I personally do not eat meats, but my husband does, and many people I know do. So I am putting together a list of butcher shops that I am familiar with for ease-of-use (I will add some more over time as I hear about them and confirm that they are open). At these places, you can order just about anything– special cuts, intestines, etc, with much more variety over the regular grocery stores. Meat from pork, beef, chicken, as well as lamb, goat, duck, and horse are usually available (though places may vary with selection, you can usually make special requests to the butcher and they will help you out). Many of these places even have a small following of foreign customers so even if they don’t speak much English, they have a system in place to help you. I also have some charts showing the names of cuts of meats in Japanese… I will find them and post them here as well.
Check Japanese meat vocabulary here so you know what to look for: Meat
Until I create map links in GoogleMaps, just copy and past the addresses (or phone numbers) from the list into your maps program of your choice.
Special Note #1: if you are looking for something non-local, Ivano has a decent selection of imported frozen meats and some other items. There are several locations in the Naha area, here I have posted the Urasoe location. address:沖縄県浦添市字牧港1196 phone: 098-877-3605
Special Note #2: if you are looking for Halal meat, your best bet will be to check out Gyomu Super 業務スーパー, a grocery store chain with some frozen halal items.
So it has come to my attention that some “famous” western TV cooking channel hosts have visited Okinawa in the past and tried local delicacies. I think many people have the questions: Is what they ate actually common among locals? Do people eat this stuff every day? And lastly, where can I try these in Okinawa?
The is not too easy to answer, but I will try… while some of these showcased “delicacies” can be found here, some them have declined in popularity particularly among the younger crowd. So that is to say not everything is as common as they may have led you to believe…
Since I do not watch these shows (though maybe I should try to find these particular episodes just for this instance), I cannot answer all the “bizarre” questions, but I will highlight some actual unusual Okinawan foods I know about and where you can find them. I will attempt to get some pictures of these, but as some are difficult to find, this may not be so easy.
Sea snake, イラブー irabu: not many people actually eat this, but it can be found in the occasional restaurant; there is a small place that specializes in this. It is most typical as a soup, イラブー汁 irabu-jiru. It has its origin in the traditional Ryukyu Kingdom royal court cuisine. If you search, it is possible to find it at the Itoman fish market (or maybe Makishi market in Naha) and make it yourself, otherwise check out restaurant Kana in Kitanakagusuku, or Hamachinchou in Nanjo (Hamachinchou also serves some more “normal” dishes as well, not just sea snake).
This leads me to further discuss habu sake (technically, habushu, but you hear English speakers calling it habu sake) ハブ酒, which is awamori (local Okinawa liquor) with a habu (Okinawan snake) in it– this is only for tourists, locals will probably laugh at you for even suggesting this! That being said, all the tourist locations along Kokusaidori will have this overpriced awamori for sale if you really want to try it (just keep in mind it is usually low quality awamori with a high price tag). This literally for the “thrill factor” of foreigners and tourists, rather than something commonly drunk.
Tuna eyeballs, マグロの目玉 maguro no medama: Seriously… not common. Probably only available in a nicer izakaya (one with lots of sushi and seafood offerings). Though I have never sought them out, I have also never seen anyone order them. While it is common to eat every part of the fish including the eyeballs, ordering them separately in this kind dish is not all that common, at least not in Okinawa. Though I will say this: you can buy the fish heads (yeah, JUST the head) in all the grocery stores (eyes still intact). So… as I said, just eating the eyes… maybe not so much, but definitely the whole fish including the head and various parts, sure. Some fish shops do sell the eyeballs cheap, though, if you really wanna go for it and try making it at home. Eating the whole fish including weird bits… yes, definitely. After all waste not, want not.
Pufferfish, フグ fugu: Not common here in Okinawa, though I have heard that a few sushi places offer it. If you want to try this, it is better to go to mainland Japan, it will be easier to find. Okinawa is not known for its sushi and sashimi, despite being an island. Most Japanese mainlanders I know complain about that low-quality sashimi offerings here in Okinawa.
Goat, ヒージャー hiijaa (kanji: 山羊): goat is definitely eaten here, and is practically a common shokudo food, especially goat soup hiijaa jiru ヒージャー汁 (you may also see 山羊汁). Not difficult to find. Usually the type of thing only ojiisans eat because of the smell, but you see all types of people chowing down on it. You can find goat sashimi (raw thin slices of goat meat) as well, if you are so bold.
Horse sashimi, 馬刺し basashi: this is actually a mainland dish, but not hard to find in some of the izakaya here. Many butchers also sell this, as well as horse meat in general. So, as a warning, always read your meat labels carefully to know what you are getting.
Intestine soup (pork), 中身汁 nakami-jiru: pork intestines are common, you can even find them in the grocery stores here. Nearly every shokudo serves this soup, and it is traditional to eat it on New Years. Incredibly easy to find.
Pig (豚 or あぐー) face, ears, feet… etc: In Okinawa there is a saying that Okinawans eat “everything but the squeal.” Meaning, no part of the pig goes to waste. So … yup, you can find all kinds of parts of the pig served in dishes and for sale in stores. When you go to yakiniku you can order all manner of innards and types of cuts. Many women consider pigs feet てびち full of collagen and good for beauty; it is very much considered a delicacy and good for your skin. Many stores and izakaya sell dried pig ear snacks called mimigaa ミミガー. The pig face チラガー chiragaa is more for tourists, and you will see them for sale along Kokusaidori.
『豚は鳴き声以外全て食べる』 Buta wa nakigoe igai subete taberu. Translation: to eat every part of the pig except for the squeal.
Sea grapes, 海ぶどう umibudou: This is a special kind of seaweed that grows in the waters of Okinawa and is really common to eat. Little tiny salty bubbles that pop in your mouth. Find these in grocery stores and izakaya all over island. I would personally not consider this “bizarre” but it might be considered pretty unique since they are very few places you can try these outside of Okinawa (and I know many westerners don’t really eat seaweed so there is that).
Tofuyou 豆腐よう: Again, I don’t actually consider this a bizarre food, however I heard someone say that this was on the show, so I will list it here for the sake of those who are searching for it as a result. It is tofu fermented in awamori and quite tasty. You can literally buy this in every store, in the refrigerated section near tofu and pickles. The brand in the show has a store in Naha which I have visited, and there is also the cave the host visited near Kin Kannon-ji (temple), though there are 2 entrances to the cave but separated from each other, 1 for the temple (free), and 1 for the awamori/tofuyo storage (small admission fee); you want this one: 金武鍾乳洞, but you need to meet for the tour at the store here. I visited the cave and took the tour, read about here: Kin Kannonji (temple) & Awamori Cave.
Lastly, I noticed some strange searches originated from the US using keywords like “Okinawa dish tuna and peanut butter.” I assume this must be a combination discussed on one of these types of travel food shows. For you doubters, doubt no more: this is not an unusual combination, and I have previously posted a very common side dish recipe that uses these ingredients, as well as tofu and miso (it has gotten an unusually high number of hits, but I am not sure if it is what most people are actually searching for). Please check it out here: Yonaguni-jima recipe: Sakuna shiraae サクナの白和え.
Hopefully this post covers a majority of the “bizarre” foods. Please feel free to comment if there are any that I have missed and you are curious about.
Shinnenkai is the counterpart to bonenkai 忘年会 which is the end of the year party. These parties are social gatherings for work, classmates, social clubs, or just friends; they typically involve alcohol, much like bonenkai, or well, any other Japanese social gathering.
This year, the hulau (hula dance group) I am in held a shinnenkai in Naha, at an izakaya just off Kokusaidori in Naha called とぅばらーま Toubaraama (it is named after a folk song from the Yaeyama islands). It is a decent sized place, with a large party room (with a small stage) available for rental. As with most large gatherings, it was a set fee for tabehoudai 食べ放題 and nomihoudai 飲み放題 (all you can eat and drink).
The food was mostly local-style Okinawan/Ryukuan favorites, and in the regular restaurant part they had menus in English, Chinese, and Korean (seeing as how we were on the main tourist drag of Kokusaidori, this is not a surprise). The had juices, awamori, Orion beer, and various highball (cocktails). Since it was a large group to accommodate, it was set up buffet and self-service style rather than table service (which is more often how it is with group course plans). When there are not large groups reserving the hall, they also offer entertainment such as sanshin, Okinawa folk music/dance, etc during dinner time.
During the shinnenkai, members from each class put on stage performances, there was a raffle, and a gift exchange. It was my kumu’s (sensei, teacher) birthday, so we also got her a cake. Overall, it was a lot of fun and a good bonding experience.
Afterwards, groups broke out to go to nijikai 二次会 (these means “round 2” in Japanese, and then sometimes 三次会, etc.). We went to a westernized izakaya that had a lady’s course menu 女性コース. At this point, our little group was pretty tipsy and went home~
Previously, I posted about the special Okinawa mochi called muuchii ムーチー (鬼餅). It is traditional to eat muuchii* on Muuchii-no-hi ムーチーの日 (12/8 of the lunar New year).
*also commonly spelled as “muchi” in English.
Eating muuchii on muuchii-no-hi is derived from an old Okinawan folk tale. There are some more macabre (and sexualized) versions of this tale, but I will stick to one of the children’s version that they air on TV here… gotta keep it PG.
