How the Fish Cakes In Your Ramen Get Made

There are many kinds of kamaboko—aka fish cake—to choose from in Japan. But pretty much everyone loves hanpen. Uniquely fluffy, this popular delight is made with pollock. Toshio Oka knows how to shape and boil hanpen to perfection. He invites us to join him in the kitchen Kanmo in the Nihonbashi district of Tokyo. The legendary fish cake shop has been making some of the world’s best hanpen since 1688.

This story is a part of our Flavors series, where we do so much more than play with our food. Come with us as we dive into deliciously different and tastefully off-beat stories in the culinary world.

00:00 Intro
00:18 Where and how did it all begin?
00:41 Meet Toshio Oka
01:12 How are the fish cakes made?
02:17 It's more than a job, it's a lifestyle!

#FishCake #kamaboko #hanpen

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[renoox]

"You've probably seen these Fishcakes in your noodle dishes. They are called Fishcakes."

[brenlenjinkens]

bruh imagine someone offering you a marshmallow in japan and you just end up biting into fish foam

[karebu]

This video is not showing me how the pink swirls were made.

[steamedbun]

When a japanese say
"my shop was open since 17th century."

I'd probably believe them.

[__seeker__]

So, “How Hanpen Gets Made” would’ve been a better title.

[acatinny]

Though this is an interesting video, Hanpen fish cakes usually do not go into Ramen bowls, Kamaboko fish cakes, including Naruto (Pink swirl one), do. Hanpen is usually a part of Oden, which is a fish cake stew in winter time.

[bigbrotheriswatching]

Gotta be honest. Seeing fish meat turn into white paste is just wild. How does that even happen?

[_anthony_bendele_]

So that explains why they don't taste like marshmallows...

[ZebraMetal]

I never imagined that they are just whipped fish meat

[puertoriconnect]

Wait what? They make the fish meat into a fluffy foam? Damn.

[midknightkool]

“You May have seen this fish cakes.... they are called fish cakes.”

Me: much smart very wow

[ahahahah]

“You’ve probably seen these fishcakes in your noodle dishes.They are called Fishcakes.”



*me when I do my essay*

[kevinli]

I thought this would go more into where the decorative shapes come from rather than the fish balls shown. Even so there are so many more types when eatting hotpot. Like cheese filled or fish egg filled.

[liambrunner]

Me who only ever had instant ramen before: yeah no I've never seen these

[hellodanknessmyoldfriend]

You've probably seen these fishcakes, they are called fishcakes.


Ah yes, every 60 seconds a minute passes in Africa

[evilsimsnerd]

The hanpen batter looks like
meringue batter.

[MrMike-qbvh]

I was literally just thinking how tf r these made like a hour ago

[allenbackbone]

This man encompasses just one of the reasons as to why I love Japan, even when making simple products they put their full expertise and work ethic into making their products.

[ChairmanMeow]

I love how whatever Japanese people do, they put their heart and soul into it

[tenou]

The way he eats it all seriously at the end then hides a smile is adorable.