Champon

, also known as ''Chanpon'', is a noodle dish that is a regional cuisine of Nagasaki, Japan. There are different versions in Japan, Korea and China. The dish was inspired by Chinese cuisine.

''Champon'' is made by frying pork, seafood and vegetables with lard; a soup made with chicken and pig bones is then added. Ramen noodles made especially for ''champon'' are added and then boiled. Unlike other ramen dishes, only one pan is needed as the noodles are boiled in the soup. Depending on the season and the situation, the ingredients differ. Hence the taste and style may depend on the location and time of year.

Although Nagasaki Champon is the best-known rendition, there are other variations found in Japan. ''Ankake no Champon'' is a soy-sauce based variant found in Tottori, Shimane Prefectures, as well as the city of Amagasaki in Hyōgo Prefecture. In the city of Akita, a version with miso broth is served, with the soup filling the bowl almost to the point of overflowing.

In Okinawa, Champon is a rice dish where assorted vegetables, thinly-sliced meat (pork, luncheon meat or corned beef hash) and scrambled egg are fried and served on top of rice. The Korean Jjamppong is a similar noodle dish with a spicy seafood broth, with similar origins as part of Korean Chinese cuisine.

History

''Champon'' was first served by , a Chinese restaurant founded in Nagasaki in 1899. According to the restaurant's website, this was based on a dish in Fujian cuisine, (''Chanpon no Yurai'', “The Origins of Chanpon”)
(in Japanese) . Official website of the ''Shikairō'' Restaurant (pronounced as ''tó̤ng nṳ̀ sí mīng'' in Min Bei), which translates to “shredded meat noodles in soup”. The majority of the Chinese population in Nagasaki Chinatown is from Fujian. In the middle of the Meiji era (late 19th century - early 20th century), the owner saw a need for a cheap, filling meal that suited the palates of hundreds of Chinese students who came to Japan for school. Nowadays, ''champon'' is a popular specialty food (or ''meibutsu'') of Nagasaki.

Etymology

There are several theories as to the origin of the word ''champon''. One theory is that it was derived from the Hokkien word ''chia̍h-pn̄g'' (食飯), which means "to eat a meal", which might fit the sense of “a hearty noodle dish made of mixed ingredients”. Another theory is that the word was derived from the word campur from Indonesian, meaning “mixed” (see ''Nasi campur'', a Javanese dish), which would fit the term's older sense of “mixed together”.

The original sense of “mixed together” appears in texts from the mid-1700s.1988, (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, entry available onlin
here
/ref> Some Japanese dictionaries trace this to Chinese term ("to mix"), pronounced as ''chham-hô'' in modern Min-Nan and as ''chānhuò'' in modern Mandarin.

Usage to refer to the food item appears from the late 19th century - early 20th century, apparently originating from the ''Shikairō'' Chinese restaurant in Nagasaki.Entry in the (''Nihon no Kyōdo Ryōri ga Wakaru Jiten'', “Dictionary for Understanding Japanese Home-town Cooking”; in Japanese)
/ref>

See also

* Jjamppong
* List of ramen dishes
* Japanese Chinese cuisine

References

{{Soups, state=collapsed

Ramen dishes
Noodle soups
Chinese cuisine
Chinese noodle dishes
Japanese noodle dishes
Japanese Chinese cuisine