Why Men-Eiji Sources Its Scallops From Hokkaido's Coast
The gyokai-tonkotsu broth at the heart of every Men-Eiji bowl is not an accident of the kitchen. It is the result of years spent learning how the cold currents around northern Japan shape the taste of the seafood that ends up in the pot. Jun Furukawa, the chef behind MEN-EIJI Hiragishi BASE and Duck Ramen EIJI in Sapporo, treats the choice of scallop as seriously as he treats the pork bones simmered alongside them.
In a country where ramen chains tend to standardise flavour across hundreds of stores, Men-Eiji has stayed deliberately small and regional. The restaurant's reputation, including a Michelin Bib Gourmand, rests on broths that change with the season. Scallops from Hokkaido's coast are one of the quiet reasons that broth has the depth regulars have come to expect.
The Cold-Water Advantage That Shapes Every Bite
The Sea of Okhotsk and the coastal waters off Hokkaido sit further north than almost any other scallop fishery in the Pacific. Water temperatures stay low for most of the year, which forces the shellfish to grow slowly and pack their meat with glycogen and natural glutamates. When those scallops hit a rolling boil alongside pork bones, they surrender a sweet, almost briny depth that warmer-water scallops cannot match.
This matters in a bowl of gyokai-tonkotsu because the seafood component has to hold its own against the heavy pork base. A milder shellfish disappears under the rendered fat. A properly raised Hokkaido hotate does the opposite, lifting the broth rather than being smothered by it. Regulars in Sapporo who queue at Hiragishi BASE often describe the first sip as bright for a reason, and that brightness begins in the sea.
For diners coming from places like Sydney or Melbourne, where scallops usually arrive from Tasmania or are imported from Japan, the difference between hotate varieties is a familiar conversation. Australian chefs have long debated whether the sweeter Tasmanian scallop or the firmer Japanese variety suits a given dish. Men-Eiji's choice is rooted in the same logic that drives Japanese-Australian fusion menus in Surry Hills and Collingwood: pick the ingredient that fits the technique, not the other way around.
Small-Scale Fisheries and the People Behind the Catch
Scallops do not arrive at the Men-Eiji back door through anonymous brokers. Furukawa maintains direct relationships with cooperative fisheries along the Hokkaido coast, particularly around Funka Bay and the eastern shore near Hakodate. These are not industrial-scale operations. They are family-run boats that lift dredges at dawn and offload at small ports before lunchtime.
The decision to source this way costs more and limits volume. It also means the restaurant can ask for specific handling, such as keeping the scallops on ice and shucking within hours of landing. Furukawa has written elsewhere about how the same philosophy shapes his chashu programme, which is explored in detail in the article how Jun Furukawa developed the perfect chashu cooking method. The scallop sourcing follows the same rule: respect what the ingredient can already do, then build the broth around it.
This kind of direct trade has become harder to replicate elsewhere. In Australia, country-of-origin labelling rules administered under the Competition and Consumer Act mean restaurants must be able to tell customers where their seafood was caught. Many venues in Brisbane's Eagle Street precinct and Perth's CBD have responded by printing the port of landing on the menu. Men-Eiji's practice, while Japanese in scale, sits comfortably inside that same expectation of transparency.
Comparing Hotate Across Regions
Not all scallops behave the same way once they meet a rich broth. The breakdown below sketches how Hokkaido hotate compares with the alternatives Men-Eiji considered before settling on its current supplier.
| Origin | Typical water temperature | Flavour profile | Texture after simmering | Suitability for gyokai-tonkotsu |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hokkaido (Funka Bay, Hakodate coast) | 2–15°C across the year | Sweet, briny, high glutamate | Firm yet tender, holds shape | Excellent |
| Aomori (Mutsu Bay) | 5–18°C | Mild sweetness, softer brine | Slightly looser, still clean | Very good |
| Iwate (Ofunato, Miyako) | 7–19°C | Briny, mineral forward | Firm, slightly chewy | Good |
| Imported frozen Japanese (sold in Sydney and Melbourne) | Variable, post-freezing | Flattened sweetness | Often rubbery if overcooked | Acceptable with care |
| Tasmanian (Australia) | 10–17°C | Buttery, nutty | Delicate, breaks down quickly | Better suited to light broths |
The pattern is clear. Cold water gives Hokkaido scallops a structural advantage that warmer-water shellfish cannot replicate, even when the latter are fresher on the day. Men-Eiji's broth has been built around that reality since the kitchen first opened.