This story is “Oni mochi” or in Okinawan language, “Unee Muuchii” 鬼餅. (鬼 oni means demon, 餅 mochi means rice cake). **some variations I have seen on “oni” in Okinawa language are also ウニ uni and ウナー unaa. I suspect these are all correct depending on the region of Okinawa.
Long ago, a brother and sister lived in a village near Shuri called Ozato. The brother became possessed by a demon and ate livestock at night; he even started living in a cave. In some stories, it is also rumored that the demon-possessed brother began eating children. The sister found out, so she came up with a plan to get rid of the demon.
In order to exorcise the demon, the sister made a muuchii (mochi) with iron nails inside and wrapped it with sannin 月桃の葉 (shell ginger leaves, called caasa カーサー in Okinawan language).
She tricked the demon to eat the mochi; the iron nails rid the brother of the demon and they pushed it off the cliff to kill the ogre!
In some of the lesser PG stories, the brother dies as he is the oni and the sister dies falling off the cliff with the oni, or weirder yet the sister has a “second mouth” which eats demons that is located “under her kimono”… I am sure you can guess as to what this might mean.
Anyway, the story happened on December 8th of the lunar calendar, so ever since it is a custom to eat muuchi on this day to ward off demons, protect from evil, and pray for good health.
Similar to setsubun, there is the custom of saying:
Around this time of year, all the grocery stores start displaying the products to make muuchii, and shops take pre-orders. As I mentioned in the previous post on muuchii, people with children will buy the same number of muuchii as the age of their children and tie them up with string, hanging them up in the house; this practice is called sagimuuchii サギムーチー. People who had a baby in the past year will make up lots and lots of muuchii (this practice is called ハチムーチー hachimuuchi 初鬼餅) to hand out to relatives, neighbors, and friends; last year one of my eikaiwa students became a grandmother and brought us all in muuchii. For the baby, they also have the custom of making chikara muuchii (力 chikara means “power”) which is much bigger then regular muuchii in order to pray for the healthy growth of the baby. Muuchii is eaten as a lucky charm for the prayer of health and longevity. This coming year, Muuchii day (ムーチーの日) is on January 24th 2018; December 8th of the lunar calendar.
There are a couple ways you can make muuchii. First you can buy the pre-mixed bag, just add water. All the grocery stores sell these, in usually in a variety of flavors such as beniimo (purple sweet potato), brown sugar (one of my favorites), taanmu (taro), yomogi (mugwort), kabocha (pumpkin), ukon/ucchin (turmeric), or even just plain. You can also buy the ingredients separately, so you can mix up the flavors as you like; again all the powders to this are in the grocery store. A lot of the mochiko and flavor packages even have the recipe/directions for muuchii on the back. If you really want (or don’t have access to powdered beniimo), you could even do it some more traditional ways like mashing beniimo to get the flavor in instead of the powder. Overall, it is super simple and it does not have to be precise, just don’t use too much of either water of sugar.
For the shell ginger leaves: you can buy these at JA farmers market or just ask someone if you can have some from their yard… they are everywhere!
Recipe for Beniimo muuchii (purple sweet potato): This one uses the powders. Maybe I will post the longer version later if I find a good recipe. You can halve or quarter the recipe, which is what I normally do.
mochiko もち粉, 1kg
beniimo powder 紅芋粉,200g
sugar, brown or white, 200g
water 4-5 cups
shell ginger leaves 月桃の葉, ~50 pieces (cleaned!)
vinyl string for tying muuchii
Knead together the mochiko, beniimo powder, sugar and some of the water (it will probably be a bit sticky at first, that’s okay). Make sure it is not too dry or too wet, it should be pliable but not too sticky or soft; you may want to experiment with the amount of water (the ratio should be somewhere in the range of 2:5 to 3:5 of water in mL to dry ingredients in grams). Shape into rectangular shape onto shell ginger, wrap and tie with vinyl string. Steam muuchii well for ~3o minutes. Carefully remove and let cool. Finished! Hopefully this year I can take some nice pictures of the making and shaping process~ you can see how truly easy it is to make yourself.
Brown sugar muuchii (10 pieces): mochiko, 300g; brown sugar 120g (as little as 80g or up to about 150g depending on your taste); water 240cc. Follow the same instructions– knead, shape, wrap, tie. Steam ~30 minutes.
For these recipes you can change the ratios a bit and you will not affect the texture or steaming time much. Some recipes will call for dried potato flakes (like those instant mashed potato flakes), but I have not tried using any… I am not really sure how that changes things. Recipes from scratch call for boiling and mashing either white potato or sweet potato into the mixture… again, I have not really tried that (yet).
For reference here is a picture of 2 pre-mixed ready to go muuchii pouches I bought at SanA; left is taanmu 田芋/ターンム (taro) and right is brown sugar (黒糖). All you need is water and shell ginger leaves. The best part– these can also be made into dango 団子! Also for reference below is a picture of mochikoもち粉 (sweet glutinous rice flour) if you go that route.
**in Okinawan language it is pronounced “sougwachi” そーぐゎち
大晦日 oomisoka: New Year’s Eve
**in Okinawa language it is pronounced “toushinuyuruu” とぅしぬゆるー
There are many, many Japanese customs that come with the beginning of a New Year. In Okinawa, several of them are observed, and some are a little different. Okinawa usually observes most of its customs on the lunar calendar, so there is also a second, slightly different observance for lunar New Year celebrated later as well.
Before the New Year, houses go through major house-cleaning (osouji 大掃除) to prepare for the new year. It is a busy time for everyone. New Years is mostly a family event in Japan, and perhaps especially Okinawa, so they are not usually a lot of large countdowns or fireworks shows. The only fireworks tend to be at the resorts, mostly for tourists. There are some drinking/dancing parties for the younger people. The Itoman Peace Park has a special event with torches and sounding the bell for world peace, then ending with some fireworks. ChuraSun Beach in Tomigusuku keeps their illumination up through midnight and ends with countdown fireworks. There are usually some fireworks up in Awase by the Comprehensive park as well. Overall they are very short shows, nothing like the summer. Every year I see someone online saying there are fireworks in American Village, but then I never see any info on it and later people complain there were none; I am guessing some jerk thinks it is fun to troll new Americans for New Year’s eve.
As I was shopping in SanA (grocery store), they had a nice poster (shown above) of where to put all the New Years decoration (in Japanese, but nice nonetheless). Right now there are tons of different pieces that one can purchase to get the house ready for the New Year. Some of the common decor and traditions you will see in Okinawa:
shimekazari しめ飾り: a rice straw rope wreath しめ縄 (shimenawa) with white paper 紙垂 (shide). In Okinawa, it is common to have a fairly simple straw “wreath” with a piece of charcoal wrapped in konbu 昆布 (seaweed) and an orange (mikan みかん) attached, though plenty of people also buy the fancier ones. You can even buy ones with Rilakkuma and other characters on it. This kind of thing can be placed on your door, or above the entrance to your house. It is to purify/protect the house. A more simple shimenawa rope is often placed above the family butsudan 仏壇 (altar). Some people even buy small ones and put them on their cars. I buy new ones every year, but I have heard people admit they reuse them for a few years (instead of burning it on the ritual day) and just add a fresh orange/charcoal. So again, if you buy a nice one that is too pretty (or expensive) to burn… don’t feel guilty for not burning it according to tradition.
kadomatsu 門松: 3 pieces of bamboo with pine are arranged on a circular base. Also typically placed at the entranceway, to welcome the toshigami 年神 (year deity/god) to the house (they can land on the bamboo posts). I have a (plastic-y) set that I reuse. Sometimes it is nice to buy fresh new ones, but the New Year adds up quickly. Again… you can buy them and burn them in the ritual… but don’t let anyone make you feel bad for being a little frugal. Japanese people are like this too.
minori 稔り: this is rice straw tied in a bunch. Can be placed by the altar/butsudan, but I think some people in Okinawa use these instead of kadomatsu at the front entrance. Some people may even braid their own shimekazari from these.
kagami-mochi 鏡餅: this is “mirror” mochi. I cannot tell you the number of Americans who buy one, open it, and BITE into it raw! Then they wonder why Japanese eat wax. But no… you must heat up the dried mochi! Anyway, these are stacked pieces of dried mochi with a New Year decoration (like an orange or zodiac symbol on top). This is usually placed at the butsudan /altar or kamidana 神棚. You are not supposed to open it and “break” the mirror (crack the mochi into pieces) until on Jan 11th (some regions might do different days). Anyway, on kagami biraki 鏡開き (break the mirror ceremony), open up your dried mochi that you bought and break it into pieces (you should not use a knife but mallet or something instead, but I won’t judge you if you decide knife is easier). You can heat it up a number of ways. My favorite is toast it in the microwave or toaster oven or even a grill (just a little until you see it puff up and brown), then add it to hot zenzai ぜんざい (red bean soup, you can make yourself or just buy the prepared package at SanA). Yum! You could also check online for some ozoni soup recipes お雑煮.
traditional new years mochi in zenzai
Mainland zenzai
charcoal wrapped inkelp: 炭= charcoal, so sumi-kazari 炭飾り is charcoal decoration. In Okinawa, charcoal is very important for purification, health, and for longevity (since it does not “decay”). Pieces of charcoal wrapped in kelp and with auspicious kanji/ribbon are placed not only on the shimekazari, but also on the butsudan (altar) or the hinukan 火の神.
figurine of New Year zodiac animal: This year is year of the rooster and last year was year of the monkey. In recent years I have started getting the cheap Hello Kitty zodiac figurine. It is cute although I suppose not so traditional. Only 500yen at Tokyu Hands.
