Soup curry is said to have originated in Sapporo in the 1970s. It is characterized by its large chunks of vegetables and meat, and each restaurant has its own unique flavor.

Whether you ate soup curry there or not, you'll want to take some home as a souvenir, right?

This time, we'll introduce not only soup curry, but also retort curries made with Hokkaido's specialty ingredients. All of them can be purchased at souvenir shops.

I've also included my own subjective and biased taste ratings. So, let me introduce them to you!

table of contents
1. I really want to eat soup curry.
1-1. Okushiba Shoten's "Shrimp Soup Chicken Curry"
1-2. Mandara Sapporo Soup Curry "Vegetable Curry"
1-3. Kitaro Chicken
1-4. lavi's melt-in-your-mouth braised pork belly
1-5. Pickled Shallot Seafood Soup Curry
2. Retort curry made with Hokkaido's specialty ingredients
2-1. JA Kitamirai Onion and Beef Tendon Curry
2-2. Chicken Curry with Tomatoes from Furano
2-3. Biratori Wagyu Beef Curry (Spicy)
2-4. Hokkaido Okhotsk Drift Ice Curry
2-5. Oyster Curry

First up, we'll introduce soup curry. We'll be featuring soup curry from a famous soup curry restaurant in Sapporo. Enjoy the luxury of savoring soup curry at home.

1-1. Okushiba Shoten's "Shrimp Soup Chicken Curry"

[Product information]
Retort pouch products
Price: 700 yen (excluding tax) *Reference price

Okushiba Shoten's soup curry is famous in Sapporo. It makes me happy to think that I can easily enjoy it at home. When I opened the package, I found not only the curry but also a postcard. Reading the words on the postcard made me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

■Soup: A mild and flavorful soup made with shrimp and spices.
■Ingredients: It contained generous chunks of carrots, potatoes, chicken, and lotus root. Everything was soft and tender.
■Cost-effectiveness: The abundance of vegetables and the flavorful soup are a big plus.
■Overall: The soup had a gentle aroma of shrimp and a mild flavor. It even came with a postcard, making it a heartwarming soup curry.
【evaluation】　(This is my personal opinion. Please use it only as a reference.)
Soup: ★★★★☆
Ingredients: ★★★★☆
Value for money: ★★★★☆
Overall: ★★★★☆

1-2. Mandara Sapporo Soup Curry "Vegetable Curry"

[Product information]
レトルトパウチ食品
Price: 714 yen (excluding tax) *Reference price

Upon opening the package, I found two spices included. Having spices with the soup curry raised my expectations for its deliciousness.

■Soup: It has a clear appearance and a refreshing feel. But it also has a deep, rich flavor.
■Ingredients: It's packed with ingredients, including potatoes from Hokkaido, carrots, corn, soybeans, cabbage, onions, and shimeji mushrooms.
■Cost-effectiveness: It's a great deal to be able to enjoy this soup curry with the spices included.
■Overall: It's healthy, but adding spices changes the flavor even further. After eating the soup curry, I felt warm all over. Recommended for those who like light flavors.

【evaluation】　(This is my personal opinion. Please use it only as a reference.)
Soup: ★★★★★
Ingredients: ★★★★★
Value for money: ★★★★★
Overall: ★★★★★

1-3. Kitaro Chicken

[Product information]
レトルトパウチ食品
Price: 648 yen (excluding tax) *Reference price

Kitaro is one of the most famous soup curry restaurants in Sapporo, Hokkaido. Its appeal lies in the fact that you can easily enjoy this popular soup curry. Let's open it up and try it!

■Soup: A spicy, slightly thickened soup.
■Ingredients: Contains carrots, potatoes, and chicken in a thick, gravy-like consistency.
■Cost performance: The tenderly simmered chicken is excellent.
■Overall: This was a deeply flavorful soup curry that became addictive once you started eating it.
【evaluation】　(This is my personal opinion. Please use it only as a reference.)
Soup: ★★★★★
Ingredients: ★★★★☆
Value for money: ★★★★☆
Overall: ★★★★☆

1-4. lavi's melt-in-your-mouth braised pork belly

[Product information]
• Retort pouch foods
• Price: 864 yen (excluding tax) *Reference price

This is soup curry from a popular and well-known restaurant in Sapporo. It even came with their secret mixed spice blend. My expectations are high!

■Soup: Authentic flavor. The included secret mixed spice is excellent.
■Ingredients: Contains large potatoes, carrots, and pork.
■Value for money: Just savoring the tender and melt-in-your-mouth braised pork belly will make you feel happy.
■Overall: Adding the secret mixed spices makes it even more delicious. It's great to be able to easily enjoy soup curry from a famous restaurant.

【evaluation】　(This is my personal opinion. Please use it only as a reference.)
Soup: ★★★★☆
Ingredients: ★★★★☆
Value for money: ★★★★☆
Overall: ★★★★☆

1-5. Pickled Shallot Seafood Soup Curry

[Product information]
• Retort pouch foods
• Price: 864 yen (excluding tax) *Reference price

Pickled shallot soup curry. When I opened the box, there were two packs inside.
I'm excited to see what kind of soup curry it will be.

■Soup: It was flavorful with a good balance of spices, a strong seafood aroma, and a rich taste.
■Ingredients: It contained whole shrimp, scallops, and squid.
■Cost performance: It comes with three whole shrimp, which alone makes it luxurious.
■Overall: I was very satisfied with the generous amount of shrimp, scallops, and squid. The soup was also excellent.

