Champon (Nagasaki Pork and Seafood Noodle Soup)
A hearty bowl of thick wheat noodles in a milky, savoury broth loaded with pork, shrimp, squid and crisp stir-fried vegetables. Nagasaki's great mixed-up noodle soup, born from Chinese and Japanese kitchens cooking side by side.
Servings
Ingredients
Nutrition
Per serving
Steps
Prep everything first
Thinly slice the pork, pat the shrimp, squid and scallops completely dry, and chop the cabbage, julienne the carrot, and slice the onion and . Have everything cut and dry before you start, since the stir-fry moves fast once it begins.
- 0 (prep only) pork
- 0 (prep only) shrimp
- 0 (prep only) squid
- 0 (prep only) scallops
- 0 (prep only) cabbage
- 0 (prep only) carrot
- 0 (prep only) onion
- 0 (prep only) mushrooms
✅ Done when: all ingredients are sliced and dried, ready to cook
Stir-fry pork and vegetables
Heat the lard in a large, heavy pot or wok over high heat, add the garlic and pork, and stir-fry about 2 minutes until no pink remains. Add the cabbage, carrot, onion and and stir-fry 2–3 minutes more, until just starting to soften but still a little crisp.
- 2 tbsp lard or oil
- 2 cloves garlic
- 200 g pork
- 200 g cabbage
- 1 carrot
- 1 onion
- 4 mushrooms
✅ Done when: pork is cooked through and vegetables are slightly softened but still crisp
Add broth and seafood
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Pour in the milk
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Cook the noodles
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Serve
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Prep everything first
Thinly slice the pork, pat the shrimp, squid and scallops completely dry, and chop the cabbage, julienne the carrot, and slice the onion and . Have everything cut and dry before you start, since the stir-fry moves fast once it begins.
- 0 (prep only) pork
- 0 (prep only) shrimp
- 0 (prep only) squid
- 0 (prep only) scallops
- 0 (prep only) cabbage
- 0 (prep only) carrot
- 0 (prep only) onion
- 0 (prep only) mushrooms
✅ Done when: all ingredients are sliced and dried, ready to cook
Stir-fry pork and vegetables
Heat the lard in a large, heavy pot or wok over high heat, add the garlic and pork, and stir-fry about 2 minutes until no pink remains. Add the cabbage, carrot, onion and and stir-fry 2–3 minutes more, until just starting to soften but still a little crisp.
- 2 tbsp lard or oil
- 2 cloves garlic
- 200 g pork
- 200 g cabbage
- 1 carrot
- 1 onion
- 4 mushrooms
✅ Done when: pork is cooked through and vegetables are slightly softened but still crisp
Add broth and seafood
This step is part of Foodie Premium. Subscribe to unlock the full method, cooking mode and every recipe in the library.
Pour in the milk
This step is part of Foodie Premium. Subscribe to unlock the full method, cooking mode and every recipe in the library.
Cook the noodles
This step is part of Foodie Premium. Subscribe to unlock the full method, cooking mode and every recipe in the library.
Serve
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The Story Behind the Dish
Champon was created in the Chinatown of Nagasaki, a port city that had traded with China for centuries and was home to a large community of Chinese students and workers. A Chinese restaurant owner is traditionally credited with inventing the dish as a cheap, filling, nourishing meal for students far from home, combining the Chinese stir-fry technique with Japanese noodles, broth and local seafood.
The result was something genuinely new: a one-bowl meal that belonged to neither cuisine alone, built from whatever good pork, seafood and vegetables were on hand that day. It quickly spread beyond the Chinese community and became a Nagasaki specialty eaten by everyone in the city.
⭐ Why It's Famous
Champon is beloved for being endlessly generous and warming: a single bowl delivers meat, seafood, vegetables and noodles together in a rich, milky broth, making it feel like a complete meal rather than just a soup.
💡 Fun Fact
The word "champon" is thought to come from a Chinese dialect term related to mixing or eating together, and in modern Japanese the word has gone on to mean mixing different things in general, from drinks to styles.
Nagasaki
32.75°N, 129.88°E
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