Noodles ── Ramen
Juusanko Shijimi Ramen
Jusanko Shijimi Ramen — a brackish lake's clams, in a bowl of noodles
A local ramen from Goshogawara, built on the Yamato clams of Lake Jusan, a brackish lake where fresh and sea water meet. A salt broth carries plenty of clam stock, with more clams piled on top; a drive-in on the lakeshore is said to be where it began.
- Origin: Aomori Goshogawara
- Shio — salt
- About 600 km north of Tokyo
What it's made of
A salt-based broth carries a heavy dose of Yamato clam stock from Lake Jusan. Whole clams are piled on top too, sometimes still in the shell. The clams' savoriness layers over the clean taste of the salt broth for a light, straightforward bowl.
How it's made
Yamato clams from Lake Jusan are simmered slowly to draw out their stock, then seasoned with salt to build the broth. The clams used for the stock are kept and served as the topping too, so the shellfish shows up in both the soup and the bowl. Thin noodles are the usual match for the broth's lightness.
Why it took this shape
Lake Jusan is a brackish lake where the Iwaki River, flowing down from the Shirakami Mountains, meets the Sea of Japan. That mix of fresh and salt water suits Yamato clams so well that the lake became one of the country's leading clam grounds. A drive-in on the lakeshore is said to have first devised the shijimi ramen, and the recipe spread to nearby diners, each raising its own version of the dish.
Before you go
- How to read a ticket machineShops that use a ticket machine (shokken-ki) often place their most popular items in a similar spot.
- Cash-only shops are commonEspecially at ramen shops, it's common to find places that only accept cash — often through a ticket machine.
- Foods to look for in summerA guide to foods often seen in Japan around summer — eel on the Day of the Ox, hiyashi chuka, somen, shaved ice, edamame with beer, and hamo — with rough pointers for finding them.
Dishes in the same style
Ingredients and dishes from this land
Also from Aomori
- BekomochiColored strips of glutinous and non-glutinous rice-flour dough are bundled and steamed so each slice reveals a pattern — a Boys' Day treat from rice-poor Shimokita, its designs elaborated around Oma town.
- HittsumiHand-torn pieces of kneaded wheat dough are simmered in a chicken-and-soy broth with carrot and burdock — a dish from the old Nanbu domain spanning southeastern Aomori and northern Iwate, once a rice substitute in lean years.
- KakkeThin buckwheat dough is cut into triangles, simmered with daikon and tofu, and dipped in garlic miso — said to have begun when the Nanbu domain banned fine-cut soba, leaving people to eat the offcuts instead.
- Kujira JiruSalted whale blubber is parboiled to render off excess fat, then simmered in a big pot with daikon, carrot and potato — a New Year dish from around Hachinohe's old whaling grounds, said to deepen in flavor over several days.
- Mame ShitogiMashed boiled green soybeans are kneaded with rice flour and sugar into a log and sliced — a Nanbu-region sweet that stretched scarce rice with beans, once offered to the mountain and harvest gods.
- Aomori ShamorockSaid to be developed by Aomori's livestock experiment station over roughly two decades of research from a shamo and Barred Plymouth Rock cross; reportedly reared about 100 days for cockerels and 120 for hens, 50–60 days longer than a standard broiler.