Shima tougarashi 島唐辛子 are island peppers, similar to small thai chilis. These type of small red peppers are also common in Hawai’i.
While Hawaiians make chili water, Okinawans make koregusu コーレーグース (also seen as コーレーグス). The difference is Okinawans put the chilis in Awamori 泡盛. Yup, that’s the recipe, just add some small red chilis to cheap awamori, let it “age” a bit, and you have Okinawa’s equivalent of hot sauce. I read someone use a ratio of 20 peppers to 200mL of awamori, but my husband says that is not really enough and to just add as much as you like. Suffice to say, it is simple to make at home (check out the “recipe” in my recipes section). Sometimes I buy bottles from little obaasans that bottle their own in the farmers markets or alongside the road.
If you like this, you may consider also trying hiruzaki ヒルザキ, made from island garlic and awamori.
Awamori 泡盛 is the local liquor here in the Ryukyu Islands. It is very different than Japanese mainland liquor 日本酒 nihonshu or “sake” as many foreigners refer to it as. Sake 酒 actually means “alcohol” in Japanese and refers to everything from beer and chuhai to seishu and whiskey.
Awamori gets its name from the bubbles (awa 泡) that appear on it surface when it is distilled. Since it is unique to Okinawa, you may also hear it called shima-zake 島酒 (translation: island liquor).
Firstly, awamori is distilled and not brewed, which makes it more similar to shochu 焼酎. It is also made from long-grain Thai rice, not Japanese short-grain rice. Occasionally you will hear it referred to as shima-zake 島酒, “island liquor.” If an awamori has been aged more than 3 years in a clay pot, it is then considered kusu 古酒, “old liquor.” Typically the alcohol content of awamori is 25%-45%… so be careful, it can be quite potent.
Some important to note is aging time: similar to a whiskey, aging changes the flavor a lot. If there is no indication of aging time on the label, it is under 3 years and considered “new” liquor. Otherwise, you will see 3 year, 5 year, 8 year, 10 year… probably not a lot older than this but you might find some. 古酒 “kusu” is the kanji to look for when searching for an aged awamori.
Personally, I mostly only use awamori to make “koregusu” コーレーグス, the local chili water you see on all the tables of shokudo restaurants. In this case, I just buy whatever is cheap or on sale.
There are many distilleries on the islands where you can see how it is made and try some samples. Behind Shuri-jo is the Zuisen distillery 瑞泉 and Chuko distillery 忠孝蔵 in Tomigusuku is a second place. Another recently discovered location is Masahiro in Itoman.
addresses for Awamori distilleries you can visit and sample:
Umibudou- 海 means “ocean” and ぶどう means “grapes.” Sea grapes are sometimes referred to as green caviar, even though it is a type of seaweed. Little salty bubbles grow from the stems, so that we you eat it you get a little burst of salty southern sea in you mouth. It is a unique and refreshing mouth sensation, one that goes quite well with a cold beer in summertime. Umibudou are often served as a side dish in Okinawa izakaya. Usually the umibudou are served with shoyu and vinegar (ponzu ポン酢).
Rich in minerals, low in calories, umibudou are indeed a nice side dish when you relax and drink.
Shokudo translates to “dining hall.” This can mean a cafeteria or just a local restaurant. Whenever I see the kanji 食堂, I know I am going to get a cheap, simple meal popular with locals… which is pretty much always good.
At shokudo, there are often teishoku 定食, meaning “set meals.” You meal will come with small sides, like pickles or vegetables, maybe a small salad, miso soup, rice, etc. Often times, these places have self-service water and tea instead of offering much in the way of soft drinks.
In Okinawa, shokudo usually offer the local favorites of Okinawa soba, chanpuru, tonkatsu, ebi-fry, curry sets. Here are some examples:
No discussion on Okinawan food is complete without the inclusion of the infamous vegetable goya ゴーヤー, a.k.a. bitter melon. This beloved vegetable is often touted as one of the reasons behind Okinawan people’s longevity. That being said, many non-Okinawans do not care for goya. Bizarrely, it is the complete opposite in my house– my husband loves it!
