Hokkaido is Japan’s northernmost prefecture and is famous for its cold climate. You’ve probably seen this prefecture featured in videos online highlighting its most famous event, the Sapporo Snow Festival. But we have to tell you–in Japan, Hokkaido food is what stands out as the reason to go to the north.
This cooler prefecture is packed full of amazing ingredients, delicious dishes and satisfying souvenirs that we think you’ll love. That’s why we put together a list of the reasons we think Hokkaido’s food specialties are worth a shot. So read on to learn why “made in Hokkaido” is such a badge of honor.
Why is Hokkaido Food So Good
Hokkaido is often said to be blessed by nature, which contributes to why the food is so good. Image via Unsplash
We’ve mentioned how great the food is in Hokkaido, but what is the secret. Well, it’s really simple and boils down to location. Hokkaido is huge compared to other prefectures, which is part of why it’s considered its own region. It also has an amazing climate, thanks to its proper balance between cold winters and warm, mild summers, thanks to its northern location.
It also has great soil, so it’s great for growing fruits and vegetables as well as feeding livestock. Last, its access to the ocean–being an island and all–means that it has plenty of fresh and delicious seafood (which we’ll get into later). Hokkaido’s location really is the secret to why you can enjoy so many delicious foods both in and from Japan’s northernmost prefecture.
Hokkaido Dairy
Hokkaido dairy is the secret to why Cremia soft serve is so delicious as the higher milk fat content and cream from Hokkaido add richness. Image via Instagram
Let’s start with the one almost everyone knows–Hokkaido dairy. Hokkaido is able to support a very large dairy industry, making up about 60% of Japan’s dairy industry. However, more than that, it has become famous for its flavor. To loosely quote the Japan National Tourism Organization, Hokkaido dairy is rich with a mild, vanilla-like flavor on its own.
While that is intriguing on its own, it makes for delicious dairy products like butter, whipped cream and ice cream (especially ice cream). It also adds flavor and richness to treats that make use of this prefecture’s milk or butter.
Hokkaido milk and butter is part of why Hokkaido sweets, like Ishiya's Shiroi Koibito and Saqu Langue de Chat cookies, are so popular. Image via Instagram
This is why you see so many products boast about their use of Hokkaido dairy in their products, like Ishiya’s Shiroi Koibito, North Farm Stock’s Hokkaido Hojicha Milk Jam (or their popular Strawberry Butter Jam), or any of the Hokkaido chocolate brands out there. These treats make excellent use of the prefecture’s milk products to create snacks that feel luxurious and taste delicious.
Fruits and Vegetables
Like I mentioned earlier, Hokkaido has the perfect conditions to grow plenty of fruits and vegetables, but three tend to stand out in particular: the famous Yubari Melon, hearty potatoes and juicy corn.
Yubari Melon
Even a slice of standard Yubari melon can run you about $8 to $10 USD, but even a slice is worth giving a try! Image via Instagram
Yubari melon, or Yubari King, is famous for both its amazing taste… and how expensive it is. This Hokkaido melon has an amazingly sweet flavor to it and a texture that just melts in your mouth with every bite. However, Yubari melon farmers are meticulous in growing this fruit, and the rating system for the melons is even more demanding.
That means that every melon that goes to market is premium and receives a certified sweetness rating. Add in an auction for the best melons the prefecture has to offer, and you can see why the current record for a Yubari King Melon auction is about $50,000 USD.
The closest thing to Yubari melon that we can send you is Tarami's Hokkaido Melon Delicious Konjac Jelly, which uses melon syrup to add that Yubari melon flavor.
Potatoes
Hokkaido potatoes make for great snacks, and Calbee's Jaga Pokkuru really is a treat that's hard to put down once you start eating it. Image via Instagram
I didn’t realize this until I noticed the “Made with Hokkaido Potatoes” mark on some of my favorite snacks. However, Hokkaido actually produces about 80% of Japan’s potatoes. In terms of comparison, their potatoes are known for being soft and fluffy while having a naturally rich, buttery flavor, making it perfect for dishes like niku-jaga and snacks like potato chips.
Two great potato snacks from Hokkaido are Calbee’s Jaga-Pokkuru and Jaga-Pirika, both being simple yet tasty potato snacks that people absolutely love.
Corn
Hokkaido sweetcorn is always a tasty treat, but the white variety is so sweet that people sometimes even just eat it uncooked! Image via Magnific
Hokkaido is the first prefecture in Japan to grow large amounts of sweetcorn for human consumption and has been one of Japan’s largest producers for over 100 years. Hokkaido grows both white and yellow corn in its rich soil. And while their yellow corn is delicious, their white corn is known for being so sweet that people can even eat it uncooked! Their corn fame is part of the reason you find snacks either made from Hokkaido corn or flavored after it.
Some popular corny treats include the Yoshimi Sapporo Okaki Oh! Grilled Corn snacks, their Hokkaido Cheese Okaki Rice Crackers (combining sweetcorn and cheese flavor) and the Hokkaido Corn flavor Jaga Pokkuru.
