Hakodate-style shio ramen — the most delicate regional ramen in Japan, with a crystal-clear seafood and chicken salt broth served in Hokkaido's historic port city.
Hakodate ramen (函館ラーメン) represents Japanese ramen at its most restrained and elegant: a shio (salt) style ramen from Hakodate in southern Hokkaido, characterized by a clear, pale golden broth of exceptional delicacy — chicken, pork, and a generous quantity of seafood dashi (from Hakodate's prized kelp and local seafood), seasoned exclusively with salt rather than soy sauce or miso. The result is a broth of luminous clarity that showcases the quality of its ingredients without the deepened color of soy or the opacity of miso. Hakodate's geography explains its ramen: a port city historically open to foreign trade since 1854 (one of Japan's first treaty ports after Commodore Perry's 1853 visit), Hakodate absorbed Chinese, Russian, and Western culinary influences early, and its ramen tradition — which locals claim predates Sapporo's more famous miso ramen — reflects this cosmopolitan history. The local konbu (kelp) from Hakodate is considered among the finest in Japan and contributes significant depth and sweetness to the shio broth without any visible color. The noodles used in Hakodate ramen are medium-thick, slightly wavy, and made with low water content — a characteristic that gives them a firm bite and a slightly translucent appearance in the clear broth. Toppings are simple: chashu pork, menma bamboo shoots, narutomaki fish cake, and green onion. The bowl's restraint is its statement — the broth must speak for itself.
Serves 4
Place chicken and pork bones in a large pot, cover with cold water, bring to a boil. Boil 5 minutes — foam rises with impurities. Drain, rinse bones thoroughly under cold water, scrubbing clean. This step is critical for the crystal-clear broth.
Return cleaned bones to a clean pot. Add kombu and cold water. Bring very slowly to 60°C over 30 minutes — do not boil the kombu. Remove kombu. Add dried sardines. Continue heating to a bare simmer (85–90°C). Maintain this temperature (never a rolling boil) for 2.5–3 hours. A clear broth requires gentle, controlled heat — vigorous boiling creates cloudiness.
A gentle simmer (small bubbles breaking occasionally at the surface) is essential. Set a thermometer and adjust heat to maintain 85–90°C throughout.
Roll pork belly tightly, tie with kitchen twine. Sear on all sides in a hot pan until golden (8 minutes). Braise in 3 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp mirin, 2 tbsp sake, and enough water to cover halfway for 90 minutes. Cool in braising liquid. Slice when cold.
Combine salt, sake, and mirin in a small pan. Warm over low heat 2 minutes until sake and mirin are reduced slightly. Taste — it should be pleasantly salty with a subtle sweetness. This is the only seasoning in shio ramen tare; quality salt matters.
When broth has cooked 2.5–3 hours, strain through a fine-mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth — this final straining removes all particles and produces the crystal-clear, pale golden broth that defines Hakodate ramen. Season gently with a pinch of additional salt if needed.
Cook ramen noodles in a separate pot of boiling water per package (usually 90 seconds for fresh). Add 1 tbsp shio tare to each pre-warmed bowl. Ladle boiling broth over — 300–350 ml per bowl. Add cooked noodles. Top with 2–3 chashu slices, menma, narutomaki, nori, and green onion. Serve immediately.
The broth must never boil — even a brief rolling boil clouds the clear shio broth permanently. Use a thermometer and keep strictly at 85–90°C.
Hakodate kombu (or Rausu kombu from Hokkaido) produces the sweetest, most complex kelp dashi. It is worth sourcing from a Japanese grocery store for this dish.
Strain the finished broth through cheesecloth twice if needed — any cloudiness in shio ramen is considered a flaw.
Narutomaki (the white fish cake with pink spiral) is the traditional topping for Hakodate ramen and not interchangeable — its mild, slightly sweet flavor pairs specifically with the delicate shio broth.
Hakodate ankake ramen: a winter variation where the clear broth is thickened slightly with potato starch to retain heat longer in Hokkaido's extreme cold.
Seafood shio ramen: add clam dashi (steam clams in water, strain) to the chicken base for an even more oceanic shio ramen representative of Hakodate's port character.
Gyokai shio: use a pure seafood broth (clam, kombu, niboshi) without chicken or pork — vegan adaptable.
Shio ramen broth is best consumed within 2 days refrigerated. The clear broth does not freeze as cleanly as tonkotsu but is acceptable frozen for up to 1 month. Reheat very gently to maintain clarity — boiling after refrigeration clouds the broth slightly. Cook noodles fresh for each serving.
Hakodate claims the distinction of being the birthplace of ramen in Japan — or at minimum one of the earliest cities to serve Chinese noodles in broth, due to its early opening as a treaty port in 1854 following the Convention of Kanagawa. The city's Chinese residents and traders brought noodle soup traditions, and by the late Meiji period (early 1900s), Hakodate had established its distinctive shio-style ramen. The clear broth style predates the soy-based Tokyo ramen and the miso-based Sapporo ramen that later became more nationally famous. Today Hakodate shio ramen is recognized as one of the three great regional ramen styles of Hokkaido.
Hakodate shio ramen uses only salt (shio) as the seasoning agent, never soy sauce or miso, which add dark color. Additionally, the broth is cooked at a gentle simmer (85–90°C) rather than a rolling boil, which prevents the protein emulsification that clouds tonkotsu broth. The result is a pale golden, translucent broth.
Narutomaki is a Japanese steamed fish cake (kamaboko) with a distinctive pink-and-white swirl pattern, made from processed white fish paste. It is sold in vacuum-packed rolls at Japanese grocery stores. Its mild, slightly sweet flavor and bouncy texture are specifically suited to the delicate shio broth of Hakodate ramen — substitute with plain white kamaboko if narutomaki is unavailable.
Three techniques maintain clarity: (1) Blanch and rinse bones thoroughly before making broth. (2) Never exceed 90°C during cooking — a rolling boil permanently clouds the broth. (3) Strain through cheesecloth at the end. If the broth clouds despite these steps, it is still delicious but no longer visually authentic.
Per serving (580g / 20.5 oz) · 4 servings total
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