Goya is fairly easy to prepare and can be turned into a variety of dishes. When you get a goya, follow a few simple steps to prepare it for cooking and mitigate the bitter taste. First, cut the goya in half lengthwise, so you have 2 long strips of goya. The seeds and pith will be exposed; if any of the seeds are reddish color THAT IS OKAY, do not panic and throw it out, it is is normal. Next you will need to remove and discard the seeds and pith; my favorite way to do this is actually with a grapefruit spoon because it has those nice little scraping edges. Once the middle is cleaned, sprinkle the INSIDE (not outside) of the goya with salt and let it sit for awhile (maybe 15 minutes, half hour). Rinse and it is ready to use.
There are many ways to use it, although probably #1 in Okinawa is in a dish called goya chanpuru ゴーヤーチャンプルー. Chanpuru just means a stir-fry type dish (you will see many types of chanpuru listed on the menus in Okinawa shokudo). Goya chanpuru is typically a combination of egg, goya, tofu, bean sprouts, spam, and chanpuru sauce. You can make your own chanpuru sauce or buy it from the grocery.
You can also make goya pickles, goya tenpura, or even just grill the goya. My husband loves to just grill goya in the summertime, as a side to hotdogs or hamburgers. He just takes a half goya (cleaned) and marinates in some oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper, then grills until tender.
Goya pickles can be seen at the bottom of this picture; pickles are a must for izakaya food.
Additionally, Okinawa’s home-grown fast food joint Jef is home of goya burgers, rings, and juice. If you are touristing around Okinawa, you may want to check them out!
Orion is locally brewed in Okinawa, and therefore popular here. It is tolerable, sort of comparable to Budweiser I suppose. Anyway, if you make it to Okinawa, a stop at the Orion Beer factory where you go on a free tour and receive 2 beers afterwards is a must.
Orion actually has many varieties that it sells; some are seasonal or limited edition, and others are old standbys. Here are a few of I have imbibed over the years:
“Splash beat” is new this summer; not too bad. The next one is a Shikwasa beer (shikwasa is sort of an Okinawan lime), and again, not too bad, but a little strange. Third is obviously draft; “nama bi-ru” 生ビール means draft beer in Japanese. Aeon Rycom is regular Orion with a special label to commemorate the opening of a very large shopping mall in Okinawa. Erm, yes… it is a small island sometimes and you celebrate things like this. Next is ちゅらたいむ “chura taimu” which is a mix of Okinawan (chura meaning beautiful) and Japanese-English (taimu which is TIME). This is actually a lovely summer beer that I quite enjoyed.
Muuchii ムーチー (鬼餅) is Okinawa’s version of Japanese mochi もち (餅). It is made with glutinous rice flour, however that is seemingly where the similarities end. Muuchii is fairly simple to make and the ingredients can easily be found in the grocery.
*you may see muuchii also spelled as: muchi or muuchi in Roman characters.
The muuchii is prepared with the desired flavor and shaped into rectangle-ish shapes, placed in the center of the shell ginger leaf (sannin サンニン, 月桃 in Okinawan). Sannin is used because it is believed to have anti-bacterial and healing properties. It is then wrapped like a little package and tied, then steamed for a few minutes. So ono!
It is sometimes called カーサムーチー caasa muuchii; カーサ caasa refers to “leaves” as in the sannin leaves used to wrap the muuchii.
There are many different flavors that are used. One is Okinawan brown sugar 黒糖 “kokutou.” Another popular flavor is purple sweet potato, beniimo 紅芋. I have also made taro flavor; this has many names (I probably need an entire post on this). Tanmu ターンム or taamu ターム in Okinawan (dependent on location, as Okinawa language has many variations), and taimo 田芋 in Japanese. You can also find plain flavors (these are often labeled as 白 white or 赤 red/pink), as well as yomogi よもぎ (mugwort), ninjin 人参 (carrot), and kabocha かぼちゃ (pumpkin).
