Ramen salad topped with plenty of vegetables · Photo: Tobosha / Public domain (Wikimedia Commons)
JapanSapporoRamen Salad: The Hokkaido Izakaya Staple Born in a Sapporo Beer Hall in 1985
Chilled ramen noodles piled with vegetables and dressed like a salad: for people in Hokkaido, ramen salad is a familiar sight at izakaya, in school lunches and at deli counters. Here is how it began in Sapporo, how it differs from hiyashi chuka and how to eat it.
Ramen or Salad?
Ramen salad is exactly what it sounds like: a chilled dish from Hokkaido that combines ramen noodles with salad. Boiled, chilled ramen noodles are piled with lettuce, tomato, cucumber and other vegetables and finished with a dressing. It looks a lot like hiyashi chuka, Japan's summer cold ramen, but because it carries far more vegetables, people in Hokkaido eat it as a salad rather than as ramen. That is why izakaya menus often list it under salads rather than noodles. It is a regular on Hokkaido izakaya menus, a home-cooked dish and a frequent school lunch item, an everyday food for people who live there.
1985, a Beer Hall in Sapporo
The usual account is that ramen salad was created in 1985 as a summer specialty at the beer hall of a long-established hotel in central Sapporo, with the hotel's own house dressing as the key to its flavor. The Hokkaido Shimbun also describes it as a dish born at a well-known Sapporo hotel about 40 years ago. Other origin claims exist, though, so many sources present this as the most likely theory rather than settled fact. It is said to have first been served in a boat-shaped sashimi platter (funamori), and a local newspaper article shows a recreated ramen salad served that way. One explanation is that the slatted bottom of the dish let water from the vegetables drain away so the noodles did not turn soggy.
How It Differs From Hiyashi Chuka
Ramen salad and hiyashi chuka both put toppings on cold noodles, but the star of the dish is different. In hiyashi chuka the noodles lead, neatly topped with egg strips, ham and cucumber as a full meal; in ramen salad the vegetables lead, and the noodles are more like one ingredient in the salad. Before ready-made products existed, the usual home version was to boil ramen noodles, chill them, toss them in hiyashi chuka sauce and mayonnaise, and add a vegetable salad. Today there are chilled noodle kits and dedicated dressings, and finished ramen salad is a common sight at Hokkaido supermarket deli counters. The Hokkaido Shimbun credits the efforts of a noodle maker in Noboribetsu with helping the dish spread.
Ramen Salad in Everyday Hokkaido Life
Part of the reason ramen salad spread so widely is that Hokkaido is ramen country. In a region famous for Sapporo miso ramen, ramen noodles were always close at hand, and ramen salad found its place as a light way to enjoy them even in summer. Today izakaya and restaurants all over Hokkaido serve their own versions, not just the beer hall credited with inventing it. Many people grew up eating it in school lunches, and with ready-made versions always on supermarket deli shelves, it has become a dish with a strong Hokkaido identity. Its freedom, with no fixed rules on toppings or dressing, is also cited as a reason it has lasted.
How to Order and Eat It
At a Hokkaido izakaya, ramen salad usually comes on a large plate for the table to share. It is a great first order with beer and also works as a palate cleanser between rich grilled skewers and fried dishes. If your group is small, ask whether they have a smaller size. Dressings vary from sesame to soy-based, and toppings range from seafood to corn or ham depending on the place. When it arrives, toss the noodles and vegetables up from the bottom so the dressing coats everything, then serve. Left too long, the vegetables release water and the flavor goes flat, so do not wait. Picking one up at a supermarket or convenience store deli and eating it at your hotel is a very Hokkaido experience too.