Otaru Ankake Yakisoba facts for kids
Otaru Ankake Yakisoba is a special kind of Yakisoba (stir-fried noodles) with a thick, starchy sauce. You can find it in many restaurants in Otaru, Hokkaido, Japan. This tasty dish became very popular in Otaru around the 1950s and 1960s. By the 1990s, people in Otaru truly loved it. Since the 2010s, local groups have worked hard to make it famous. They want to help Otaru attract more people and become a well-known food spot. Now, it's known as a local specialty!
Contents
History of Otaru Ankake Yakisoba
There are a few ideas about how Otaru Ankake Yakisoba started.
Early Beginnings
One popular idea is that it began at a Chinese restaurant called 'Baigetsu'. This restaurant moved to Otaru in 1957. They made a dish called 'Gomoku Ankake Yakisoba'. This dish had a mix of meat, fish, and vegetables. Many tourists liked 'Baigetsu' because it was easy to get to. Local people also started eating ankake yakisoba there after shopping. The second owner of 'Baigetsu', Kondō Yūji, helped make the restaurant very successful. He even shared his recipe with other Chefs in Otaru. This helped the dish become widely known.
Older Theories
However, some research shows that other Chinese restaurants in Otaru, like 'Restaurant Roll' and 'Rairaiken', served ankake yakisoba even earlier, in 1950. Also, chefs in Chinese restaurants all over Japan made ankake yakisoba for their staff. This suggests the dish might have older roots than 'Baigetsu'. Another idea is that chefs from Tokyo and Kyoto brought ankake yakisoba to Otaru before World War II. They worked at local hotels and traditional Japanese inns called ryōtei. Port workers then found the dish popular.
When it Became Popular
No matter how it started, ankake yakisoba became very popular in Otaru between 1955 and 1964. Restaurants added it to their menus because it was filling and warm, especially in winter. It was also seen as a trendy lunch choice.
What Makes it Special
The 'Otaru Ankake Yakisoba PR Committee' says that 'Otaru Ankake Yakisoba' is a general name. It covers many kinds of ankake yakisoba with different vegetables and seafood. These are served in restaurants around Otaru. Another group, the 'Otaru Ankake Yakisoba Guard', even checks and approves the ankake yakisoba at local restaurants.
Key Features
Most Otaru Ankake Yakisoba dishes have fried Noodles and a lot of sauce. But there are no strict rules! Each restaurant uses its own recipes. This means you can find many different flavors and styles of the dish. Otaru Ankake Yakisoba has been around for over 60 years. Each restaurant adds to its history. The citizen's group decided not to create one strict recipe. They wanted to respect each restaurant's unique way of making the dish.
Where to Find It
You can find Otaru Ankake Yakisoba in many places, not just Chinese restaurants. It's served at ramen restaurants, diners, cafeterias, Western-style restaurants, cafes, Izakaya (Japanese pubs), hotels, bathhouses, mahjong parlours, Ski resorts, and even golf pavilions. It's often a top seller on their menus. There are almost 100 restaurants in Otaru that serve it! In Otaru, when people say 'yakisoba', they often mean ankake yakisoba.
Local Pride
Otaru is a port town, so it has lots of fresh seafood. A dish with delicious seafood is a great specialty. Some people think the dish doesn't use enough local ingredients. But others believe its history is deeply connected to the people of Otaru. It's a part of the local food and culture. Many see it as a way to help Otaru grow and attract more visitors. In 2017, some even said Otaru Ankake Yakisoba is as important a specialty as sushi.
Citizen's Efforts to Promote the Dish
In the 2010s, Takada Hiroaki, who runs a noodle company in Otaru, noticed something. More than half of Otaru's ramen restaurants served ankake yakisoba. And more customers were ordering it. To promote this unique food, the 'Otaru Ankake Yakisoba PR Committee' was started on July 1, 2011. They opened a cooking school and offered a stamp collection event at local restaurants.