Many New Years flower arrangements will have plum blossoms, pine, bamboo, cabbage and other plants that have special symbolism for spring or the beginning of a new year.
otoshidama お年玉: who doesn’t love to receive an envelope full of money? Usually this is for kids to receive. Even as a school teacher in Hawai’i I observed this custom on a small scale during the lunar New Year, and gave kids otoshidama envelopes (called pochi bukuro ポチ袋) with a chocolate coin it– no money, but a little piece of chocolate, so it was still appreciated.
otoshidama I received at a local business; 5yen coins are considered lucky so this is something to keep in the coin purse.
osechi-ryouri 御節料理: Traditional New years food! The best part, amirite? In this modern day you will see stores bustling with pre-orders, not many people have so much time to prepare all this! Again, it usually falls on the wife of the oldest son to prepare these things (some of the ladies in my eikaiwa say it is best to marry a second son!), similar to Obon, so as you can imagine ordering a platter with all the required items from a restaurant or grocery store is much easier. There are a few traditional foods necessary for Okinawan osechi-ryouri, most of them are fried, some type of pork, or shrimps. Honestly in the stores, the fried foods and Okinawa hors d’oeuvres plates (オードブル) were flying off the shelves while the mainland-style foods were left somewhat untouched. I will try to take a few pictures this year; below are pictured more mainland Japanese types of food for New Years.
nakamijiru 中身汁 (also 中味汁): Nakami-jiru is intestines soup (pork). This is a very traditional dish for Okinawan people, but younger generations are (for perhaps obvious reasons) less inclined to eat it these days. Bags of pre-made soup (just heat and serve) and large bags of “chitlins” (pieces of intestines, pardon the American slang) are easily found in the center aisles of the store this time of year.
Winter gift, oseibo 御歳暮: just like summer gift (chuugen), all the groceries drag out the box gifts. You can buy the same types of item: spam, laundry detergent, beer, rice… and you can have them ship it to relatives afar or just have them wrap it and deliver yourself during the days leading up to the New Year.
On New Years Eve, we typically watch Kohaku Uta Gassen 紅白歌合戦 (red vs white singing competition) featuring popular music artists and enka singers. Basically it is women (red) vs men (white), and while it is sort of cheesy at times (people complain about the talentless AKB48 groups), it is actually fun to have on while waiting for the end of the year. At the end, the votes are tallied and the winning team determined. Hotaru no hikari 蛍の光 (to the tune of Auld Lang Syne) is sung at the end, and then the program flashes to celebrations at New Years temples and shrines around Japan.
On the first of January, the Japan Post delivers New Years Cards with lottery numbers printed on them; see a related post on New Years Cards 年賀状 called nengajo 年賀状.
During the first week of New Years, especially on January 1st is the custom of hatsumode 初詣, the first visit to a shrine or temple (click here for info on shrines and temples in Okinawa); at midnight on New years you can usually hear the bells tolling 108 times. This is the time to buy new omamori お守り (protective amulets) and leave the old ones at the shrine or temple for the ritual burning. The shrines and temples are open 24 hours for the first 3 days of the New Year, so you can really go any time!
One tradition that is also very popular here in Okinawa is watching the first sunrise of the New Year, called 初日の出 hatsuhinode. Many people gather on ridges overlooking the east side of the island, and some locations have special events, such as Nakagusuku-jo ruins site. The 東太陽橋 Agai-tidabashi (bridge) by the SanA in Nakagusuku is always very crowded (this is also a popular moon-viewing spot).
And of course, the biggest shopping day of the year to score some good deals and fukubukuro (lucky bags) 福袋.
Some words/phrases you may see (or hear) a lot of:
よいお年を(お迎え下さい) yoi otoshi wo (omukae kudasai): said only before the New Year in December, basically “have a a good New Year.”
明けましておめでとうございます akemashite omedetou gozaimasu: Happy New Year (said after the New Year has begun)
今年もよろしくお願いします kotoshi mo yoroshiku onegaishimasu: Please take care of me (again) this year. Said after the New Year begins.
今年もいろいろお世話になりました kotoshi mo iroiro osewani narimashita: Thank you for everything you have done for me this year. Said before the New Year begins.
また来年も宜しくお願い致します mata rainen mo yoroshiku onegai itashimasu: Next year please also take care of me. Said before the New Year begins.
謹賀新年 kinga shinen: Happy New Year (written, not usually said) 賀正 gashou: Happy New Year (written, not usually said)
迎春 geishun: welcoming spring (again, written not said)
元日 ganjitsu: January 1st
元旦 gantan: The morning of January 1st.
あけおめ ake ome: slang (shortened version) of akemashite omedetou (Happy New Year).
Last night we tried a new izakaya 居酒屋 that opened up (somewhat) across from the SanA Nishihara city mall. It is called something like にっぽん丸かじり Nippon maru kajiri (taking a bite from Japan is something like the literal translation, but it is not very clear to me, so let’s call it “Maru kajiri”).
Anyway, I noticed the new construction as I drove to hula back and forth the past few weeks, and as it was not so far away from my house, I could not wait to see what was offered. Luckily my husband was all for it. So on a Friday night, we arrived with no reservation in the middle of bonenkai season to a new izakaya. As much as this sounds like disaster, it was not. When we arrived, I asked if 2 people, and at first, no… all booked. But then after a short hesitation, can we speak Japanese? Yes. Then until 8pm is okay? Well sure, it was only 6:10 and my husband I would be done by 8, so no problem. So… if you want to visit this izakaya (or maybe any popular izakaya in December or on a weekend), it is best to make a reservation…
The menu was a bit all over the place (it is actually a small chain), a handwritten and a regular typed menu. We started with draft beer; the special was 190yen drafts the first hour of your visit, into hour 2 and it became 290yen. We ordered a variety off the menu– some meat skewers for the husband (串焼き合), fried squid (いか唐揚), cabbage salad キャベツ塩ダレサラダ (which had a most interesting creamy sauce), and a kind of fried noodle (yakisoba-sort of 五目あんかけ焼きそば). There was a maguro (マグロ tuna) butter-yaki (バター焼き batayaki) that my husband was interested in, but I did not tell him until after we ordered… we will save it for next time. All sorts of interesting sashimi dishes left the kitchen to other tables as well. There was a 300yen per person seating fee (very normal for Japan!), and the free appetizer, called otoushi お通し was hot or cold tofu with toppings (self-serve, as much as you could eat), so it felt like a good value. Total with beers we spent less than 4000yen, so a good night out.
A quick Daiko service home ended the night. In Japan, there is a nice service where if you drive somewhere and drink, you can call a Daiko service, which is a “taxi” that picks you up and drives your car to your home. So nice, and actually cheaper than regular taxi fares for 2 ways. Our Daiko was particularly excited to talk to gaijin who spoke a smattering of Japanese– we talked about easy topics such as the izakaya, and weather in Hawaii and Okinawa. A successful night, and our own sort of bonenkai together.
Well, maybe just “Japanese Pantry” in general, with a few Okinawan items thrown in the mix.
So I was thinking about shopping in the grocery stores here, and what we always keep on hand, and what new transplants to Okinawa might be curious about or want to use in recipes but are not sure what to look for. I guess it feel a bit odd, since everything we stock here is actually the same as what we always keep in stock in Hawai’i. There are some minor additions, but nothing particularly earth-shattering. But what is normal in Hawai’i is not necessarily what is normal to other Americans, or westerners in general. Coming from Hawai’i, the biggest change for me was just reading ingredients in another language (which can be intimidating in itself).
So I will start off very basic: I made a “welcome” goody bag for new family here in Okinawa when they moved into their house a little while back, and thought about what I should add; you know, nothing too crazy for the average American, but some things I simply wouldn’t be able to live without. So what did I give them? First I will mention that they are a bit health-conscious (somewhat similar to myself), so I checked into mostly additive-free, organic type of stuff for them. They also come from a different background and were not quite familiar with Japanese food and ingredients yet (but interested), so the very basics were necessary!
miso 味噌: I chose an additive-free, organic miso paste (Hikari brand). I chose a medium colored mixed miso; a good, solid in between the white miso (lighter taste) and the rich umami red miso (heavier taste). This choice makes it easy to use, very versatile and not so pungent that they will scare away from it. Hikari brand is a high quality miso with headquarters in Nagano.
shoyu 醤油: I chose another organic koikuchi shoyu, Yamasa brand. Yamasa is a decent choice, and personally, I prefer it over most of the Kikkoman shoyu. The price is right– one of the few reasonably priced choices for organic in the local supermarket. Again, a solid choice, and one that is easy to find and identify in the local super should they go looking for it.
brown rice vinegar 玄米酢: Next up was rice vinegar. There are so many choices, but I splurged on this buy… brown rice vinegar. It is a bit more than regular rice vinegar, but worth it for me.
goma oil ごま油: sesame oil is, no question, essential. The flavor is packed into even the smallest drop. I find the pure sesame (not mixed) is really the best… I mean, you probably keep the others in your cabinet anyway, so if you want to mix it just mix it yourself. The cheapest brands add vegetable or canola or something along those lines and the flavor is really lacking in them.
yuzukoshou 柚子胡椒: this was a bit random, but I knew they liked spicy things, and what better than a paste concocted of spicy green chiles fermented with salt and yuzu! It gives a great kick to foods, a little spicy and citrusy. I love having this stuff around.
