Hakodate Carl Raymon Ham & Sausages

Carl Raymon is a name which most Hakodate people are familiar with. After all, his sausages and hams can be found in almost any departmental stores or shops in Hakodate. 

Born to an Austrian/Hungary family (currently known as Czech Republic) doing meat processing business , Carl Raymon met his wife in Hakodate in 1919 while on his way back from U.S. to Europe. In 1924, he decided to open a Ham & Sausage factory and shop in Hakodate. 

The business did not do well initially as Japanese did not have the habit of eating processed meat. However, through perseverance as well as large orders from German warships calling at Hakodate, Carl Raymon's reputation and cash flow increased, and he was able to open a 3000 square meters factory. 

Currently, you can find Carl Raymon's shop located at Hakodate Motomachi. 

A large variety of Ham and Sausages can be  bought from the Carl Raymon shop. They also provide delivery within Japan as well, so you can purchase their meats from the shop and arrange for it to be sent back home. 

There is even an exhibition on the 2nd floor, showing the history of Carl Raymon. 

You can also purchase ready made sausages, hotdogs or sandwiches in the shop. But they don't come cheap... a Raymon dog will cost you JPY399 (approx SGD6). 

Sausages are cooked on the spot after your order is taken. 

This is the Raymon dog which we ordered. The hotdog has a crunchy bite to it which I like, unlike some hotdogs which stays soft even after cooking. 

Condiments are also set aside on the table, so that you can add your preferred condiments on your hotdog. 

Do drop by the Carl Raymon shop and try out their hotdogs, sausages or ham if you are at Motomachi. 


Carl Raymon Hakodate

北海道函館市元町30-3
Motomachi 30-3, Hakodate
Open daily: 9am - 6pm
Nearest station; Jiujigai Tram station (十字街市電)
www.raymon.co.jp (Japanese only)

Unique chopstick rests

The Hakodate Bay Area offers a range of unique shopping experience, with many of the stores selling a variety of handicrafts.

It was during December when we visited, and there was a huge Christmas tree set up at the Bay Area, with Christmas tree light up and fireworks held every evening. 

One shop which caught my interest is a chopsticks store (手作り箸工房 遊膳), selling a variety of different handmade chopsticks and more interesting are the chopstick rests (called Hashi-Oki in Japanese) which they sell. 

Chopsticks range from JPY840 TO JPY2100 per pair. Free name engraving service on the chopstick is also provided. You can choose from a range of different function chopsticks, such as suitable for dishwasher, chopsticks made for men or even chopsticks which give you a good gripping posture. 

Below are the different kinds chopstick rests. Some are made into food items, and you won't even know that they are chopstick rests by just looking at it! 

Hakodate Fresh Seafood Market 函館海鮮市場

At the Hakodate Bay Area, you can find a huge store selling a variety of Hakodate local produce at the Hakodate Fresh Seafood Market Square (函館海鮮市場) . 

Most of the local produce here have been processed, vacuum sealed and refrigerated to keep it's freshness. For fresh local produce, you can visit the Hakodate Morning market.  

We were welcomed by a huge variety of dried cuttlefish, from cuttlefish strips and to even whole cuttlefish. 

Among all the cuttlefish varieties, this one is the most interesting. Do you realise that it is shaped like a glass? Yes, it is called Ika Glass, which is best used with hot sake poured inside. After using for 2-3 pours, toast the ika slightly before eating for best results.

Ika Meshi is a type of local food only unique to Hakodate. Ika - meaning cuttlefish  / Meshi - meaning rice; this dish literally means steamed cuttlefish stuffed with rice. 

Salmon is also an ever popular fish, and you can buy it either as a whole fish, deboned into half (only JPY1500!) or in slices for easy cooking. 

Japanese also love their crabs! but these are not sri lanka crabs like those found in Singapore. The crabs have longer claws which most of the meat comes from. Here they are selling the Tarabakani (red king crab) claws (JPY9800) or a the cheaper whole Zuwai Kani (JPY2800)

You can even find frozen whale meat here! But they don't come cheap.. selling at 100g for JPY800, each packet will cost you JPY3500 (approximately SGD50). Recommended for sashimi or deep fried.  

Some other seafood items include air dried cuttlefish and Hokke fish. Best eaten by just grilling it in the oven. 

This is my favourite! Called shoukara (塩辛) it is a marinated seafood dish (mostly using Ika) using various kinds or marinates and best when eaten together with piping hot rice. Too bad I can't buy some home as it needs to be kept refrigerated. 

Besides seafood produce, sausages or what they can wiener in Japan (which means sausage in German) is also a popular item in Hakodate.  

As most items here need to be refrigerated, a pity that I couldn't buy any of these stuff back home.


Hakodate Fresh Seafood Market Square (Bay Area) 函館海鮮市場 

北海道函館市豊川町12-12
Open daily: 6:30am - 8pm
Nearest station: Jiujigai local tram station
www.hakodate-factory.com (Japanese only)

Hokkaido "限定" Snacks

Everyone knows that Hokkaido has many popular snacks or tidbits. As the saying goes: A picture speaks a thousand words. Enjoy the pictures of various snacks offered by Hokkaido. 

Potato Farm - this is Ms K's favourite snack. Famous for it's potato strips which is super crunchy but still retains the potato flavour. (10 packs per box - JPY840)

This is a new product of Potato Farm called "Imoko to kobutaro"(いも子とこぶ太郎). Instead of potato strips, it made into a normal potato chip shape and mixed with seeweed. The potato chip represents "Imoko"(いも子) and seeweed represents "kobotaro"(こぶ太郎) (4 packs per box - JPY420)

Besides potato, Hokkaido is also famous for it's corn produce. Many snacks are made from corn as well, like this Yaki Toukibi, a bite size corn snack. (10 packs per box - JPY630)

Another popular corn snack from Hokkaido is Collet - a corn chocolate sandwiched between rye biscuit. (6 in a box - JPY690)

Not forgetting the ever popular Hori Corn Chocolate, an all time favourite gift "omiyage" to buy back when visiting Hokkaido.
(10 for JPY350 / 16 for JPY700 / 28 for JPY1100)

Shiroi-Koibito (白い恋人) and Royce - these 2 brands need no further elaboration as everybody knows about them. 

Although the Shiroi-koibito white chocolate can be easily found at Japan airports, but not their chocolate drink! (JPY210) 

I also bought the Pote Goma Cookies from Royce, a black sesame biscuit coated with thick chocolate. (15 for JPY525)

L wanted to buy this - a Sapporo milk cookie which has received a gold award in the Monde Selection for 3 consecutive years (2008-2010). A crispy biscuit with a light milk and buttery flavour.  (12 for JPY525)

Another brand which apparently is also quite popular is called "Rokkatei" or 六花亭. 

Using these 6 flower patterns in all their wrappings, people can easily recognize their branding even from far away. Did you know that Rokkatei is also the first sweets maker who produced the white chocolate in Japan. 

Some other potato snacks - Hokkaido Jyagaki. Seems like the Japanese like to coat their snacks with chocolate!

Pocky and Pretz - these sticks are ever so popular in Japan. And the makers can come up with any type of flavour - like the melon flavoured Pocky and Salmon / Corn flavour Pretz. 

Remember eating Collon in your childhood days? But there was only cream, chocolate or strawberry flavour during those days. Buy hey you can get a Camemberu cheese flavour now!

Kinoko no Yama - another chocolate snack produced in Japan. How about something special like the Azuki milk flavour? 

There are simply too many snacks in Hokkaido to cover all of them... Do remember to buy a few when you visit Hokkaido!