**Muuchii-no-hi ムーチーの日 is on 12/8 of the lunar calendar; this date is very important to Okinawans. Especially those that have a new baby in the family– they are supposed to make and distribute muuchii to everyone they know! Those with children hang up on a long string in the house the number of muuchii for every year of age, 1 strand for each child. It is eaten as a lucky charm for the prayer of health and longevity.
**muuchii-biisa ムーチービーサ is a saying that it is “muuchii-cold” outside. This means it is so cold, one must eat muuchii (very filling and takes a long time to digest) in order to preserve their stamina!
There are two types of “soba” here in Okinawa: Japanese mainland-style soba 蕎麦, made from buckwheat, and Okinawa soba, made from regular flour (and are also thicker noodles). Okinawa soba is typically served hot in a broth derived from pork, and typically topped with some sort of pork meats (there are various types which is for a later post). Also in Okinawa language, it is pronounced すば “suba” (not soba).
Mainland-style soba is what most foreigners are familiar with when they hear the term soba. A few places here in Okinawa do in fact serve up some pretty delicious homemade soba noodles; zaru soba or mori soba (or sometimes seiro soba) served chilled with a tsuyu つゆ dipping sauce (dashi and shoyu* base) or kake soba served warm in a tsuyu soup.
*shoyu 醤油: in Hawai’i everyone calls “soy sauce” by the Japanese name, shoyu.
One of my favorite places is near the university. It has a really nice name: 美波 “Minami,” which in this case translates to “beautiful (美) wave (波).” I suspect it may also be a pun, because “minami” can also be written as the kanji 南 which means “south,” and Okinawa is the “southern islands.” I usually order up their monthly special, which last month was a real treat– wild mountain vegetable tempura 山菜天ぷら蕎麦:
kake soba かけ蕎麦, perfect for chilly days:
Mushroom tempura soba きのこ天ぷら蕎麦：
In the picture, on the top, what is in the little cup? When you order cold soba, after you finish dipping and eating your noodles, the waitress will come by with a cup of そば湯 soba-yu, hot water that the noodles were cooked in! You add this to your leftover tsuyu to make a broth, and drink it. Delicious.
Here in Okinawa, we also have some variations on traditional mainland soba. For instance “sannin” soba. Sannin is the Okinawan word for shell ginger; in Japanese it is “gettou” 月桃. There is a famous little soba shop in Naha called Minosaku that makes this type of soba. I highly recommend visiting some day. The gentle fragrance of the shell ginger really went well. Next time, I hope to try their tumeric noodles (ウコン ukon in Japanese, うっちん ucchin in Okinawan).
Gettou soba 月桃蕎麦 served with a side tempura 天ぷら, look at that lovely green color:
Addresses of soba places I have visited in Okinawa (and would recommend!), all noodles are made in house:
*This is a located in what looks like a family home in a back neighborhood. Lunch sets also come with soba maki (cut soba wrapped in nori like sushi!).
Yakisoba 焼きそば is Japanese fried noodles. Okinawa yakisoba is a little different then regular mainland Japanese yakisoba, though. 「沖縄風」= Okinawa-style
Typically the thicker noodles are used (the same ones used for suba すば), and depending on the place it will be either salt style 「塩」 or sauce style 「ソース」. There is also a ketchup-based style ケチャップ (gross!!) which is luckily less common (I absolutely abhor ketchup).
Another difference is in the meats: usually spam スパム is a popular choice, although often it will be a mix of spam and the same kind of pork they use in regular Okinawan soba. I do not eat meats so I either give them to my husband or order without. It is commonly served with benishouga 紅生姜 (red pickled ginger), which I love. Sometimes they even have the benishouga on the table so I can add as much as I like.
It is definitely a junk food, and not so great for you, but with an ice cold Orion, it hits the spot! It is a popular choice with foreigners at the local shokudo 食堂 in Okinawa… after all what is not to like about fried noodles?
Mainland Japanese yakisoba is often topped with nori のり (dried seaweed flakes), mayonnaise マヨ, and/or katsuobushi 鰹節 (shaved bonito flakes) in addition to the pickled red ginger… but this is much less common in Okinawa-styles.