Japanese soba noodles (dried) 日本蕎麦: I bought a middle-of-the-road dried buckwheat noodles (made in the mainland). I added this as a “healthy” treat, to give a little variety and hopefully introduce them to the beauty of traditional Japanese noodles.
These items made up the basic “care package.” Now obviously there are a lot of other things that I would add to this list as being “essential.” Again, I just chose a few very basic items that I thought an Average American Family could actually use and enjoy from my local grocery (and nothing too weird that they would not know how to use!).
Some other ingredients that I maintain are essential but did not make it into their care package:
koregusu コーレーグース: in Hawai’i, this is equivalent to chili water. I wrote about this in another post.
mirin みりん: rice wine for cooking. Careful here, many of these contain different types of sweeteners, so if you are picky, read the ingredients. It is not uncommon to find HFCS. I usually stick with 本みりん (but this is more expensive). Many people don’t care that much, and some even say the cheaper ones taste is the same, so take it as you will. I probably agree the taste is about the same (doubtful that I could do a blind taste test), but I prefer to avoid HFCS when possible, so I usually suck it up and pay the higher price.
fu 麩: wheat gluten. Used in lots of things here in Okinawa, miso soup and stir-fries especially. I also wrote a post on this.
dashi だし: fish broth, or it can also come in the form of konbu (seaweed) broth. Fish is probably much more common, but there are ones made with just seaweed, making it vegetarian-friendly.
furikake ふりかけ: furikake is just like magic little dust you sprinkle on rice (onigiri or whatever really). Ever heard of furikake chex mix? It’s awesome, as probably every single person from Hawai’i will tell you. Just ask them, but be careful, it is addicting.
Okinawa brown sugar 黒糖: Okay, yeah, it is just sugar. But it is seriously good stuff. While we have other sugar, I always prefer using this when I can.
rice 米: we usually have some of every type of rice; polished/white, brown, purple, as well as the mix-ins like mochikibi. What cabinet would be complete without these?
kewpie mayo マヨ: a brand of Japanese mayo. It tastes different. It’s good. I know… MSG. But I cannot live without it.
Tonkatsu sauce とんかつソース: also you may hear this called Bulldog sauce (Bulldog is a famous brand). I actually buy Ikari brand though. I will admit, I use this more than I should. But again, it is addicting. Sometimes I even use it if I run out of yakisoba sauce or okonomi sauce.
shikwasa juice: this is like lemon juice, but shikwasa (Okinawa lime-citrus). Just buy 100% shikwasa juice and substitute for lemon juice in recipes. Obviously you can find lemon juice here (Don Quijote actually has a great price for a large bottle of it), but it is nice to keep it local when you can. Also it makes for a great addition to homemade ponzu sauce!
goma (sesame) dressing ごまドレッシング: creamy sesame dressing is a must for most Americans. I am a bit indifferent to it, my husband likes it so we have it in the fridge. I hear many Americans send it to family and friends back home as presents.
shichimi 七味: 7-spice, used to kick dishes up a notch in spiciness.
Anyway, I will add some pictures to each section later, but this is a quick peek into some of the things you should keep on hand in the pantry for living and eating in Okinawa. With these, I can pretty much make anything in addition to whatever fresh ingredients I buy. I am sure I have forgotten a bunch of items and I will come back later and add in more.
Located in Ginowan behind the Convention City SanA mall is a quaint little bake shop called Regens Konditorei Cafe. There are a few parking spaces in front of the shop, but mostly, it would be easy to pass by if you did not know what to look for. However, when you step inside, you are transported into a magical little bakery/patisserie (I have no idea what the German word equivalent of a patisserie is). The interior decoration is rather classy, and not tacky like you might envision a Japanese German dessert shop might be. The atmosphere is kind of upscale feeling.
**Note: I have only stepped onto German soil once (okay, actually SNOW not soil) for approximately 8 hours while we traveled to Italy for Christmas a few years ago. Our plane was delayed, due to snow, and we headed to the Christmas markets where I shoved as much food and spiced wines as possible into my greedy little pie-hole. So I am obviously no good judge of “authentic” or whatever. My husband, on the other hand, has actually visited Germany a lot in the past (mostly before he married me) and as our last name reveals, a good bit of German heritage in his family. He feels this place is pretty authentic and enjoyed everything he has tried. So, I don’t guarantee this will the same for those of you who have lived in Germany, but it’s pretty darn good.
There are small tea cookies and kuchen (cakes) in cases to drool over; you surely do not want to miss their sachertorte or their marzipan houses. Depending on the day, you might catch fresh fig bread or pretzels. During Christmas it is easy to find German-style fruit kuchen (fruitcake) and stollen. It is all magnificent tasting and looking (not terribly cheap, although not unreasonable either). My wallet takes a bit of hit here during the holidays since my husband also adores all the goodies you can find in this store and no Christmas is complete without a fruitcake or stollen. This is our go-to dessert spot when we want something nice or are celebrating a special occasion.
Not only this, but the staff is great. Everything can be wrapped nicely for gifts as well (assuming it is making it further than your car). There is even a cafe space if you would like to take some coffee and relax while eating one of their desserts. These pictures do not justice, so I suppose I will have to return and take some more…
忘年会 bonenkai (or bounenkai) is an end-of-the-year party or gathering; these are for social clubs, coworkers, old classmates, friends, family… everyone! And often you may have a few to attend. I have currently already committed to some myself.
The first kanji 忘 means “to forget”, 年 mean “year,” and 会 means “gathering” or “meeting.” Basically, it means a forget-the-year-party! As it was explained to me by an older Okinawan, his feeling was that the deeper meaning meant to forget the bad things that happened over the past year, as well as the good things, since there is no promise for the future– the next year is a clean slate and a chance to start anew. I never thought of it that way until I heard that, but it actually does make quite a bit of sense; I think I assumed it mostly referred to only forgetting the bad (and imbibing as much alcohol as possible in order to do so, and possibly forgetting your senses as well).
Bonenkai is a type of nomikai 飲み会 which just means “drinking party.” There is also a shinnenkai 新年会, first gathering after the New Years as well; sort of like bonenkai, part II, but this time celebrating the beginning of a fresh new year.
Anyway, typically everyone agrees on a day/time and whoever is “leader” will make reservations at an izakaya 居酒屋 (or some other type of place with food and drinks). It is popular to have an enkai 宴会 option (banquet plan, party plan), so everyone just pays a set fee; obviously it is also typical to also include a nomihoudai 飲み放題 plan (all you can drink) in addition to the enkai plan for a set fee. It is a fun time with friends, to go out and get ready for the new year with chatting, drinking, and possibly karaoke or other shenanigans. It is something that everyone looks forward to as the year is coming to a close.
I doubt I will include any pictures, as most of them tend to be drunken embarrassment… maybe I will try to take some before everyone has had too much to drink at the next bonenkai I attend.
冬瓜漬: tougatsuke, tougadzuke. The first 2 kanji are 冬瓜 tougan, which is “winter melon” in English. The last kanji is 漬 (usually ‘tsuke’) meaning “pickle” or “preserve.” So the meaning of this term is something like pickled/preserved winter melon.
Tougan is also known as shibui しぶい in Okinawan language. It is a very hearty and cheap vegetable here in Okinawa. The word winter melon is sort of funny, because it is actually harvested in summer, but it is easy to store these and they will last all winter, so hence winter melon.
Anyway, I recently visited the Jahana Kippan Shop 謝花きっぱん店 in Naha. These shop is the only shop that still makes 2 very famous Ryukuan sweets called kippan and tougatsuke. During the Ryukyu kingdom era, these sweets were enjoyed by the emperor and high ranking nobles as delicacies, one of the 16 types of special fruits and desserts served in the Royal Court. This shop has amazing quality sweets, everything I sampled was so good; since I am a student, my budget was the “imperfect” pieces that they sold in small bags instead of the beautiful perfectly shaped ones.
To make tougatsuke, the juiciest flesh from tougan is used, as well as Okinawan sugarcane. There are no preservatives or artificial flavors here, just natural food made in the same style as the Ryukyu kingdom era. It is amazing that a simple tougan is turned into this sweet concoction! They recommend keeping it chilled, slicing thin pieces, and serving with tea or dessert wine. It is hard to describe the exact flavor– it was very sweet, and a little juicy, sort of melts in your mouth. An excellent pairing with some green tea.
Update: I later purchased the shiqwasa flavored tougatsuke and it is also delicious. I sampled the Okinawan sugarcane rum flavor in the store as well, and it was nice with a hint of rummy flavor.
This is a fermented specialty food of the Ryukyu kingdom, enjoyed only by emperor’s family and few privileged nobles during the Ryukyu kingdom era.
It is intense and delicate, all at the same time. Creamy, and a bit pungent, sort of like a fancy European cheese, this is not to be missed while in Okinawa! Tofuyo is dried shima-doufu, marinated and fermented in red kouji and awamori (Okinawa liquor).
Perhaps to a westerner, it does not sound appetizing, but I promise it is! When I first heard about it, I actually pictured something closer to “stinky tofu” of Taiwan, and felt a little timid about trying it, but it is much different! The smell is quite pleasant, a little bit alcoholic, and the texture really is reminiscent of a creamy cheese. The taste can be a bit intense, but it is not overwhelming.
