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 the cuisine of China. 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 ofAmagasaki 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 and scrambled egg are fried and served on top of rice. The Korean Jjamppong is a similar noodle dish with a spicy seafood broth.
History
Champon was first served by Shikairō, a Chinese restaurant founded in Nagasaki in 1899. According to the restaurant's website, this was based on a dish in Fujian cuisine, 湯肉絲麵, literally “hot-water meat thread noodles”. In the middle of the Meiji era, 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 of Nagasaki.
Etymology
There are several theories as to the origin of the wordchampon. One theory is that it was derived from the Hokkien word chia̍h-pn̄g, 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 Malay or Indonesian, meaning “mixed”, which would fit the term's older sense of “mixed together”. The original sense of “mixed together” appears in texts from the mid-1700s. Some Japanese dictionaries trace this to Chinese term and as chānhuò in modern Mandarin. Usage to refer to the food item appears from the late 1800s or early 1900s, apparently originating from the Shikairō Chinese restaurant in Nagasaki.
