lavender memories

Last year we went to Hokkaido, which I posted about here. I love Hokkaido because it is cool during the summer with very little humidity. There aren't many people living there either, so it isn't crowded like Osaka.

In fact, there are many farms, so veggies like potatoes, carrots, corn, onions and fruits like watermelon are fresh and plentiful. There are also many pastures and dairy farms which make rich and creamy dairy products like cheese, milk and ice cream. Satoshi loves Hokkaido for the nature and of course, the seafood!

I wanted to share with you some photos of our trip to Hokkaido in 2002. It was our first time to see the fields of lavender of Furano. We happened to go during a typhoon, and even though it poured while we rode our bicycles, we were still lucky to be able to experience the wonderfully fragrant fields of lavender. It was after this trip that I fell in love with the lavender fragrance.

The wheat fields in Bibaushi (a town next to Furano) were beautiful too. I imagine the countryside of France to be like this.

And finally, we were able to catch the most beautiful sunset on the Okhotsk Sea (this is the sea between Russia and Japan). At the time, we were staying at the Iwaobetsu Youth Hostel and they had a sunset viewing tour, on the walk from the hostel to the seashore we saw about 20 deer. Being from Hawaii, it was exciting to see deer that close-up.

I wonder where we will spend our summer vacation this year.

hokkaido sweets and other foodie stuffs

On my previous post, I forgot to mention that my digital camera battery died, so I used my cell phone camera to take some of the photos. (Note to self: bring charger on trips longer than a weekend!)

In Furano, we found a cute cafe in the middle of nowhere called Cafe de la Paix. The owner used to live in Paris and cooks everything herself. The cafe was cute because it was like entering someone's home and you had to actually climb up a ladder to get to the dining room! We tried her roast pork and potato pie. Delicious.

Cafe de la Paix
19 sen Misawa kibou
Biei
Phone: 0166-92-3489 Closed Thursdays 10:00-18:00

During the whole trip, Satoshi reminisced on the good times he had backpacking during his college life. When we went to Sarobetsu, we stayed at a pension called Ashita no Jo (which he stayed at during "the day"). The original facility was burned down and the new one is closer to the road. If you get their early and the weather permits they'll take you to a secret spot to view the sunset. This was the sunset that day taken with my cell phone.

Their trademark dish is a hot pot dish using milk and stock called gyunyunabe. (sorry no photos of this) They are particular as to how to prepare the dish, so just follow their directions and it will turn out great. It had been almost 20 years since Satoshi stayed there and he really enjoyed chatting with the owner--who was single at the time of his first stay.

Ashita no Jo
Hotoku Toyotomi-cho
Tenshio-gun
Phone: 0162-85-2155

So...now that I've covered the seafood and other foodie things, the only thing left is DESSERT! (right??)

In Obihiro, there is a place called Ryugetsu. They have great sweet treats.

Nissho is a dacquoise--a meringue type cookie which sandwiches almond cream. This one had local Shikaoi soba kernels on top. This one was not too sweet and very light!

They also have a baum kuchen--which looks like the rings of a tree when cut. This one called Sanporoku is made to look like Shirakaba (white birch) with the white chocolate and milk chocolate coating on the outside. The cake was moist and delicious.

Ryugetsu
8-15 Odori, Obihiro
Phone: 0120-669-669 9:00-20:00

Nakashibetsu has many dairies...so they had lots of gelato, ice cream and yogurt! We got to try two places.　　

Risu no mori's (Forest squirrel) gelato. Satoshi tried their cheesecake and wild strawberry. I tried their chocolate chip and gianduja. This was great!

Risu no mori
2-chome Higashi 2 Jonan
Nakashibetsu
Phone: 0153-73-2110

We also got to try a yogurt drink made by La laiterie Nakashibetsu. I didn't care for this one too much, it was kind of too sweet.

La laiterie Nakashibetsu
9-17 Kitanaka
Nakashibetsu
Phone: 0153-72-0777

Betsukai, a small town on the Notsuke coastline, has a dairy called Betsukai Dairy which makes a great coffee milk drink. Lots of milk and coffee but not too sweet.

Kushiro had a uniquely named dessert called Nekonotamago (Cat's egg) which was a really soft mochi (rice cake) outside and different flavored creams inside. We tried the lavender and chocolate ganache. I liked the chocolate one best.

Cream Dowa is a dairy in Teshikaga. They also make good gelato. We tried the yubari melon (a sweet melon similar to canteloupe) and milk cocoa (a milk based gelato with cocoa powder mixed in).

Near Akan at the roadside cafe called Doremifa-sora, there was also another uniquely named dessert called Milk no kodomo (Milk's child). This dessert takes 3 days to prepare and is really creamy and a little tart. They only make 30 regular sized ones a day, so go early. (The one that came with our lunch was a mini)

In Ikeda, there is Happiness dairy. This place sells gelato, homemade breads, cheeses and sausages. Satoshi had their rhubarb and haskap yogurt (more about haskap soon). And I tried the cookies and chocolate and pumpkin. The price was really reasonable and they only serve doubles--most places charge extra! True happiness :)

Happiness dairy
103-2 Kiyomi
Ikeda-cho, Nakagawa-gun
Phone:015-572-2001

In Furano, we tried Shinya, they make cute cheesecake tarts and a moccheese pie. The cheesecake is rich with a hint of lemon. The moccheese pie has a pie crust outside, a thin layer of mochi (rice cake), sweet bean paste and cream cheese in the center. Delicious!

