kenleewrites in 日本

Let’s take a walk through some Hokkaido markets! We’ll start at the local supermarkets. No point looking at the usual stuff, so let’s just concentrate on the local fresh produce. Posful is the name of the local Jusco supermarket run by Aeon.

Salmon looks red and cheap.

Lots of fresh misty seafood.

Hairy crabs, scallops, chopped up salmon pieces, cod etc. What peaked my interested is that thing in the top right corner. I’ll talk about it later down in this post. Just keep in mind the word “tachi” たち（だち）. Anything here got your juices flowing?

Enough to make you cry. Local onions.

The Japanese nashi pears are huge!

Forbidden fruits of knowledge. You know what they say, one a day keeps the doc away. ^^.

Don’t go bananas on me yet. Not from Hokkaido, but the Philippines. I remember there used to be this cartoon “Bananaman”. What happened to him?

A wholesale market along one of the many roads in Hokkaido. You can grab a bite on the second floor. They have a huge dining area that serves crabs, salmon and bears… ok… I’m kidding about the bear.

Whole salmon rubbed with salt. ¥5500 for one.

Hokkaido is famous for its many crabs. Especially the red kind. ^^.

This is what the wholesale market looked like inside.

活ゆで means “boiled live”. Expensive crabs!

These are the hairy crabs. No one knows how hairy is hairy, but they are much cheaper compared to the king crabs and spider crabs.

A slab of tuna. Yummy.

Lots of packed salmon for you to bring home and figure out how to cook (or not).

More salmon rubbed in salt.

Enough food for now. Let’s take a break and go shopping! Off to the Rera Chitose Outlet Mall!

Lots of brands here.

If you like shopping at outlet malls, this is a good place to visit in Chitose.

Chitose has an air force base. I frequently saw fighter jets flying overhead. I don’t recognize helicopters except for Apache, Comanche and Airwolf. Think that’s a Chinook in the far background.

Everyone’s getting ready for Christmas. I’ve been a rather good boy this year. Hope I get some presents. Maybe a nice job for when I graduate? ^^.

Back to the markets! This time, we head off to Nijo Market in central Sapporo.

Check out the melons! ゴジラのたまご (Godzilla’s egg). In a cage for our own protection.

二条市場 Nijo Market is a public market. If you’re in Sapporo and you’re looking for fresh local produce and seafood, this is the place to be. It’s one of those places where locals and tourists shop together. Crabs, salmon eggs (いくら）, sea urchin （うに）etc etc. You name it, they have it.

Crabs crabs and extremely huge mackerel (ほっけ) on the right.

Lots of fish here. What I find interesting is in the middle. Remember “tachi” from earlier? See the white tubular-looking mess slipping out from the fish (it’s a pacific cod btw). That yellow sheet of paper reads 新たら (shintara) オス (osu) ¥7000. Shintara loosely means “real pacific rod”. Osu means “male”. Tachi, that white mess you see is…. have you connected the dots? Fish semen.

Shirako (白子) is also fish semen. But from a different fish. Shirako is from salmon. “A mountain” (一山) goes for ¥250. I spoke with the nice shop lady and she told me tachi is heaps more expensive. Maybe up to 3 times the price of “one mountain” of shirako. If only mine was worth some ¥¥¥. ^^. Bad joke. haha. But seriously, I’ve had shirako and though it’s not that bad, the idea doesn’t rest easy in my mind and I’ve added it to my list of “things that I hesitate to eat in Japan”. Have you tried fish semen? It’s available as sushi and sometimes as a condiment to accompany your set meal.

*speechless*. Don’t know what this fish is… worse still, I do not know how to eat it!

Lots of guy crabs. Male and female for humans, (オス) osu and (メス) mesu for animals, crabs included.

Old buildings around add a rustic feel to the market.

Dried scallops on the left and freshly boiled crabs on the right.

I think I’ve been talking even crab for now. ^^.

Hokkaido is rich in salmon. Salmon is a northern fish. I’ve been told you can’t get fresh salmon in southern Japan. There’s always the rare case salmons can’t find their way home and swim the wrong way. Salmons swim up river in Hokkaido to lay their eggs. After that, they move on to fish heaven. The new eggs hatch and the baby salmons make their way downstream to the ocean, only to return a few years later and continue the salmon’s circle of life. A return to hometown ritual. Once a salmon enters the rivers in Hokkaido, they are protected by law. Salmon is only “fishable” when it’s in the ocean.

Dried seafood. I was tempted to buy 8 tentacles…

There are also places to have some food. Lots of donburi. いくら丼 (ikuradon) salmon egg rice bowl, ウニ丼 (unidon) sea urchin rice bowl, かに汁 (kanijiru) crab miso soup etc. It was a shame since I had breakfast before heading there…

Have you been to the markets lately?