These days tofuyo can be purchased in just about any grocery store in Okinawa. Recently I visited one of the fancier producers in Naha, Tatsu-no-kura 龍の蔵. I was able to sample a bit of everything… and it was amazing. A delicacy indeed, though a bit expensive… this is a special occasion food.
It has come to my attention that Tatsu-no-kura has a store and awamori/fermentation limestone cave up North near Kin kannon-ji (temple). There are 2 parts of the cave system, one for the temple (free) and one for the shop (entrance fee), so don’t get then confused! Go to the store in Kin to pay and join a tour… it is fun!
Awhile back, on a nice sunny day, my husband was itching to get out. So, I had heard of this small place with veg offerings and really wanted to check it out; luckily my husband was game. So off we went to the Ashibinaa outlets in Tomigusuku to walk around for some exercise before hitting up Parlor de jujumo nearby.
Really, it is more fair to say it is a shack, albeit a really cool, trendy one. It is located off some really random streets with not much else around, but that just makes it quaint. Anyhow, if the owner is not there, just hit the call button on the walkie-talkie.
The menu is small; veg curry or veg burger for food, sugarcane juice, organic coffees for drinks. You can eat at the counter (outside) or take it to go.
Each plate was only 450yen! They were both good, but my husband preferred the burger; they were both made from the same sort of bean curry and had some nice added spices. It was a small plate, which was okay, because the next stop for the day was to try the chiffon miso cake at Yume Koubou.
The owner is also in a band, so if you visit the shack, check out the fliers for their next event.
Okinawa soba: in the local language it is actually called “suba” but many places will list it as “soba,” the Japanese word. I figure a place here is authentic if it actually uses the word suba instead of soba, since all locals understand the meaning of suba. But, Okinawa soba noodles are not actually made from buckwheat like Japanese soba. Really, it is quite a different dish altogether!
Okinawa soba shacks are all over the island; just within short walking distance of my house there 3 that only serve soba, and 2 more that are shokudo restaurants that include Okinawa soba on the menu. On a longer walk… well, probably a dozen more, I really couldn’t say for sure. Okinawa soba is very much considered “soul food” here.
I cannot really eat pork, so this is a dish I do not indulge in. Usually it consists of a clear pork based broth, with thicker-than-ramen but thinner-than-udon flour noodles (very chewy in texture), and topped with slices of pork or soki (pork on the bone ribs). My husband occasionally orders Okinawa soba, but he usually prefers ramen. That being said, if you have no dietary restrictions, do not pass up the opportunity to try this dish while you are in Okinawa.
There are all sorts of variations on Okinawa soba; there is main island Okinawa soba, Miyako soba, Yaeyama soba… everywhere in Okinawa prefecture seems to have its own slightly different version!
Some places will sell their fresh soba noodles in their restaurant, but you can also buy them in any grocery store here in the refrigerated section near produce. It is great for making noodle dishes at home (such as ramen, yakisoba, etc). I always buy fresh over the dried, since it is actually a bit healthier, plus it tastes so much better!
*There are a few restaurants where you can watch the owner-san making the fresh soba noodles! I will link these in the next few days.
The other day, I was idling away some time at the university library, when I came upon the “Okinawa Section.” Most books were in Japanese, but one in English caught my eye. It was simply titled, “Ryukyuan Cuisine.” So out of curiosity I flipped it open, and read about some of the more traditional dishes (some pictures below). While there were no actual recipes, there were several descriptions of the foods and the types of local ingredients– it was really quite informative. This book was published in the 90s by the Okinawa Tourism and Cultural Promotion organization. I would like to find a copy for myself, but it has turned out difficult to find. It further inspired me to check out the local bookstore, and peruse some magazines and books on Ryukyuan cuisine (in Japanese, so I am a bit slower to read). Reading through these books really reminded me how Ryukyuan cuisine is quite different than traditional Japanese cuisine; it is definitely influenced quite a bit from Chinese cuisine, but still very unique.
I made a quick guide to Okinawa dishes here and a guide to some traditional sweets here and here.
In Tomigusuku, in the Ashibinaa outlet Mall located next to the Starbucks and the Bikkuri Donkey, there is an excellent Okinawa local and fresh foods buffet called 沖縄菜園ブッフェカラカラ Okinawa Saien Buffet KaraKara. Most of the dishes feature local ingredients, and you can try several types of local Okinawa soul foods. Lots of fresh greens, too, and dishes will rotate based on seasons; the menu focuses on local island vegetables. Plus, all the dishes have allergy card information.
There are dishes that feature hechima, goya, tougan, Okinawan pork, Okinawa soba, tofu, shiraae, fish, as well as some more westernized dishes. Plus there is soft-serve and a variety of desserts. Everyone can be happy eating here. We like to take out-of-town guests here to get a feel for local food, while still having lots of options. Personally, I prefer KaraKara to Daikon-no-Hana, another popular Okinawa buffet chain with a similar style. KaraKara is a must-try for anyone coming to Okinawa.
It is cheaper to go during lunch rather than dinner– but at dinner time the buffet has sushi items! Lunch is about~1500yen, dinner ~1800yen, and children are cheaper. There is also a second location on the 9th floor of the Ryubo Department store in Naha, but I prefer the Tomigusuku location (the interior is nicer in my opinion).
I don’t have any pictures (hmm, guess I should go back soon…), I am always too busy eating.
Today was full of adventure. One reason was Kiku Miso Dream Factory 菊みそ夢工房 in Yaese. This place makes homemade miso… and chiffon cakes!
I read about this place on a Japanese-Okinawa news site. It talked about tasty fluffy chiffon cakes, and the number one seller was made with miso. Well, who can pass that up?! Not me! So I made plan to explore some places nearby and drag my husband there (and it worked!). After a nice veggie lunch, we made it to Kiku Miso Yume Koubou. It was in a pretty quiet area, nice rural surroundings. Inside was clean and cute. There were many types of chiffon cakes (whole and sliced), but my objective was miso flavor. My husband chose coffee flavor. They also sold homemade miso (among some other products) for a very reasonable price, and since we were almost out at home, we decided to pick some up as well.
Anyway, we went to a nearby park and devoured our cakes with some tea. So fluffy and delicious! Seriously, so fluffy! Success.
Rice 米: There are so many types of rice in the Japanese grocery store, how do you know what you are getting? Well, to start with remember that Japanese rice is going to be short-grained, although some long or medium grain may also be imported.
Well let me touch on some basics on reading the rice labels in stores. I will update with some pictures in a bit, but I will try to get you started.
*** These years are in Japanese calendar, NOT western! So the year 2016 is 28年, 2015 is 27年, 2014 is 26年. Older rice tends to be discounted, so keep in mind you usually get what you pay for.
単一原料米 single-source rice (100% from 1 place)
複数原料米 multiple-source rice (from different places)
*** -割 indicates RATIOS (by 10’s). so 10割 is 100%, 6割 is 60%, 1割 is 10%, etc.
販売者 seller’s name (company)
内容量 contents volume
Some popular types of rice: (I will add some better descriptions later… gomennasai)
こしひかり (コシヒカリ) Koshihikari
ささにしき Sasanishiki
ひとめぼれ Hitomebore
もち米 Mochi-rice (glutinous rice, this is really more for sweets)
無洗米 no-wash rice
Later I will update this post with some of the mix-ins you can buy and which grains they contain… these are a great way to add nutrition to you average bowl of rice.
I have posted many times on sweets found in Okinawa and Japan, but this is an interesting little paper I picked up at the COOP grocery store (the one with the apple logo, not the JA’s ACoop) that described a few of the most popular and easy to make at home. I will try to adjust these recipes with more “accurate” measurements and add some personal pictures, since knowing the “right proportion of water and mochi flour to make mochi cake” is not necessarily well-known to most English speakers, as well as the fact that most people do not have easy access to the pre-mixed ingredients you can buy in local grocery stores.
First up, we have sata andagi サーターアンダギー. These are like fried donuts. Sata andagi were used for celebrations like weddings and babies being born.
6-8 eggs (in Okinawa, eggs are a bit smaller than American versions, so 6 medium-large or 8 small-medium eggs)
brown sugar, 700 grams
flour, 1 kg
baking soda, 15 grams
vinegar, 2 tbsp
oil for frying
Mix eggs and sugar, than mix in flour, baking soda, and vinegar. Making spoonfuls of dough, drop into frying oil (deep fry) at 150-160 C, rotating until golden brown.
Next up is chinpin チンピン and popo ポーポー. These are very similar; they are fried crepe-like pancakes using flour and eggs, rolled up. These were traditionally made on the 5th month 4th day of the lunar year, a day known as yukkanuhi ユッカヌヒー (to pray for good luck in fishing and maritime activities, a celebration day with traditional haarii boat races), and the 5th day, known as gungwachigunichi グングヮチグニチ (this day is known as Boy’s Day, or Children’s Day, in the Japanese calendar). On Henza-jima, popo is also traditional on the 3rd day of the 3rd lunar month.
Popo:
80 g brown sugar
100 g flour
1 c of water (some people will also replace part of the regular water with carbonated water to increase the number of bubbles in the pancake!)
