If you live in Hokkaido, you can often find turban shells in department stores, shopping malls, and supermarkets. Many people are curious about them and check out their products when they see them. This time, we paid a visit to the main store of such turban shells and dug deeper into the charms of turban shells, which you may or may not know about!

Sazae was born in 1957. It started as a small diner in the morning market of Hakodate. Today, it has grown into a major enterprise with 64 stores in Hokkaido.
Sazae's main restaurant is located in Miyanomori, Chuo-ku, Sapporo. The green building is marked by a yellow sign with a familiar logo. Upon entering the store, you will find a wide variety of products, from the familiar to the unfamiliar! I was again surprised to see such a wide variety of products.
Here is a little information. Did you know that only the main Sazae store has an eat-in corner? You can eat udon and other dishes inside the store. It is a bit surprising, isn't it? Let me introduce some of the recommended products here.
Speaking of turban shells, "Tokachi Ohagi" is famous, but the most popular sushi rolls are not to be outdone. The photo above shows, from the front left, "Daimyo-maki" (1,188 yen per roll including tax), "Kamitamaki" (594 yen per roll including tax), and "Kodawari Tamago Tamaki" (864 yen per roll including tax). The best-selling Kami-Tamaki is accented with red ginger, and the Tamago-Tamaki, starring a thick-baked egg with honey made from Nakasatsunai chicken eggs, is a favorite of adults and children alike.
You may also be interested in the rice balls displayed in the showcase. Pictured from left to right are "Shrimp tempura" (199 yen including tax), "Sockeye salmon mentaiko" (183 yen including tax), "Tuna mayo kelp" (172 yen including tax), "Premium Kishu large honey plum" (280 yen including tax), "Premium Sujiko" (324 yen including tax) and "Premium Sockeye salmon Harasu" (270 yen including tax).

Incidentally, the most popular item is said to be the shrimp tempura, but the premium onigiri series with its special ingredients and generous volume are also worth trying.
Incidentally, the sushi rolls and rice balls are made with Hokkaido rice. The same rice is used for the bento boxes as well. Pictured from left to right are "Chestnut Maitake Rice Bento" (583 yen per package including tax) and "Beef Rice" (626 yen per package including tax). The price is reasonable for the very satisfying volume!
While I was looking through so many items, I asked a staff member to give me a recommendation. That is the photo above. In the foreground is the new Western-style dorayaki "Andramocchi" (172 yen per piece including tax). There are two types of dorayaki, one with condensed milk cream bean paste and the other with coffee cream bean paste.

At the back is the "Shokutaku-an" (324 yen per piece including tax), which comes in two types, tsubu-an and koshi-an. You can try them on bread or rice cakes, or any other variation you can think of.
There are so many other recommended products that we could not introduce! The surprisingly priced "Tokachi Dango" (dumplings) at 86 yen per dumpling including tax look delicious, and the various dorayaki and manjyu (sweet buns) look so good that you will find yourself buying more than one type. I thought I was familiar with sazae, but a visit to the main store was full of new surprises and impressions.

Even if you don't visit the main store, if you find a store while shopping, please check it out. You will surely encounter new discoveries!

And this time, we asked Ms. Akane Shibata of the Merchandise Department of the Merchandise Sales Division to let us take pictures of the production process of "Kamitaimaki" and "Tokachi Daimyo Oyaki". Please watch the video to see the warmth of the handmade products and the reliability of the techniques used to make them.

The product information is current as of the end of January 2022 (Products and prices are subject to change without notice).

Sushi rolls (Kamitamaki) production process

Tokachi Daimyo Oyaki production process

＜Sazae Shokuhin Co.
Location: 1-1-35, Miyanomori 4-jo, Chuo-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido
Phone: 011-612-4717
Official website: https://www.sazae.co.jp
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/サザエ食品株式会社-1414308972149031/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sazaesyokuhin/