A Stroll through Hakodate Morning Market

Imagine if you could wake up one morning, walk outside and have delicious, freshly grilled crab, juicy oysters, fresh fruit, and smooth-as-silk ice cream at your doorstep. Well, this is pretty much what we got when we stepped into Hakodate Morning Market, a super-friendly local seafood market that offers some of the freshest seafood you can find in Japan.

Of course, the first thing we wanted to indulge in was the crab, and lucky for us there was no shortage of it. We walked halfway down one of the market alleys to a shop with tanks FULL of crabs upon crabs. As we piled into the shop, the genki shopkeepers encouraged us to pick up the crabs and then choose the one we want to eat! After some back-and-forth, we went with a kegani (horse hair crab) we named Robert and a big Red King crab (tarabagani) we dubbed Hortense.

Hortense was too delicious

Some of our group went along to the back to watch Hortense get blow-torched with a stick of butter, while I started in on my crab miso soup – a piping-hot, savory miso soup with lots of umami goodness. The real treat was when they brought back our crabs cooked and ready to eat. As they brought each crab to the table, they counted down “three, two, one!” before lifting the lid to reveal our delicious breakfast inside.

Enlightened by the deliciousness that was Robert and Hortense, we headed back out to the streets to chow down on the other various goodies at the morning market. My personal favorite were the strawberries, with sweetness unmatched by any of the strawberries I’ve had at home. Others gravitated towards the melt-in-your mouth Yubari melon, or the famous Hakodate grilled scallops.

Needless to say, we left the market with tummies full and our hearts happy. Hakodate morning market is definitely one of our favorites, and if you love seafood, fresh fruit, dairy, or just food in general, it is an experience not to be missed!

Date: March 1, 2017