1/2 tsp baking powder
small amount of veg oil for frying
small amount of andansu (Okinawa pork miso)
Make a thin pancake with flour and water, grilled in a fry pan with a bit of oil. Add a bit of andansu (Okinawa miso) to the middle and roll up. Traditionally, the sugar would be omitted from the pancake and added to the andansu filling instead, so that the pancake would be white. Some people would even just add white sugar to the pancake batter instead of brown sugar to the pancake to keep it white. These days, as tastes have changed, I notice most people add sugar to the pancakes which tend to give them a brown appearance similar to chinpin. Also, depending on your tastes, you could use milk instead of water in the batter. One place I bought popo actually replaced the andansu completely with a brown sugar mochi instead; so, anyway to each their own.
Chinpin: mix flour, brown sugar, egg whites, and water (again, often carbonated water in hopes for more bubbles in the pancake). Make a thin pancake and grill in fry pan, you should see many small bubbly holes on the surface. Roll up and serve. No filling in this one! *Note: many people refer to chinpin as brown sugar popo 黒糖ぽーぽー, and sometimes even just popo. Technically they are different, but it seems many people do not distinguish between the two.
Also, for those of you living in Okinawa, it is quite easy to find “chinpin” mix in the local grocery stores as well.
Agarasaa アガラサー (also romanized as “agarasa”) is a steamed sponge cake, similar to castella. This was also made for special occasions. It has a mochi-mochi texture (chewy) and is very enjoyable. Many grocery stores will sell the mix for this, so all you need to do is add water and using a steamer basket, add batter into small aluminum tins and steam over high for ~10 minutes. (I will post a “from scratch” recipe later). Traditionally it is made with brown sugar, though you will see other “flavors,” and it would probably be steamed in sannin サンニン/月桃 (shell ginger leaves). Most people at home do not bother with the sannin leaves these days, and likely most grocery stores selling these prepackaged do not either.
Kuzu muchi クズムチ, also called kuji muchi クジムチ, is a type of mochi made with a sweet potato starch (imokuzu):
Mix imokuzu with 3 cups of water, and dissolve sugar in remaining 3 cups of water; mix together. Heat mixture for 3 minutes on 600 watts in microwave range and remix, 5-6 times. Pour into containers, sprinkle with kinako and let chill until gelled/solidified (it won’t get firm per se, but should hold together).
Last isfuchagi フチャギ, which I wrote about in another post. The recipe is very simple, mix 1 1/4 cups of water and 300 g of mochiko (mochi flour), form into rectangular shapes, steam for 15 minutes, and cover immediately with softened/boiled azuki beans.
Interested in more Okinawa sweets? Check out these posts on sweets that are special to Okinawa:
ハチグヮチ hachi-gwachi in Okinawan language (八月 hachigatsu in Japanese) means 8th month. This refers to the 8th month in the lunar calendar, so more around September time frame than August. Several days throughout the lunar year there are umachi ウマチー days (Okinawan for festival day, or matsuri まつり in Japanese), in which special traditional observances are held. The 7th and 8th lunar months are particularly busy, first with Obon and then with Autumn Equinox week.
Besides Juugoya, or juuguyaa in Okinawan (Tsukimi 月見 moon-viewing), on the 15th of the 8th lunar month, there are some other traditional days in the Ryukuan calendar.
On 8/8 (double numbers are always considered lucky), is the celebration of Okinawa longevity called Toukachi (tokachi, tookachi) トーカチ. This is similar to 米寿 beiju celebration (88th birthday year) on mainland Japan. Those who turned 88 in the current lunar new year are celebrated; these days, it is now a small family affair with traditional foods (pork of course, some fried foods, kelp knots, and such), a bamboo decoration called toukaki 斗掻 (とうかき) in Japanese and tokachi トーカチ in Okinawan (hence, the name of the day), and perhaps a ceremonial bingata kimono in the Ryukyuan style. The mall displayed the longevity celebration parade car.
Another one of these special days is on 8/10, called Kashichi カチシー; this day is to pray for health offering to the buddhist altar (butsudan) and the family fire-god (Hinukan).
Kashichi カシチー is called 強飯 kowameshi in Japanese. Kashichi is glutinous rice mixed with red beans and is offered at the butsudan (altar) and the hinukan. See the recipe below.
A Shibasashi シバサシ (柴差し) is attached to the pillars of a house from the 9th to the 11th days of the 8th lunar month (most calendars mark it officially as the 10th); it is pampas grass (susuki ススキ) and mulberry branches bundled into an amulet, then placed at the four corners of the house and/or the gate (also the well, the barn, and any food storage buildings traditionally) in order to ward off evil, specifically majimun マジムン which are Okinawan ogres/demons/evil spirits. The amulet is made into a shape called サン san, like a sangwa サングァー.
Around this time are also 豊年祭 hounen-matsuri, or harvest festivals, in English. During these, you will see tug-of-war (Tsunahiki) and lion dances (shishimai), among other traditional songs and dance. Many of these will occur on the 15th day (same as juugoya), though in my surrounding neighborhoods they wait until the Friday or Saturday after juugoya.
Kowameshi (kashichi) 強飯 (カシチー) recipe: This is mochi rice (mixed with regular non-glutinous rice) with red beans. It translates to “strong rice” because made with mochi-gome もち米 (glutinous rice, which is a firmer mouth-feel). Traditionally, this type of rice was only used for special occasions.
Ingredients:
red beans (azuki beans), 1 1/4 cup
Glutinous rice (mochi rice), 260 g
Non-glutinous rice (such as koshihikari, or some other short grain rice), 75 g
salt, 1 teaspoon
leftover boiled water of red beans, ~360mL
Wash beans, put in pot over stove with 1.5 cups of water (add more water if needed). Once it is boiled and soft, strain in a colander, keeping the boiled water for later.
Wash the rice for 30 minutes before the cooking. I use a rice cooker. In a pot, add boiled bean water , mix with salt, rice, and cooked red beans. Pretty simple to prepare.
ヒヌカン (also seen as ヒーヌカン) Hinukan is the Okinawan word, would be hinokami 火の神 Japanese. 火 is the kanji for “fire” and 神 is the kanji for “god.”
Traditional Ryukyuan cultural believed that a fire god lives in the cooking stove (hearth) of every house or kitchen, to protect a house and its family from evil spirits.
In traditional kitchens, a small altar is set up and maintained by the oldest woman in the household, sometimes on a shelf, a window sill or in a corner. This is a tradition which is dying out, but some still continue today (I was first told of this by an older woman I teach English conversation to, as she has one in her kitchen). The ceramic censer (incense burner) is put in the kitchen along with a plant, salt, water, awamori or sake, and rice in different containers.
It is the oldest woman’s duty to report the events of family life to the hinukanand pray for family happiness and good health. Everyday, the hinukan is given a glass of water in the morning and cleaned regularly. Also, on the 1st and 15th of every month according to the lunar calendar, there is a small ritual to give the hinukan awamori, rice, and burn incense in prayer. During the Spring and Autumn equinoctial week, some additional offerings are usually included. The SanA grocery store already has an advertisement out for pre-orders of party platters for Shuubun 秋分の日 (秋彼岸 akihigan, or 秋のお彼岸 aki no ohigan, Autumn equinox week).
The idea of a hinukan hearth god amuses me, and reminds me of Calcifer in Howl’s Moving Castle. Somehow it seems very cute.
Below is a picture of the set-up explanation that I saw at the SanA grocery store.
The の “no” character is short for “noshi” のし or 熨斗, which is a ceremonial origami fold used to express good wishes or good fortune, usually attached to gifts. It is seen at any kind of celebration like a wedding, new baby, New Years, housewarming… people give gifts or money envelopes with this decoration on it.
ぎぼまんじゅう Gibo Manjuu in Shuri sells special manjuu まんじゅう (steamed buns) with the no character painted in red, known as no-manjuu のー饅頭. The manjuu are only 150yen and come out piping hot, enormous and packed with subtly sweet red bean paste. They are wrapped in sannin サンニン (also known as gettou 月桃 in Japanese or shell ginger in English) leaves, so you have the slight fragrance reminiscent of Ryukyu sweets. It is delicious and absolutely filling. It is highly recommended to visit and try these manjuu!
Although the shop is currently located at Kubagawa in the Shuri area, it was originally by the Seikou temple in Gibo (another area of Shuri), so the name is Gibo Manjuu since the business is over a century old. The number of manjuu sold each day is limited, so be sure to go early!
So mochikibi onigiri is rice ball with millet mixed in; it is very healthy! This recipe is from Tonaki-jima, off the coast of Okinawa main island, but it is seen everywhere (and perhaps some places on the mainland of Japan!). Mochikibi is one of the specialty products from Tonaki-jima.
Recipe? Well… I mean, it is just onigiri! There really are not any tricks to this recipe. What you need:
-rice (white, but you could use other types)
-mochikibi, 1.5 tbsp
-a little salt (to taste)
Wash rice, add to rice cooker with mochikibi and add required amount of water for you rice cooker (note: if you are Hawaiian, you just do the first knuckle test for adding water). Cook according to rice cooker. Mix in a little salt, make sure the mochikibi is evenly distributed in the rice, let cool for a bit, and form your onigiri. Finished. Usually this is served a bit chilled or room temperature, perfect for bento or quick snacks.
Every year in my neighborhood after Obon, near the village office a Tug-of-war 綱引き (tsunahiki) is held. The idea is similar to the larger Tug-of-Wars held in Naha, Itoman, and Yonabaru, except on an obviously much smaller scale. The name of the event in this town is called Marujina マールジナ.