Bukubuku cha ぶくぶく茶 is a type of tea in Okinawa that is frothed. You use a bamboo whisk and froth the tea, creating foamy bubbles.
At this particular location, for the tea, I chose the traditional sanpin-cha さんぴん茶 (Jasmine tea) as the base, but there are several other flavors you can try at Kariisanfan in Shuri (I have tried ucchin/turmeric and hibiscus flavors previously as well). The tea for foaming is typically jasmine tea roasted with rice, making it a type of genmai-cha 玄米茶, one of the secrets to its foamy-ness. In addition, the minerals in the hard water found in the southern part of Okinawa help make it foam.
The set came with various little snacks, some traditional Ryukyu sweets (such as kunpen and chinsuko), some just general Japanese sweets. It is sort of the Okinawan equivalent to mainland Japan tea ceremony, as it was used during the Ryukyu era to entertain accredited Chinese envoys when they visited. This set also came with brown sugar and crushed island peanuts to sprinkle on top.
There are a few locations to experience a nice tea set, which usually comes with some traditional cookies as well. Some places you whisk/froth your own and others it is brought out to you all ready to go. There is even one place where they will dress you in kimono/yukata and have a small tea ceremony (again, another place located in Shuri area); I have not tried this place yet though it looks like a really nice experience.
The culture center on Kokusai-dori also offers it at certain times, so stop by there and check their schedule.
You can even buy a little (but expensive… 400yen for just 1 serving!) package at some omiyage shops on Kokusai-dori. It works! You need to make sure to use “hard water” such as mineral water. Read about how to make bukubuku-cha at home here; there is a “recipe” attached so you can skip buying the package and just collect the materials yourself, or if you purchase the package but do not read Japanese, you can follow my translated instructions. For a tea-lover, this is a must!
Some other places offer it on the menu, but not very many come with nice set like this. Some will even make it with a coffee base.
Uchinaa chaya Bukubukuうちなー茶屋ぶくぶく: Tsuboya yachimun (pottery) street, they make it for you. 〒902-0065沖縄県那覇市壺屋1丁目28-3 https://goo.gl/maps/pmdmvBXE4qt
Kariisanfan 嘉例山房: near Shuri-jo, you whisk it yourself for the full experience. 〒903-0824沖縄県那覇市首里池端町9 https://goo.gl/maps/zaYukFAuUWP2
Omiyage: souvenirs. Typically, this means food-related “souvenirs” of a recent journey, away from the family, coworkers, social club… seriously though, for every trip I take away from Okinawa, I have to budget quite a bit of yen for omiyage. That being said, when others return, I get to try a variety of little nibbles from all over. Yeah, omiyage is serious business. Do not return from a trip without some.
Especially after holidays, these show up in abundance. Social custom dictates that you eat whatever it is that your colleagues, friends, family, or whoever bought. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Below are only some of the types of omiyage I have received– there are many kinds out there.
Sakura pie cookie. Shaped like a cherry blossom petal, flaky biscuit sprinkled with sakura sugar. WIN!
Konbu (seaweed) candy from Hokkaido. Um, yeah. Not bad per se… but LOSE. Sometimes I wonder if my colleagues are just playing pranks on me (“hmm, what can we get the gaijin to eat next??”).
Matcha and chocolate mini cakes. OISHII~~~! WIN!
Almond chocolate sandwich cookie and matcha/azuki bean biscuit. WIN.
White bean paste and matcha bean paste cakes. WIN.
Sable cookie shaped like Dove… meh. Not a win, but not a lose.
Famous Amaou Strawberry roll. WIN!
Hokkaido rare cheese: win.
Awa cookie: not a win, not a loss. It is pretty though.
Buttery crispy sandwich cookie. Win.
Not pictured: Ebi (shrimp) “cracker” and Mentaiko (fish roe) “cracker” (Japanese: senbei せんべい). I get more of these type of senbei than I care for; I am not really a fan of these fishy crackers, but they are cheap so I think I lot of people buy these to bring back.
