Ankake spaghetti is a local B-class gourmet dish that is popular in Aichi.

It has become popular outside the prefecture and is known as one of Nagoya's specialties. Ankake spaghetti is completely different from Italian pasta, which is boiled spaghetti mixed with sauce.

Let's explore the characteristics and history of this thickened spaghetti.

Characteristics of Ankake Spaghetti

Thick noodles with a diameter of 2.2 mm are the norm for ankake spaghetti. After boiling the noodles, they are stir-fried in lard like yakisoba noodles to give them a rich flavor. Then, a thick, peppery, spicy sauce similar to Chinese bean paste is poured over the noodles. The tomato-based sauce has a rich, deep flavor.

There are many variations of ankake spaghetti, and different restaurants offer different menus. Common ingredients include onions, green peppers, and sausages. Also popular are toppings such as hamburger steak, piccata, and fried shrimp. The rich, flavorful, and voluminous ankake spaghetti is popular with children and men alike.

By the way, meat toppings such as sausages and bacon are called "Milanese" and vegetable toppings are called "Country". And those with both meat and vegetable toppings are called "Mirakan" by combining the first letters of the two. This "Mirakan" is the standard for thickened spaghetti.

The history of thickened spaghetti

The restaurant said to be the originator of ankake spaghetti is "Spaghetti House Yokoi." Around 1959, Hiroshi Yokoi, who was a chef in the Western cuisine department of a hotel, was wondering, "How can we popularize spaghetti like udon, which is familiar to Japanese people?"

And what Yokoi Hiroshi came up with was to create an arrangement of the classic meat sauce of Italian pasta and the Western demi-glace sauce that he is good at. Yokoi, who was born and raised in Nagoya, completed a rich sauce with a strong flavor that is familiar to Japanese people through trial and error.

To create a chewy texture, they added strong flour and changed the thickness of the noodles, eventually ending up using 2.2mm noodles. It was in 1961, two years after they began their research, that they finally arrived at a flavor they were satisfied with.

Yokoi opened "Spaghetti House Yokoi" in 1963. At first, it was a Western restaurant offering a variety of dishes. However, the thickened spaghetti he served as a sample was not well received by customers and was only ordered occasionally.

However, Yokoi-san never neglected to socialize and valued building up his network, so his thick-sauce spaghetti gradually became popular and was featured in various media outlets. Eventually, Spaghetti House Yokoi became so popular that there were long lines of people waiting to get in.

The origin of the name Ankake Spaghetti

It is said that it was Shichi Hitoshi, the founder of Karametei, and not the original Spaghetti House Yokoi, who coined the name Ankake Spaghetti. After he described the characteristics of the sauce as "kind of like ankake" on a TV program, spaghetti using a similar sauce became known as Ankake Spaghetti.

Before the name "Ankake Spaghetti" became popular, the restaurant's name was simply "Spaghetti." In the case of "Spaghetti House Yokoi," it was popularly known as "Yokospa."

Spaghetti House Yokoi began advertising its dish as "Ankake Spaghetti" in its stores around the time of the Aichi Expo in 2005, thinking that the common name would make it easier for tourists to recognize the dish as a Nagoya specialty.

Tourist information and access for Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture

Aichi, where you can eat ankake spaghetti, has many tourist spots. This time, we will introduce three popular tourist spots in Nagoya City.

Nagoya Castle

A famous tourist spot in Aichi Prefecture is Nagoya Castle. Nagoya Castle was built in 1610. Most of the structure was lost in the Nagoya air raid that occurred in May 1945, but the five-story main and small castle towers topped with golden shachihoko were rebuilt in 1959.

The Honmaru Palace of Nagoya Castle is full of things to see, and the restored 400-year-old partition paintings are breathtakingly beautiful. Nagoya Castle, which has been selected as one of the 100 most famous castles in Japan and designated as a special national historic site, is also known as the "Famous Castle," the "Golden Shachi Castle," and the "Golden Castle."

Kinshachi Alley

Kinshachi Yokocho is located near Nagoya Castle. Kinshachi Yokocho has two areas: the Yoshinao Zone, where you can find classic Nagoya cuisine from long-established restaurants, and the Muneharu Zone, where new restaurants are lined up. There is no admission fee to either area, so you can enter for free.

Kinshachi Yokocho is a recommended tourist spot for food tours. You can enjoy Nagoya cuisine such as Hitsumabushi, miso katsu, and Nagoya Cochin oyakodon. It is a popular tourist spot with many sweet treats and snacks that are perfect for souvenirs.

Higashiyama Zoological and Botanical Park

Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens is home to a variety of animals, from killifish to elephants. It is also famous for being home to Shabani, a western gorilla who has attracted attention for his "handsomeness."

There is also a botanical garden and a large greenhouse that make use of the natural forests of the hills, where you can enjoy about 7,000 kinds of plants. The Cherry Blossom Corridor is filled with about 1,000 cherry trees of 100 varieties. In autumn, the park is also famous as a spot to see the autumn leaves, with about 500 trees, mainly around Okuike Pond and the Japanese garden, turning red in the fall. There are also camellia and rose gardens, so you can enjoy the scenery of the four seasons.

Aichi, an attractive place for both gourmet food and sightseeing, has Nagoya Airport, which can be reached from Okinawa in about two hours. If you travel by JR train from Tokyo, it takes about one hour and 40 minutes. If you travel by JR train from Osaka or Kyoto, you can arrive within an hour.

We also recommend taking a leisurely drive to Aichi. Find the best way to get there.

Location of Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture

summary

Over the years, "Ankake Spaghetti" has become a Nagoya gourmet dish loved by many people. Currently, there are many specialty shops in Aichi Prefecture, and you can also enjoy it at coffee shops. There are various toppings available, so you can enjoy comparing the different types.

If you visit Aichi, be sure to try the ankake spaghetti.

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