The village starts makes the two ends of the rope, and sets up a small area with free shave ice and drinks (including beer). Around 6 pm, everyone starts to assemble, and eisa music plays on the loudspeakers (which no joke, are definitely left over sound equipment from the 60s, crackly speakers and all). We were lucky this year with no rain– the previous 2 years festivities were cut short due to rain.
We dressed in jinbei 甚平, although almost no one except the very small children dress up for this event, because I feel that I might as well enjoy it properly. So wearing my jinbei, I grabbed a tenugui (towel), uchiwa (fan), and a beer, and walked down the street to the event. Of course, being foreigners we stick out, and wearing jinbei even more so, but that’s okay, probably people see the effort to appreciate local culture/traditions and feel more comfortable talking us. Of course the minute we arrive, shave ice and drinks are thrust upon us (not that I minded). Kids were frolicking about, getting excited, while the adults were catching up on chatting. Throughout the festival we spoke to a few of our neighbors who are always a bit interested in the foreign couple living in this rural area (all of our neighbors are Japanese/Okinawan… the only few other foreigners in the village live a few neighborhoods down from us or up the hill by the university).
Around 6:30 the Gaaee ガーエー starts. Gaaee means something like “winner’s triumphant shout.” Basically it entails guys carry a large, heavy bamboo pole decorated with flags and flowers and other decorations, called hatagashira 旗頭. Hatagashira are an example of the traditional Okinawan culture. They are symbols created to represent a the success of a village. Supposedly, during the pole competition, the gods land on the top of the hatagashira and assist in the tugging of the rope during the tug-of-war. Some of the guys grabbed my husband and helped him try; my husband commented how incredibly top-heavy it is and that it definitely takes more skill than you might imagine.
In our village we have the adults gaaee, as well as a children’s gaaee. The children are given much smaller hatagashira, and are assisted by adults. The children’s symbols are a sunflower and a hibiscus. It is sort of cute, like they are in training for later when they are older.
Sometime around 7 or so, the rope was set up and the procession of uniting the two ends began. Once the ropes were close enough, fires were lit, the pin was inserted, and of course, the tugging began! After the first round, the gaaee started back up again for awhile until round 2 for the children. Many of the adults helped the children during their round (the rope is so heavy!). After this round, again, the gaaee finished off the ceremony. Some adults stuck around, as they were having karaoke in the community center, but since we had work in the morning (and plus no one wants to hear me sing) we headed off home.
It was a particularly exciting and energetic event this year, probably since it is the first time in awhile we had good weather for this event! Besides the pictures, there is a video link here of the Tug of War and here for a preview of Gaaee.
宮城島 Miyagi-jima is a small island connected by bridge to the Okinawa main island via Henza-jima.
This year is the second annual summer eisa matsuri, called たかはなり島あしび Takahanari Shima Ashibi.
高離り島 (たかはなり島) refers to Miyagi-jima. あしび means “to play” in Okinawa language (coming from the Japanese, 遊ぶ asobu). So basically, the name of the festival is like “come play on Miyagi island!”
At 3 pm, eisa groups start to perform along the roads in 3 areas of the island. There is a main parking area at the old (abandoned) elementary school for the festival. FYI, this is NOT actually in google maps… so actually pay attention to the address given… unlike myself, who figured, I will just follow the signs, how hard can it be, it is a tiny island, right?? Well, luckily when you get close, the signs had a pouch with printed out maps, directions, locations, schedules and the whole bit, otherwise I would have stayed lost (despite this being a tiny island). Luckily, we were not the only lost souls, other Japanese/Okinawans were also getting these maps and looking confused. Anyway, it was easy once we figured the approximate location in the car navi system.
Anyway… so back to the street performances. These were simply along residential, narrow streets of the island, from 3-5pm. People emerged from houses and cars to watch and listen to the eisa performers. During this time, my husband (over 6 feet tall, a giant by Japanese standards) and myself (although of average US height, still towers over most Japanese women) decidedly stood out as the only foreigners in the small crowd. It was a bit hot, but at least there was some small breeze off the ocean making it a bit more tolerable. We arrived a bit late (nearly 4pm, due to the maps issue), which was probably a good thing considering the Okinawan heat. In spite of seeing many eisa performances since arriving nearly 3 years ago, I am still fairly fascinated by it and all of the variations you see around the island.
Around 5pm, the main stage area of the festival grounds was getting started, and tents with food, drinks, and local products encircled the field. This festival was unlike many of the other more “popular” summer matsuri, as here it was almost entirely LOCAL business and products! Wow, so nice– too often with the larger matsuri, big companies come in and sell food/drink (with bigger crowds, the mom&pop places have a hard time competing), and they are rather subpar. Today, it was different and amazing.
The famous ougon-imo (黄金芋, orange sweet potato similar to annou-imo and “American” orange sweet potatoes) from the neighboring island made an appearance, as well as many other small businesses. Ika (squid) caught from the surrounding waters and mozuku (seaweed special to Okinawa) was also prominent among food sellers. We had squid karaage (fried squid rings), beniimo dango (fried purple sweet potato mochi), baked ougon-imo, sata andagi (Okinawa doughnut) flavored with dragonfruit, ohagi (sweet sticky rice balls, these were flavored with ougon-imo), and chicken wrapped in fried shredded ougon-imo (um… picture like a chicken nugget but if instead of breading you replaced that with sweet potato hashbrowns). Everything we tried was delicious, my husband gave it his highest rating. He was initially a bit reluctant to be dragged to this small festival, as it was about a 45-minute car ride north of our house. I guess I drag him to a lot of summer matsuri…
As we were eating, the main stage shows played. There was eisa, local dancing, sanshin, chondora (eisa clowns), fan dance, and more. It was really quite nice, especially once the sun sunk down beneath the horizon and it cooled down a bit.
I guess it was a bit obvious the lack of foreign guests (besides us, 2 american guys with their Okinawan wives). We were approached by a writer for one of the travel websites, as she had noticed us watching the street eisa earlier. She spoke to me in Japanese, mixed with a little English, and I explained my situation in Okinawa, and how I had found out about this matsuri (online, from an event website in Japanese). She lamented the lack of English resources for finding these types of events, and I agreed, as I find these local events extremely interesting and a great chance to learn more about tradition and culture of the islands. She took our picture and gave me a card; she was a sweet person. Later she emailed a link to the article she wrote and our picture with caption was published on the travel website.
Evenings like this type of summer festival are special, and gives a chance to glimpse how life really is in Okinawa. At these events you can see the real Okinawa, not the tourist view.
沖縄赤黄箸: 沖縄 is Okinawa, 赤 aka is “red,” 黄 ki is “yellow,” and 箸 hashi is chopsticks. So this means Okinawa red-yellow colored traditional chopsticks.
Chopsticks are know as hashi 箸 in Japanese, but in Okinawa they are called umeshi うめーし (you may also see the romanization as ume-shi or umeeshi due to the long “eh” sound). These chopsticks came to Okinawa during the Ryukyu Kingdom era, with origins from China. They are made from bamboo.
The red part of the umeshi is to represent the sun, and is painted in lacquer, used as a handgrip. It helps prevent them from slipping in your hand.
The yellow part of the umeshi is to represent the moon, and is dyed/colored by rubbing it with turmeric (known as ukon ウコン in Japanese, ucchin うっちん in Okinawan), which is traditionally believed have antibacterial or sterilizing properties. Though these days, companies just move to more commercial dyes or paints.
Some theory also says the red can represent passion, protective amulet/ward, or human blood, while the yellow represents the sun.
These umeshi are still found in local restaurants and shokudo, but are becoming less common as people move towards the disposable hashi. I recently received 2 pairs as a gift; my initial thought was a bit, hmm, odd choice in hashi (sort of plain, no fancy pattern like you often see with Japanese hashi) but then I realized the tradition and culture behind these umeshi and was very grateful to receive such a kind gesture and gift with special meaning. Now I admit these have become my favorite pair.
Apparently, if you go back a long time ago, umeshi were originally called “nmeshi” んめーし. The 御 is pronounced ん “n”, and combined with 箸 pronounced めーし “meshi” makes んめーし “nmeshi.” But these days it is known better as umeshi.
フチャギ (or ふちゃぎ) fuchagi is a special Okinawa mochi; it is rice cake covered in azuki beans (小豆). This is a little different than muuchii. As I mentioned in other posts, beans are believed to ward off evil or demons. One of the main times of year to eat fuchagi is during Mid-Autumn Festival, around Autumn equinox and Tsukimi moon-viewing (occurs on the 15th of the 8th lunar month). They are also put on the altar and hinukan as an offering to give thanks for the current good harvest and to pray for future good harvests.
I was told the story behind the origin of fuchagi thanks to one of my older students. It is a kind of ghost story, really, but it has a happy ending.
Story of the origins of Fuchagi:
One day a man was kidnapped by a demon called a Majimun マジムン (a type of Ryukuan devil/monster) and entrapped in the tomb of an Aji 按司 (a type Ryukuan samurai, or feudal lord, high ranking person), located in a deserted area. He could not move and he could carely speak; only his hand could fit through a small opening to the outside of the tomb. He would cry for help in a husky voice, “Help me, help me…” but he received no replies.
After a few days, one night 2 men were walking near the tomb to take shelter from the rain. Suddenly, they noticed a hand emerge from the hole! They were terrified as they saw the human hand coming from the tomb, but they heard a husky voice pleading for help. The prisoner in the tomb told them his name and the village he was from, so the 2 men rescued him from the tomb, then bringing him back to his village via horseback.
