Soup Curry In Hokkaido, Japan Is Simply A Must Try

What is Soup Curry?

Originating from Sapporo, soup curry is a local specialty dish that was first created in the early 1970’s. A blend of Chinese and Indian spices it quickly became a local favorite with more of these soup curry shops opening up throughout Sapporo. These days there’s around 200 locations selling this unique dish in Sapporo.

Generally soup curry consists of a light curry flavored seasoned soup, a chicken leg, and roasted vegetables. There can be other types of meat included and vegetables can change with the seasons but basically this is soup curry.

Soup curry may have originated in Sapporo but it’s also very popular in Hokkaido in general. While in Hakodate it was definitely a food I was on the lookout for.

Begirama

I was able to find a soup curry spot that wasn’t too far away from the hotel I was staying at called Begirama. It had good ratings on Google (for what it’s worth) so I was excited to give it a try! It was definitely a popular place, which is always a good sign. I waited about 10-15 minutes to be seated which isn’t too bad.

They had several types of soup curry at Begirama. I didn’t know much about soup curry, but in reading about it recognized that the usual meat was chicken leg. That one happened to be the “No. 1” dish, at least per the menu, so it seemed like a no brainer to try.

The Chicken Leg Soup Curry

Outside of the chicken leg the dish consisted of lots of veggies – broccoli, mushroom, half an egg, carrot, potato, cabbage, eggplant, pumpkin – and you get a medium rice along with it and chose very spicy.

The broth was really interesting. There’s a deep curry taste to it…but in soup form. I mean no shocker there since this IS soup curry after all, but as someone that’s only had “regular”, thicker curry, it was still very strange to be slurping it in soup form.

It was also deeply satisfying. Especially on a cold December evening. The mixture of all the different spices was extremely tasty. It definitely had a kick to it and was actually quite spicy, which I loved!

The chicken was VERY tender. It easily fell off the bone in chunks. There was really quite a lot of vegetables in the bowl too. Quite the variety as well. All the veggies seemed to be prepared differently with some being baked, boiled, and grilled. This, along with the general variety in vegetable texture, provided a different experience with each spoonful, which was great! Of course dipping the rice into the soup and grabbing some veggies and meat was the optimal spoonful.

It was very, very tasty. The more of the soup I had, the more I appreciated its uniqueness and really enjoyed it.

Is Soup Curry Worth Trying?

If you enjoy curry than soup curry is something you absolutely must try in Hokkaido. It’s one of the area’s signature dishes for one. It’s literally curry in soup form. A totally different take on a beloved dish. It’s so unique and ultimately satisfying.

Outside of Genghis Khan (grilled mutton), and miso ramen, soup curry is one of the most famous dishes in Hokkaido that has really blown up in popularity since its introduction back in the 70’s.

In my other travels in Japan, outside of Hokkaido I haven’t seen soup curry. I’m guessing in Tokyo or any other large city there must be places that serve the dish, I didn’t go out of my way to look for it down in the Tokyo area. But I don’t recall seeing it when walking past all the millions of restaurants you see in Tokyo. This makes ordering the dish even more important if you find yourself traveling in Hokkaido. Order it and enjoy it, you aren’t likely to find it in other parts of Japan or back home!