Protection Agency and Mergers
In 2012, Professor Egashira Susumu from Otaru University of Commerce started the 'Otaru Ankake Yakisoba Protection Agency'. Even though the dish was popular with locals, tourists mostly preferred sushi. So, volunteers worked hard to change this. This group wanted to market ankake yakisoba and also promote Otaru itself. They used the dish to highlight Otaru's attractions, festivals, and products. The 'Otaru Ankake Yakisoba PR Committee' later joined with the 'Protection Agency'. Students from Professor Egashira's class even sold ankake yakisoba at their school festival. A chef from a local Chinese restaurant, 'Ryūhō', helped them.
Community Support
After the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, both groups helped raise money. They gave aid to families from Fukushima Prefecture who came to Otaru for safety. They also offered discounts on ankake yakisoba. They even made the dish with Fukushima-grown vegetables. This helped fight false rumors after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.
A Personal Blog's Impact
Before these groups formed, a local worker in Otaru started a personal blog in September 2010. They wrote about restaurants serving ankake yakisoba. The blog was called 'AKY48', like the idol group AKB48. It aimed to feature 48 restaurants. In June 2011, the blog held a popular vote called the 'AKY Election'. This became a big topic in Otaru. Even though it was a personal blog, the 'Otaru Ankake Yakisoba Protection Agency' website featured it as an important starting point.
B-1 Grand Prix Success
In 2013, the 'Otaru Ankake Yakisoba Protection Agency' joined a group that manages a local food festival called the B-1 Grand Prix. This showed their focus was now on helping Otaru grow and working with volunteers. That year, the 'B-1 Grand Prix Hokkaido/Tōhoku Region Convention' was a huge hit. People waited up to 150 minutes for the dish! This greatly increased how well-known ankake yakisoba was.
In 2014, the 'Protection Agency' became a full member of the B-1 Grand Prix. In October, Otaru Ankake Yakisoba appeared at the 9th Nationwide B-1 Grand Prix in Kōriyama, Fukushima. It ranked 9th! This made Otaru Ankake Yakisoba famous across Japan.
In 2015, Otaru Ankake Yakisoba was added to the menu at the 'B-1 Grand Prix Cafeteria AKI-OKA CARAVANE' near JR Akihabara Station. It was one of eight local dishes from Japan. (The cafeteria closed in 2016.)
Merchandise and Products
The popularity of Otaru Ankake Yakisoba led to it being sold in stores.
Convenience Store Sales
For a short time in late 2011, Circle K Sunkus stores in Hokkaido sold official 'Otaru Ankake Yakisoba PR Committee' products. In June 2014, after its first appearance in the B-1 Grand Prix, it was sold again. This time, the 'Otaru Ankake Yakisoba Protection Agency' oversaw it. It was brought back again in October due to high demand.
Lawson also saw how popular the 'Otaru Ankake Yakisoba Encyclopedia' was. From February 2014, they started selling 'Otaru Ankake Yakisoba' at 600 stores in Hokkaido. Usually, Lawson's yakisoba products sell well in the first month and then sales drop. But Otaru Ankake Yakisoba sold 52,000 in the first month and 26,000 in the second! This made it the best-selling yakisoba product in Lawson's history. Sales of all yakisoba products in Hokkaido Lawson stores went up by 80% compared to the year before. This also helped all noodle product sales go up by 2% in Hokkaido. Because of this success, 'Otaru Ankake Yakisoba' became a permanent product in March of that year.
Souvenirs and Meal Kits
After its success at the B-1 Grand Prix, people across Japan, especially in West Japan, wanted to buy it. They wanted it as a souvenir or a meal kit for cooking at home. From 2014, it was available as a meal kit. You could also buy it as a souvenir in Otaru and at JR Sapporo Station.
In 2016, a noodle company in Otaru called 'Abe Seimen' started selling a special sauce. This sauce helps you make Otaru Ankake Yakisoba at home. The 'Otaru Ankake Yakisoba Protection Agency' approved it.
