信玄 南６条店 Shingen Minami 6-Jo: shogun of Susukino

Our ramen journey in Hokkaido continued. After going to Saimi, we went to Susukino in Sapporo. This area seems just like Kabukicho in Shinjuku. Two bowls of ramen sounded crazy for my tiny woman’s body, but we came all the way here, so my doubts blew away very fast. Hearts got a few local beers in Susukino, and after it got dark, we headed to Shingen. Shingen is originally from Ishikari, midwest Hokkaido. Because of the fishermen in this cold area, Shingen is famous for Ishikari-nabe, which is a miso-based hot pot. The miso ramen must be popular after drinking, but they serve various kinds of ramen. Here are parts of the menu.

Echigo---Kara miso(spicy)

Shinshu---Koku miso(rich)

Tosa---Assari shio(light)

Satsuma---Kotteri shio(rich )

Owari---Assari shoyu(light)

Mito---Kotteri shoyu(rich)

These interesting names are feudal domains in Edo era of Japan. Not coincidentally, Shingen is also the name of a legendary daimyo whose attempts to rule the country have been chronicled in films, dramas, and video games. Conquer all the bowls and become the Shogun of Susukino.

We heard the shio at this Shingen was their specialty, and since we also we just ate miso at Saimi, we both ordered shio. Tosa (light)...

Tosa (735yen)

...and Satsuma (rich). 

Half Satsuma (525yen)

I prefer Satsuma more than Tosa. Even the half-sized bowl was bigger than I expected; just seeing it made my stomach stuffed, but once I sipped the soup, I oddly kept eating. The rich bowl has what appears to be a soup closer to tonkotsu in its consistency, but the shio tare gives the bowl a creamy, buttery flavor that is strangely not salty at all.

I had never eaten such a creamy shio before, and the curly egg noodles go fantastically well with the soup. The noodles seemed like they were dancing on my lips. 

When I hear “shio,” I always imagined a transparent soup, but Shingen's creamy shio was shockingly good. I cannot describe Shingen in Susukino as beautiful, but I really like the sticky, oily floor and its old-time shokudo (cafeteria) atmosphere. What both Hearts and I liked more is that we can order half-sized ramen. It is a really reasonable choice for ramen hunters, small eaters, or as post-drinking ramen. Even after a couple months have passed from our trip, Shingen stays in my heart.

Sapporo, Chuo-ku, Minami 6-Jo, Nishi-8

Closest stn: Higashi-Honganjimae

Open from 1130-130am

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