However, 49 days had already passed since the man’s disappearance, so his family and the village held a funeral (one of the traditional number of days to hold a type of Buddhist funeral service), even without a body. Everyone was so surprised to see him approach as they were holding his funeral, but shed tears of joy at his return. The plain mochi used in the funeral was changed to celebratory mochi by adding beans to the surface (beans are used in celebrations and for warding off evil). Everyone ate the mochi covered in beans, and from then forward, fuchagi mochi is eaten to protect against evil every August 15th according to the lunar calendar.
Don’t live in Okinawa but want to make it at home? Here is the recipe at the bottom of this blog post (just scroll down); you can find all the ingredients pretty easily, but depending on where you live you may need to find an Asian market if these are not common in your regular grocery stores.
Japan is not really known for spicy stuff. I think most Japanese dislike spicy food for the most part. So if you love spicy foods, you need to look for some ways to kick it up a notch. I will introduce some pastes, sauces, etc that will add some spice to your life while in Okinawa. Everything is available at local grocery stores and markets.
コーレーグース koregusu: the quintessential Okinawa condiment, hot chili awamori. Read more here. All Okinawa shokudo will have this on one of the tables.
練り唐辛子 neri tougarashi: neri means “paste,” while tougarashi is chili pepper. This paste is really quite hot, sort of the paste equivalent of koregusu. The only ingredients are chili peppers, awamori, salt, and vinegar. A little goes a long way.
柚子胡椒 yuzu koshou: yuzu is a citrus, koshou is pepper. This is a green-yellow colored paste made of chili peppers, yuzu, and salt that is somewhat fermented. Not too spicy, but still packs a punch.
七味唐辛子: shichimi tougarashi, or just shichimi, is 7 spice powder. It is spicy-savory, and usully contains some combination of: red chili pepper, sansho (Japanese pepper), orange peel, black/white sesame, hemp seed, ginger, nori, shiso, and poppy seeds. It is really common to find this at most restaurants.
ラー油 ra-yu: this is spicy chili oil. 油 yu means “oil.” This is usually a chili-infused sesame oil. 食べるラー油 taberu ra-yu (literally “chili oil for eating”) is actually supposed to be reduced spiciness; it often will include bits of fried garlic or onion in it to add extra flavor. I saw ads recently for “ladies ra-yu” which is very little spiciness (more fried onions but no garlic so you won’t have stinky breath, maintaining you lovely lady image). Lol.
おこめ券: okomeken. This means rice coupon or ticket. お “o” is the honorable prefix, 米/こめ kome is rice, and 券 ken is ticket / coupon / certificate.
I was fortunate enough to receive such a gift around Christmas and the New year. At first, I thought, “what???!” It seemed a bit strange. There is a national program set up where you can basically buy gift certificates for 1 kg of rice for people. You can use these tickets at pretty much any grocery store. I think it costs about 500円 to purchase these. But then you can give these out during holidays or special occasions. It is actually sort of convenient, and a nice gift in that you can choose your own rice, if you have a preference. Also, there is no expiration date!
In addition, many other places will accept these rice certificates; for my husband, one of these places is Joyfull restaurant. Instead of 1 kg rice, it can be used as 〜440円 discount on the bill. I had to read some blogs in Japanese to figure out the logistics of using it, and discovered some places will also redeem these, so I gave some to my husband so he could eat cheaply. Not enough English blogs talk about using these okome-ken…
If you live in Okinawa, here are some places that will redeem rice tickets in addition to the grocery stores (grocery stores will have marked which rice can use okomeken, and when in doubt just ask): Makeman (home improvement store), Wafu-tei (restaurant), HottoMotto (bento store), Joyfull (restaurant), and some gas stations!
If you should want to purchase rice tickets (to give to other people), go to the service counter of a department store, and many of them will sell these.
This one is shamefully a bit crumpled from being in my husbands wallet. I should have kept the pictures from when it was brand new and perfectly smooth.
醤油, or しょうゆ in hiragana, is shoyu (soy sauce for you non-Hawaiians). In Hawai’i, we use the Japanese word shoyu instead of the English word soy sauce, due to the large number of ethnic Japanese. In Hawai’i there are local brands of shoyu, like Aloha Shoyu.
Kikkoman is obviously prevalent brand, but there are many others as well. Yamasa brand is also fairly popular (which is a brand I typically prefer, personally). Not only that, but there are many types of shoyu, and other sauces that are shoyu-based (and therefore many foreigners confuse them with shoyu, only to get home home and wonder what it is they bought… so always read the label carefully and look for the key kanji or kana!).
I find it is important to read the ingredients, to see exactly what type of shoyu you are getting, and if there any additives (like HFCS to the “sweet” shoyu). Another thing to remember, as with many things, you get what you pay for; higher quality tends to be pricier. I typically buy mid-range for everyday use, and occasionally get a pricier one for “special dinners.” There are some specialty food stores around that carry some of the high-quality stuff.
Here are some of the main types you see in the store:
koikuchi shoyu 濃口, こいくち: common shoyu. This is the type you see most often. Typically I buy a large bottle of this, since it is the one is most used. This will be the type of shoyu on probably 90% of the shelf in your average grocery store such as SanA.
usukuchi shoyu 淡口, うすくち: it means “light” taste shoyu, but actually has more salt/sodium. Popular in Kansai and has a lighter color. You can usually find a few bottles on the shelf in SanA or Aeon.
tamari 溜まり, たまり: somewhat thicker, stronger shoyu. Often used for sashimi, or teriyaki. Most people in the west think of this as a non-wheat shoyu, but this is often not the case, especially if it is made traditionally. Another reason why reading the ingredients is so important!
sashimi shoyu さしみ: some brands advertise specifically for sashimi, they are a bit smoother. Again, there are usually a few bottles easy to find in the average grocery store.
amakuchi shoyu 甘口, あまくち: “sweet” shoyu. Be careful, this often has added sugars of some type. It is difficult to find any in the store without artificial sugars or HFCS.
genen 減塩 /teien 低塩: reduced salt shoyu. This is just koikuchi but with less sodium content.
Things that look like shoyu but are different:
ponzu ポン酢 (also sometimes ぽんず): citrus flavored sauce with shoyu base. The citrus flavor often varies; here in Okinawa shikwasa (small lime) is popular, but other areas yuzu is more common.
tsuyu つゆ (also, hon tsuyu 本つゆ): this usually has either fish or konbu (seaweed) stock added to it, as well as other ingredients, such as mirin. Often used for mainland soba, but it is multipurpose and can be used for many things, such as oden, udon, and nabe.
dashi-shoyu だし醤油: similar to tsuyu, just a mix of dashi and shoyu. Often used for soup base, or simmered dishes. Dashi shoyu is usually seen as 昆布 konbu (seaweed) or かつお katsuo (bonito) types.
I could probably add more (I mean, seriously I have seen people buy straight up dashi, fish sauce and others with completely different coloring, thinking it was shoyu… ), but I feel like the ones I listed above are the not so obvious ones if you cannot read much Japanese, and they are often situated right next to the shoyu so it could be easily mistaken.
Other words to look for on shoyu or similar sauce bottles: this is just a small sample of some ingredients you may see, not a comprehensive list.
有機 organic
大豆 soy bean
丸大豆 whole soy bean
小麦 wheat
塩 salt
みりん mirin
酒 sake
アルコール alcohol
砂糖 sugar
甘味料 sweeter (usually in parenthesis it will tell what type is used: stevia, HFCS, etc)
キャラメル色素: caramel coloring… avoid this. Real shoyu does not need this coloring, usually if this is added, you are just buying colored salt water, not shoyu. Gross.
無添加 additive-free
グルテンフリー gluten-free, though I have never seen any in person… gluten-free is not a trend in Japan.
Hopefully some of these tips help if you are shopping for shoyu in Okinawa or Japan.
I got this koikuchi shoyu posted below for free from a lucky drawing at an electronics store.
**Note: If you wanna get serious about your grade of shoyu, there is the official government regulated labels from JAS (Japan Agricultural Standards):
特級 tokkyuu: special grade
１級 ikkyuu: 1st grade
標準 hyoujun: standard grade
Grading is based on measuring the chemical composition for amino acids and alcohol content. The Japanese Shoyu Association adds two more grades higher than “special grade”: extra select 特選 tokusen and ultra-extra select 超特選 choutokusen.
Okara おから is soy pulp; it is what remains after making soy milk or tofu. It is used in some traditional Japanese, Korean, and Chinese dishes, and gained some popularity with vegetarians. Many people do not really think to eat okara much anymore, but it is full of fiber, protein and some nutrients. Okara is often used for livestock feed.
So, in Okinawa, waste not want not, okara is seen fairly common in stores. It is very cheap to buy fresh okara. Of course, making your own tofu, okara is a natural by-product, and so I sometimes I need to find recipes for the leftover okara. It is common to see in all sorts of recipes, such as fillers for meatballs, vegetarian patties, stews, and even baked goods. My husband like to add it into his chili recipe, to cut down on the amount of meat he uses (this not only gives his meal a nutritional boost, but also helps cut down on the cost).
Keep in mind okara is pretty flavorless on its own, and sometimes it is a little gritty in texture. But used in the right recipe, it can be good. There are a surprising number of recipes using okara out there; there is one blog with an astounding number of okara-based recipes, and it has definitely given me some ideas.