Obviously there are many, many more not shown… I only recently started snapping a picture so I could remember some of my favorites (and least favorites). All of these were picked out by Japanese and Okinawan friends/colleagues.
Oh, and if you every need to bring back omiyage from Tokyo, I suggest picking up the famous “Tokyo Banana” (sold in the airport!). Honestly, I think they are gross, but Japanese people love them! I cannot explain it. Out of all the omiyage I have brought back to my lab colleagues, those are gone in seconds. Chocolates of almost any variety are almost universally disliked or at best vaguely tolerated (okay, I also work with ALL males, I am sure this is different if you have females). Otherwise, omiyage selection is still a bit of a mystery to me, no matter how often I buy it.
If you want to see what sort of omiyage to pick up while in Okinawa, visit this next post: Okinawa Omiyage: お土産.
Island tofu: Tofu in Okinawa is made differently than on mainland Japan. The best part is fresh tofu is delivered several times a day to grocery stores and markets all over island, still warm from the maker. It is the most amazing taste, and nothing like the little plastic packaged containers found in regular grocery stores. You can buy different types: yushi-doufu ゆし豆腐, firm tofu (called shima-doufu), and age-doufu 揚げ豆腐 (fried tofu) easily. One thing to remember is that it is delivered fresh multiple times a day– usually we only buy it the day we are going to make it, for the best taste. If you have some left over, put it in a lidded container filled with water; replace the water daily, but be sure to consume within a few days since it doesn’t contain preservatives.
An example of “firm” island tofu
We realized one day in the far future, we will probably return to Hawai’i and will no longer have this option. So, we decided we must learn how to make our own. I will share some secrets to the process in the link below: the link explains the process and show step-by-step picture instructions:
Here are the results from the fruits of our labor from AiAi Farm in Nakijin, on the Motobu peninsula of Okinawa.
If you read the linked imgur island, it explains the process. Nigari にがり is often used in the commercial and home process of tofu-making for coagulation to occur. That being said, it is actually traditional to use ocean water from the southern part of the island as it contains the proper minerals including MgCl2 for coagulation. And yes, I have tried both ways… collecting ocean water from not too far from my house, boiling it and using it in the process, it works great! But if you don’t live in southern Okinawa… well, nigari is just as good an option! It is very easy to find in the local grocery stores. Also at home, we modified a sushi-press box that I found cheap in one of the stores, though you can buy some plastic or metal ones out and about locally.
The best part of spring is riding my bicycle around the neighborhood, scouring the farm boxes for fresh vegetables. Rakkyou are currently in season here in Okinawa. They are kinda like shallots… but their flavor is wonderful as pickles or as tempura.
Recently, we had “izakaya” night at home. Izakaya 居酒屋 means Japanese style bar/drinking place. I was gifted an expensive seishuu 清酒 from Niigata prefecture after a research meeting with a company president. That is another topic for later. Anyway, we made rakkyou tempura which really goes well with alcohol! Refreshing.
Mozuku is a type of Okinawan seaweed. It is kinda slimy, but the taste is mostly salty and not too ocean-y.
Recently, the once-a-month farmer’s market in my village had free mozuku, as much as you could stuff into a plastic bag. At first, we felt a bit timid… neither my husband nor I have actually prepared mozuku ourselves. We have eaten it several times as part of a teishoku (set meal) in Okinawan restaurants, but it is not something that I really go out and buy. But who can turn down free? So my husband got a baggie and got in with the ojiisans and children to fill up.
I think the best way to prepare mozuku is to fry it in tempura or add it to okonomiyaki (the Okinawan version is hirayachi: ヒラヤーチー). It is also possible to prepare it as mozuku-su, which is just prepared with vinegar.
Mozuku-no-hi もずくの日 (mozuku day) is the 3rd Sunday in April.
This blog is to introduce Okinawan food. Maybe learn a little Japanese and Okinawa language as well. Many people do not know the unique foods that Okinawa has to offer, so hopefully I can explain them well as I learn.