Miso
Hokkaido miso is has a clean, refined flavor and is popular both in and outside of Hokkaido, with brands like Fukuyama Jyozo selling miso all over Japan. Image via Instagram
Fun fact about making good miso (and soy sauce): you need good water, which Hokkaido has in abundance. However, that’s not all you need. Initially, farmers struggled to create miso due to Hokkaido’s colder climate but eventually developed a unique way to make it, creating a true Hokkaido speciality. Thanks to the clean water of Hokkaido, their miso has a more refined taste to it and an amazing natural fragrance that is great for any dish you make with it. Speaking of…
Hokkaido Ramen
Sapporo Miso Ramen may include butter or corn (or both), but even without those add-ons, their miso ramen is a premium experience.
Hokkaido ramen is loved all across Japan, and it’s easy to see why. First of all, Sapporo, Hokkaido’s capitol, is the birthplace of miso ramen, with Sapporo Miso Ramen being one of the Three Great Ramen Styles of Japan. Meanwhile, this prefecture has even stepped it up with a new style, adding Hokkaido butter for extra richness.
However, Hokkaido’s ramen scene goes beyond miso, as Asahikawa ramen stands out in Japan as a wonderfully comforting soy sauce ramen. Hakodate is also famous for their salt ramen which utilizes chicken bones and kelp for amazing umami. Add in Kushiro’s soy sauce ramen and the famous Muroran Curry Ramen, and you can see why Hokkaido’s great for ramen.
Hokkaido Soup Curry
Hokkaido soup curry is perfect for a cooling sweat in summer or a warming winter dish, and it's packed with flavor to boot! Image via Wikimedia Commons
Japanese curry is loved around the world for its sweetness and thickness, coming from Yokosuka by way of Britain by way of India. However, Hokkaido embraced a different variation of curry, replacing the thicker Japanese curry with a soup curry.
Inspired by a combination of China and Korea’s herbal soups and curry recipes from both South Asia and Southeast Asia, this soup is packed with herbal scents and flavors, meat and vegetables. It’s been a hit since its creation in the 1970s for its ability to cause folks to sweat in summer and warm up in winter, especially thanks to its customizable 0-10 spice level.
Seafood
With tons of fresh seafood, Hokkaido has a variety of tasty seafood dishes, including various varieties of kaisendon, featuring scallops, urchin and more! Image via Instagram
Hokkaido, although huge, is still an island, which gives it amazing access to fresh fish and delicious seafood. And while all of its seafood is amazing, with their kaisendon being an amazing experience to try a bunch of seafood over rice. However, Hokkaido has a few standouts among their already delicious fish.
Snow crab, king crab and their famous Hotate (scallops) offer amazing shellfish experiences. Meanwhile, salmon, squid and sea urchin are famous in Hokkaido and a great alternative to folks who don’t like or can’t eat shellfish. Hokkaido even has a famous salmon hotpot dish called Ishikari Nabe.
Fun Fact: Hokkaido scallops make for a great addition to dashi for a rich umami flavor. Definitely give Fukuyama Jyozo's Hokkaido Scallop Dashi a try for Japanese soups or ramen.
Lamb
Jingisukan is a great way to enjoy Hokkaido lamb, while also being a unique experience compared to standard yakiniku. Image via MAFF Official Website
Way back in 1918, the Japanese government made a push to increase the amount of sheep in Japan. While five sheep farms were established across Japan, the only ones that remain today are in Hokkaido. From this, Genghis Khan was born–not the famous historical figure but instead a delicious dish of grilled lamb.
Genghis Khan, or jingisukan, was inspired by Mongolian lamb dishes, featuring lamb grilled yakiniku-style over a dome-shaped grill. Vegetables, usually bean sprouts, are placed around the outer rim of the dome, where they sit in the juices that cook off of the lamb and absorb all that flavor.
While the origin is contested, as Tokyo lays claim to the first jingisukan restaurant, Hokkaido stands out as the most famous place to enjoy grilled lamb.
Hokkaido Dishes
Zangi
Zangi may look like regular karaage, but it has a harder punch of flavor that many people fall in love with. Image via MAFF Official Website
So while there is nothing particularly special about local Hokkaido chickens, they do have an amazingly tasty variation of Japan’s karaage (fried chicken thighs). Zangi is deep-fried chicken that is more flavorful than karaage thanks to its sweet and spicy, soy sauce-based marinade that adds flavor a whole new flavor profile to the chicken.
This dish is so popular that it even spawned further variations, like takozangi (squid) and sakezangi (salmon).
Butadon (Pork Bowls)
Butadon is already a wonderful mix of flavors, but the grilled pork of Hokkaido's version truly adds to the flavor profile. Image via Obihiro Kankou Navi
Last on our list, we’re going back to the concept of grilled meat. Butadon is a relatively simple yet amazingly flavorful and delicious where thick slices of pork are grilled before being coated in a soy sauce-based glaze that is super savory yet slightly sweet. Plus, you can often find two varieties–one that uses more lean pork loin or richer pork belly.
Either way, the combination of smoky, juicy meat and a delicious (usually shop-exclusive) sauce over a bowl of rice is just perfection.
If you need any of the seasonings or sauces to try and make butadon or zangi yourself, check out our Japanese Condiments selection for all you need!
Some shops even bring you Hokkaido food experiences outside of the prefecture. One of my favorites was Sama Soup Curry with their gyoza soup curry.
And that’s our list! Hokkaido has tons of amazing food, including dishes that we had never even heard of. That also means that we might have missed a few, but we think we got a pretty good selection of items that show just how amazing Hokkaido’s offerings are!
If you want to shop some of Hokkaido’s amazing specialties and try them for yourself, check out our selection of Hokkaido Foods here!
