Gatatang" is a local gourmet dish of Ashibetsu City, Hokkaido, which attracted a lot of attention after it was introduced in a Google Apps commercial. What kind of food is it? Let us introduce you to some of the restaurants in Ashibetsu City where you can taste delicious gatatan!

In the commercial, the word "gatatan" was found in a Chinese restaurant, and when the user looked up the word "gatatan" on his/her smartphone, the dish was displayed as "gatatan. This triggered the spread of the name gatatan throughout the country.

Gatatang" is written "含多湯" in Chinese characters, meaning "soup with many ingredients" in Chinese. The basic style is to thicken a salty Chinese soup with dumplings and various vegetables, seafood, and other ingredients, and add a beaten egg at the end.

Image courtesy of Ashibetsu City Board of Education, Starry Village Centennial Museum

Gatatan has its roots in the Chinese restaurant Koraku, which began serving it after Toyonosuke Murai (Bungonosuke), who pulled up to Ashibetsu City from the former Manchuria after World War II, applied ghada, dumplings made of wheat flour and potato starch kneaded with water, to the dish.

Image courtesy of Ashibetsu City Board of Education, Starry Village Centennial Memorial Hall

Gatatan is a soup, but it is packed with ingredients. The dumplings are also included, making it a filling soup, and the light salty broth's thick consistency warms the body from the cold. The soup was loved by the miners who did the hard work. At first, it was served at Kouraku, but its delicious taste spread throughout Ashibetsu City as a home-style dish.

Later, with the decline of the coal mines, gatatan also went into decline. However, in the beginning of the Heisei era (1989), a group of volunteers gathered to revive the dish in an effort to preserve the local flavor! Nowadays, many different arrangements of the dish have been created, such as gatatan ramen, gatatan fried rice, and gatatan yakisoba. Each restaurant has its own specialty gatatan, and one of the charms of gatatan may be the many variations that can be enjoyed.

Here are some recommended stores in Ashibetsu City where you can enjoy gatatan!

1. Shinporaiken: Attractive dumplings made with special care

Gatatan soup is made with dumplings blended from several kinds of flours and a lot of ingredients. The salt content is moderate, but you can taste the flavor of the ingredients. It is good to eat as it is or with rice!

2. "Bohua Restaurant," a long-established restaurant that knows the history of gatatang creation

The specialty here is "gata tang ramen! It is an exquisite collaboration of noodles and glutinous gadoa, with the flavorful gatatang soup intertwined with the noodles. You will enjoy the deep flavor.

3. "Roadside Station Star Plaza Ashibetsu Restaurant La Fleur" where you can taste a variety of gatatan

At La Fleur, where the ceiling resembles a planetarium, you can enjoy gatatan ramen, gatatan fried noodles, gatatan fried rice, and many other menu items! You can taste different gatatan according to your mood of the day.

4. "Kuidokoro Kakiku Keko" for a new sensation of gatatan

If you are looking for a new sensation in gatatang, we recommend Kakikukeko, which serves "Ishiyaki Gatatang" (stone-baked gatatang)! The gatatang, served piping hot, is filled with rice and goes great with the soup. The key point is that it contains toppogi, which is used in Korean cuisine, instead of ghada. We recommend that you finish off the dish by tossing the okogi with the soup to make it crispy & tasty.

Gatatan, a specialty of Ashibetsu once loved by coal miners, will make you feel happy and warm in body and soul. There are as many variations of gatatan as there are stores, so please compare them at various stores and find your favorite one.