Izushi at the Suda Shop,
| FEATURE ARTICLES | Walking in Downtown Sapporo "Sosei Higashi" Izushi at the Suda Shop,
Ikeda Norihisa, of the Ikeda Fish Shop, said "If you tell me what you want to eat in advance, I can prepare sashimi or whatever you like." You can also place an order according to your budget. So I ordered sashimi for two people, for under 3000 yen, and let the shop decide. Later, I went back to Nijo Market to pick up my sashimi.
I was just walking along. Then, “We have fish tanks here!” could be heard from the Hashimoto Shop facing Minami Nijo Dori. Large cases filled with scallops and oysters lined the aisles. The shop is proud to always offer fresh fish and seafood.
At the Suda Shop, I discovered izushi, a tasty winter delicacy of Hokkaido. Most of people in the shop were locals. Seeing the salted salmon roe (sujiko) from Kushiro, tarako from Shikabe, etc., I was about to say, “I’ll buy everything!”
Hasegawa Noboru Shop recommending some delicacies. Dried fish (saffron cod) and Pontara are both Hokkaido specialties.
Talking with the salesperson, I could see how customers live. The tired Japanese salaryman orders scallops steamed in rice wine with a beer in his hand. “It's delicious this year too” says the married couple eating izushi. A family picking up pontara as they watch TV.
As long as scenes like these can be seen in Sapporo, you can still call Nijo market the local kitchen.
I picked up the sashimi I ordered from the Ikeda shop. It was an assortment of four kinds of seafood, including baigai (Babylon sea snails), botan shrimp, scallops, and hokki clams. That evening, I enjoyed the crunchy texture of hokki clams and the rich sweetness of the botan shrimp.
Not only was the food delicious, but the excitement from all the shopping at the market made the dinner table more gorgeous than usual.
Nijo Market 
Higashi 1-chome and 2-chome, Chuo-ku Sapporo, Japan