Shinya
4-7 Asahi-cho, Furano
Phone: 0167-22-2042

Furano Jam Factory makes fruit jams and also vegetable jams! I bought a bottle of haskap--blue honeysuckles. These berries can only be found in Hokkaido. I also bought their haskap drink. It sort of tasted like prune, grape and a hint of cranberry.








Furano Jam Factory
3 Rokugo, Furano
Phone: 0167-29-2233

Lastly are sweets from Sapporo, we didn't visit there, but I really like these brands.

Royce makes really good chocolates. I tried their chocolate drink which was rich and creamy and bought the packets to make it at home.

I also bought the black chocolate bar and extra bitter/mild bitter chocolates. This company has shops overseas in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Malayasia, check them out if your nearby!

Ishiya makes a cookie called Shiroikoibito--white chocolate sandwiched between two thin vanilla cookies. I bought their black chocolate and pumpkin (milk chocolate with pumpkin seeds) called chokoreito (chocolate).

Hope you enjoyed our adventure. We had fun and are off again this weekend to....Kyushu!

hokkaido seafood and other foodie stuffs

In Hokkaido, a lot of the town areas are near the sea, so most of these areas have LOTS of seafood. Likewise, the areas inland have mostly farms--so you can find good veggies, beef, pork, chicken and dairy here.

In the most Northern area of Hokkaido called Soyamisaki (Cape Soya), ikuradon (salmon roe bowl) and hamburger made from Soyamisaki black beef.

In Obihiro, there is a local dish called butadon (pork bowl), we found a great restaurant called Pancho.

The line was out the door and we got in just before closing time. This is the only dish on the menu and have different sizes determined by the amount of meat. Satoshi had the "ume" (apricot) which had 6 slices and I had the "matsu" (pine) which had 4 slices. The meat is grilled and the sauce really tasty--reminded me of barbecues back home.

Pancho UPDATE:2020 moved to another location 
11-19 Nishi 1 Jonan, Obihiro
Phone: 0155-20-1974 Closed Mondays & the 1st & 3rd Tuesdays
11:00-19:00

Near Kushiro, we stopped at a roadside cafe called Doremifa-sora. Here you could watch Japanese crane, called tancho come and go. It was an awesome sight. The lunch--a white curry is made to look like the tancho. The salad also had edible flowers on top (so pretty!)

Doremifa-sora
Tsurumidai, Tsuruimura, Akan-gun
Phone:0154-64-3987 Closed Tuesdays
9:00-18:00

In Nakashibetsu (Eastern Hokkaido), we found a great ramen place through a local pamphlet, called Hatenkou.

I had their tori-paitan shioramen (a salt based chicken soup with roasted chicken and veggies). This ramen boasted lots of collagen from the chicken stock and is a popular dish with women in the area.

Satoshi had their milky ramen this ramen had gouda cheese, butter, milky pork (I think the pork was cooked in milk) and a touch of rai-yu (chinese chili oil). You should have seen Satoshi's face light up as he ate this!

Hatenkou
1-1-1 Higashi 9 Jonan
Nakashibetsu
Phone: 0153-72-5117

In Nemuro, also on the Eastern side, there is a fishing area called Hanasaki. Here they have lots of crab. You should see the size of these guys...huge!

We found a little sushi place near the Nemuro station called Yamatsune--which claims to the be first to make the sanshokudon (3-colored bowl). This bowl has uni (sea urchin), ikura (salmon roe) and kani (crab).

Yamatsune
1-12 Taisho-cho, Nemuro
Phone: 01532-4-5242 10:00-21:00 (open from 8:00 during July-September)

In downtown Kushiro, we found a fish market called Washoichiba and got there just before closing. Here they have something unique called kattedon.

This is a dish in which you buy your rice.

Then go around to all the different vendors to get the fish to top your rice.

Here's Satoshi's....

How does it taste?

All gone...

Washoichiba
13-25 Kurokane-machi, Kushiro
Phone: 0154-22-3226 Closed Sundays 8:00-18:00

On our train ride to Wakkanai (the most Northern city in Hokkaido), we had to transfer at Asahikawa.

We bought some eki-ben (station boxed lunches) for the trip. In Japan, you can find special boxed lunches at most of the train stations--each having a well known food from their area included into the lunch. Recently, many airports have also started this and called them sora-ben (sky boxed lunches).

In Furano, we had the chance to taste freshly cooked corn at a roadside farm. Notice the white kernels? These are extra sweet. There is also a version of corn in Hokkaido called "pure white" and it is supposedly super sweet. This corn was sweet and delicious.

This beer is imported from Sakhalin which is only 43 km from Japan! Satoshi couldn't really distinguish the difference in taste, but the bottle was interesting!

Hope you are enjoying the adventure so far!