“Even on scorching days, I find myself willing to wait in line for a bowl,” says Chihiro Hasegawa, who lives in Yamagata City. Ririka Hirabuki, another Yamagata resident, echoes this thought. “It’s a must-have flavour during Yamagata’s hot summers,” she says. “On especially hot days, I crave it even more!”
Hiyashi ramen was created in 1952 by the owner of Sakaeya Honten, a Yamagata noodle shop, after a customer suggested that if soba could be served cold in summer, why not ramen, too? So, the shop’s original owner, Senshiro Abe, set out to create a broth that would stay flavourful and fluid without the fat congealing, even when chilled.
According to Toshihiro Suzuki, tourism director at Yamagata Prefecture Tourism and Products Association, Yamagata’s location inspired this innovation. “It’s a basin city, and summers are brutally hot,” he says. “In fact, Yamagata once held the record for Japan’s highest temperature – 40.8C in 1933.”
What began as one man’s invention has become a regional icon served in diners and noodle shops throughout the region every summer.
AloJapan.com