There’s No Saury in Sanma-menA puzzling name and noodles born as a staff meal

Sanma-men is a staple of Chinese restaurants across Kanagawa. Because sanma means Pacific saury in Japanese, many assume it’s a fish noodle soup.

What is sanma-men?

Thin noodles in soy sauce broth, topped with stir-fried bean sprouts, napa cabbage, pork and other ingredients in a thick, glossy sauce.

There are no strict rules on ingredients, and some shops serve it in salt broth.

No clear answer on the name

In kanji it is written 生馬麺 or 生碼麺.

One theory says “sang” means fresh and crisp, and “ma” means placing on top: “noodles topped with fresh ingredients.” But there is no settled explanation for the name or its spelling.

It began as a staff meal

Its prototype is said to be niku soba, a pork noodle dish that existed before the war.

Meat was expensive, so cooks began eating noodles with plenty of vegetables instead as their staff meal. The thick sauce stays hot and is filling. It became popular and found its way onto menus, the story goes.

Which restaurant was first?

It is considered almost certain that sanma-men was born in Yokohama, with a history going back to the early Showa era (around 1930).

The first restaurant to serve it has not been identified. The menu at the main branch of Heichinro, a long-established Chinatown restaurant (closed in 2022), reportedly said it was “created by the head chef in 1930.”

How is it different from tanmen?

Both are noodles topped with stir-fried vegetables, but sanma-men thickens the vegetables into a sauce. Its broth is usually soy sauce, whereas tanmen is typically salt-based.

Becoming a Yokohama specialty

It was once a local dish found only along the coast between the Tama and Oi rivers. It became widely known after magazines and TV featured it around 1990.

In 2011, the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum launched a campaign to make sanma-men Yokohama’s signature dish. Today it is served at many restaurants in Kanagawa, and there is even an instant cup version.

This article is an English edition of the Japanese original.