【evaluation】　(This is my personal opinion. Please use it only as a reference.)
Soup: ★★★★★
Ingredients: ★★★★★
Value for money: ★★★★★
Overall: ★★★★★

Next, we'll introduce a ready-made curry using local specialties from Hokkaido.
We'd like to introduce you to a delicious retort curry made with ingredients from Hokkaido. The flavors of Hokkaido and curry are a perfect match. How about picking one up as a souvenir?

2-1. JA Kitamirai Onion and Beef Tendon Curry

[Product information]
• Retort pouch products
Price: 523 yen (excluding tax) *Reference price

JA Kitami Mirai, which covers the area of ​​Kitami City (excluding the Tokoro Town area), Oketo Town, and Kunneppu Town in eastern Hokkaido, boasts the highest onion production volume in Japan. This curry uses these onions and beef tendons from Hokkaido. Expectations are high for what kind of flavor it will offer.

■Curry roux: The sweetness of onions from JA Kitamirai shines through, creating a rich flavor.
■Ingredients: Beef tendons simmered until incredibly tender. They melted in my mouth.
■Cost-effectiveness: It's great to be able to enjoy the flavor of tenderly simmered beef tendons.
■Overall: You can taste the sweetness and richness of the onions. This is an irresistible dish for beef tendon lovers.

【evaluation】　(This is my personal opinion. Please use it only as a reference.)
Curry roux: ★★★☆☆
Ingredients: ★★★★☆
Value for money: ★★★☆☆
Overall: ★★★☆☆

2-2. Chicken Curry with Tomatoes from Furano

[Product information]
• Retort pouch products
Price: 300 yen (excluding tax) *Reference price

This curry is made with tomatoes from Furano, Hokkaido, and chicken and onions from Hokkaido, simmered together.
The packaging features many tomatoes, so you can probably expect to really enjoy the taste of tomatoes.

■Curry roux: You can really taste the deliciousness of the tomatoes. The spices are also well-balanced.
■Ingredients: The chicken pieces are small and blend well with the curry sauce.
■Cost-effectiveness: I think it's good that you can enjoy the gentle sweetness and acidity of tomatoes at this price.
■Overall: Made without chemical seasonings, so it's safe and secure. This curry brings out the delicious flavors of tomatoes and onions.

【evaluation】　(This is my personal opinion. Please use it only as a reference.)
Curry roux: ★★★★☆
Ingredients: ★★★☆☆
Value for money: ★★★★☆
Overall: ★★★★☆

1-3. Biratori Wagyu Beef Curry (Spicy)

[Product information]
• Retort pouch foods
• Price: 648 yen (excluding tax) *Reference price

Biratori Wagyu beef is a premium product produced in Biratori Town, Hokkaido. Because it is raised with great care and attention over a long period of time, the meat is characterized by its concentrated flavor. I have high expectations for this curry made with Biratori Wagyu beef.

■Curry roux: Packed with the delicious flavor of vegetables.
■Ingredients: Contains large chunks of Biratori Wagyu beef.
■Cost-effectiveness: It's great that you can easily enjoy high-quality Nabiratori Wagyu beef.
■Overall: The Biratori Wagyu beef is incredibly tender and juicy. This curry is irresistible for meat lovers.

【evaluation】　(This is my personal opinion. Please use it only as a reference.)
Curry roux: ★★★★☆
Ingredients: ★★★★★
Value for money: ★★★★★
Overall: ★★★★☆

2-4. Hokkaido Okhotsk Drift Ice Curry

[Product information]
レトルトパウチ食品
Price: 600 yen (excluding tax) *Reference price

A curry as white as the drift ice of Hokkaido.
I don't think of curry as being white, so I'm curious to know what it tastes like.

■Curry roux: A spicy curry with a brilliant scallop flavor.
■Ingredients: In addition to scallop adductor muscles, it also contains potatoes, corn, and carrots.
■Cost-effectiveness: The appeal lies in the generous amount of tender, melt-in-your-mouth scallops.
■Overall: You can taste not only the scallops but also the deliciousness of the vegetables. This is a dish that children will also enjoy.

【evaluation】　(This is my personal opinion. Please use it only as a reference.)
Curry roux: ★★★★☆
Ingredients: ★★★★☆
Value for money: ★★★★★☆
Overall: ★★★★☆

2-5. Oyster Curry

[Product information]
• Retort pouch foods
• Price: 594 yen (excluding tax) *Reference price

When you think of Akkeshi in Hokkaido, you think of oysters. They are characterized by their plump flesh and rich sweetness. I'm looking forward to being able to easily enjoy a luxurious curry made with these Akkeshi oysters.

■Curry roux: You can taste not only the deliciousness of oysters, but also the deliciousness of vegetables. You can enjoy the roux on its own.
It's curry.
■Ingredients: Contains plump oysters from Akkeshi and potatoes from Hokkaido.
■Cost performance: Packed with generous amounts of oysters from Akkeshi, excellent value for money.
■Overall: It was great to be able to easily enjoy Akkeshi oysters in a curry. This curry is irresistible for oyster lovers.

【evaluation】　(This is my personal opinion. Please use it only as a reference.)
Curry roux: ★★★★★
Ingredients: ★★★★☆
Value for money: ★★★★★☆
Overall: ★★★★☆

Final thoughts

So, what did you think? I introduced you to soup curry and instant curry. They were all delicious!
Even if you live in Hokkaido, there are probably some instant curries you haven't tried yet. Try to collect them all and brag about it to your fellow Hokkaido natives!
If reading this makes you want to eat, please come visit Hokkaido!

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