	Free parking is provided (1 Car)
Business hours	11:00-17:00
Regular closing day	Tuesday, Second Wednesday and Fourth Wednesday
Telephone number	011-831-4147
Home page	Home page is here
Mapcode	9 406 740*22