The comparison also explains why the kitchen refuses to swap suppliers during shortages. A gyokai-tonkotsu broth is a carefully balanced instrument. Replacing the main seafood component with a softer scallop would flatten the finish and push the pork notes into the foreground. For a dish that is judged on the harmony of its elements, that is a trade the kitchen is not willing to make.
What Australian Diners Expect From a Gyokai-Tonkotsu Bowl
Australian audiences have grown more curious about regional Japanese food in the past decade. Ramen bars in Adelaide and Melbourne now routinely list the prefecture of origin for their miso and soy. Sydney's Chatswood and Haymarket districts are full of shops that distinguish between Hakata, Sapporo and Tokyo styles. Within that scene, the seafood component of gyokai-tonkotsu is no longer treated as an exotic detail. It is something diners want to know about.
That expectation pushes restaurants like Men-Eiji to be honest about what goes into the pot. Furukawa's menus name Hokkaido scallops directly, and the kitchen uses enough of them that the flavour notes are unmistakable. For an Australian traveller landing in Sapporo, the broth at Hiragishi BASE will taste like a regional product, not a generic Japanese import.
There is also a regulatory echo here. Food Standards Australia New Zealand sets strict import rules for bivalve molluscs, which is why Japanese scallops on Australian shelves are almost always processed and frozen before they cross the border. Fresh Hokkaido scallops rarely make that journey intact, which is another quiet argument for tasting them where they come from. A bowl of Men-Eiji ramen becomes a way to experience an ingredient Australian kitchens usually only meet in a factory-sealed bag.
From the Deck of a Small Boat to a Sapporo Pot
The path a Hokkaido scallop takes to a Men-Eiji bowl is short by Japanese standards. A typical morning begins on a cooperative boat dragging a single dredge across a sandy seabed. The catch is sorted on deck, with undersized animals returned to the water. By midday the keepers are at a coastal processing shed, where they are cleaned, iced and packed for overnight delivery.
The boxes reach the Hiragishi kitchen before the next service begins. Scallops are separated from their roe, sliced and held cold until the broth build starts. Some go straight into the gyokai stock, where they simmer for hours. Others are finished briefly at the edge of the bowl so the diner sees a clean white disc on top of the noodles. The point is to keep the cooking honest. Overworking a scallop is the fastest way to lose the sweetness the cold water built into it in the first place.
Furukawa has said that this kind of timing is what separates a regional ramen shop from a global brand. The international pop-ups he has run, from Sydney to Singapore, have always struggled to replicate that freshness because the scallops had to be frozen for the flight. The Sapporo restaurants are the only places where the full chain is intact. For a visitor planning a trip, that is worth knowing before choosing which of the two Men-Eiji locations to visit first.
A bowl of Men-Eiji ramen is one of the more direct ways to taste the coastline of northern Japan without leaving a city. The gyokai-tonkotsu carries the sweetness of Funka Bay, the salinity of the Sea of Okhotsk, and the careful timing of a small Sapporo kitchen that refuses to cut corners. Australian travellers who already know the difference between a Tasmanian and a Hokkaido scallop will recognise that depth immediately.
Both Sapporo locations, MEN-EIJI Hiragishi BASE and Duck Ramen EIJI, run their broths on the same scallop programme. Visitors flying in from Sydney or Melbourne during cherry blossom season often find that the morning queue is shorter on weekdays, and the kitchen is happy to answer questions about the day's catch. For press, trade enquiries or collaboration requests, the team can be reached through the official contact page on the 81-plus site.
Plan a stop at Hiragishi BASE for the full menu, then walk over to Duck Ramen EIJI for the duck-forward variation. Either way, the scallops are the quiet thread that ties the two kitchens together, and they are the reason the broth tastes the way it does.